Father Christmas – Christmas Trees – Christmas Gifts – Is it wrong?
The Truth about Christmas
Introduction
Is it wrong to put up a Christmas tree, hand out gifts on Christmas day or making use of a father Christmas for your kids? These are all questions Christians debate about every year when it comes to the end of the year and sometimes even end up in big arguments, damaging friendships and sometimes even make people resign from their church and/or home cell groups.
The challenge here is that in today’s modern Church era, there are so many different Churches around and they don’t all believe the same on various issues, Christmas being one of them. This is not necessarily wrong, but at the end both individuals and churches need to go back to the basics and this is to read the Bible, in fact, study the Bible. We will find all the answers to our questions in the Bible and if there are any unclear issues, we need to pray about this and hear what the Holy Spirit wants to tell us.
We can ask the opinions of people, but at the end the Word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit is what we need to follow and believe the most. We also need to understand the importance of getting answers from the Holy Spirit and my reason for saying this is based on the reasons of the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament people followed the law as the law was given as a guidance as to what God expected from His children, so that all mankind could know what was wrong, what was classified as sin.
In the New Testament, the new covenant, Jesus came to set us free from the law (Rom 6:14, John 1:17, Rom 10:4) and then by giving us the Holy Spirit, God gave us a new way to be guided to what is right and wrong or what He expects from us. Believe me, if we follow Jesus and we have the Holy Spirit in us, He will guide us to the truth and if we do something wrong, He will convict us.
So many people have asked me if this or that is wrong, but I always tell them they must read the Bible and then ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit. John 16:7-8 reads: Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
I will now give you my opinion on the above questions and give you scripture to motivate my believes, however, it is important to go read these scriptures yourself and pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to you, so that you do not do as I say, but do as let by the Holy Spirit.
Christmas and not Festive Season
I would like to start by suggesting all Christians to refrain from using words like festive season or happy holidays. These words are now used all around the world to get Christian to move away from the truth around Christmas, which is the birth of Christ. Look around you in shops how words like Merry Christmas are not shown on advertising anymore! Another reason for this is to get the whole world to take part in Christmas, therefore making it even more commercialised. Let’s get back to telling people Merry Christmas and not happy holidays, no matter who they follow or what their religion is. If they don’t agree, tell them the truth in love (Eph 4:15).
Christmas Gifts
Is it wrong to exchange gifts on Christmas Day? In my opinion it is not, as this is a symbol of love and an acknowledgement of something great. We give each other gifts on birthdays and the birth of Christ and His birthday is no different. Did the wise men not give gifts to Jesus at His birth (Matt 2:11)? I also feel that it depends on what you focus on. Do you focus on the gifts you give or get or do you focus on the reason behind the gift? Your focus and reason should always be Jesus!
Christmas Trees
Is it wrong to put up a tree for Christmas, decorate it and put up lights? In my opinion it is not, but it depends on why you doing this. First of all, I would suggest not calling it a Christmas tree, but only a tree, as the tree itself has nothing to do with Christmas or with Christ. Where does the use of a tree come from? The romans use to decorate trees in and outside their homes as a celebration of the start of summer and were accompanied by a summer festival, but this had nothing to do with Christmas. The first use of a Christmas tree was in the 16th century and were done by the German protestants Christians. The use of the Christmas tree originated from this tradition and is today used by millions of Christian from around the world.
What does the Bible say about decorating trees over Christmas? There is actually no mention of the use of trees over Christmas in the Bible. Jerimiah 10:1-16 however talks about tree felling and the decoration thereof and that it was against the law. The reason why Jerimiah declared this as against the law was because of the reason behind them doing it. The people used the decorated trees as idols and then worshiped these trees. A similar text to this one is in Isaiah 44 where Isaiah talks about the foolish people who cut down trees, burn a part of it for cooking purposes and then using the rest of the tree to decorate and worship it as a god.
It is important to ask yourself the question what the reason is behind using a tree during Christmas? If it is not for the use of worship, making the tree and the gifts under the tree more important than celebration the birth of Christ, then I see no wrong in doing it. 1 Cor 10:31 says: Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Father Christmas
Father Christmas is a fictitious character that originated from the well-known Christian man, Saint Nicholas of Myra, whom lived in the 4th century. Saint Nicholas parents left him a huge inheritance who then decided to share this with the poor. He became a priest at a young age and was known as someone with compassion and generosity. He also had a reputation of giving gifts to people anonymously, throwing bags with money inside the windows of homes and sometimes even through their chimneys, so that people won’t see him. He did this wearing a red costume. Saint Nicholas died in the year 340 and the date of his death became a yearly festival.
The question now is whether playing this game of father Christmas is wrong. I feel that every parent should make this decision themselves, but in principal I don’t think it is. Once again, why do we do it and when we do it, do we also make sure that the Children know that it has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ or Christmas as such? It is important to make sure our kids know the real meaning of Christmas, tell them who this father Christmas is and that he actually has nothing to do with Christmas and the birth of our Saviour.
I furthermore suggest we refrain from calling him father Christmas, because Saint Nicholas was not the Father of Christ and if we understand the meaning of the word Christmas and call him Father Christmas, then we telling our kids that Saint Nicholas was God, which we all know he is not. I also feel telling our children lies is not good, so why not just tell them the truth about Saint Nicholas of Myra and call him Santa and not Father Christmas. In the modern era we live in, lying has become part of our lives and so many people say it is fine to say a small lie now and then. My friends in Christ, a lie is a lie, there is no such thing as a small lie. 1 Pet 3:10 says: He who would love life
And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit.
Closure
I would like to close this article with the true meaning of Christmas. John 3:16 sums it all up: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The celebration of Christmas is a celebration of LIFE and LOVE. The true story about Christmas is a story of God who became one of us through His Son Jesus Christ. Why did God do this? Because He loved us so much and wanted to bring the world a Saviour through whom we can be forgiven for our sins. Why does God love us so much? Because He IS love (1 John 4:8). Why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus? We celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus out of gratitude for what God has given us as the biggest Christmas gift ever, Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas!
Jaco van As
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