Following is a post I wrote on my personal blog in reference to holidays. There are more here. Enjoy
This post is to spark a series on holidays. Mostly holidays that are celebrated in the United States, though it is possible I may expand into holidays celebrated in other countries. The main thing I would like to discuss is what are the holidays we have around us and whether or not, as Christians, we should participate/celebrate these various holidays.
While looking at these various holidays it will be important to take a look at their origins to better understand what is being celebrated and why. So it is not without precedence that we take a look at the history and concept of the word "holiday". Though the origins of the word "holiday" are traced back to an old English word "hāligdæg" we can agree the concept of it goes back much further than when the word we use was invented.
The word itself literally means "holy day" yet a religious event is not necessarily being celebrated on every holiday. On many holidays what may be celebrated could be any of the following: the anniversary of an important battle, the death or birth of an important person, the anniversary of a country gaining its independence, the founding of a city or town, the harvest of a particularly bountiful crop, or any myriad of other reasons. The point being that even though the day may have the title of "holy day" applied to it, it may not necessarily have anything to do with any kind of religious aspect other than the fact that it is celebrated every year.
The question ultimately comes down to, "Should we, as Christians, celebrate a specific holiday?" Well, this can be further clarified with the following consideration: Is it possible to bring honor and glory to God when observing/celebrating the holiday? If not then there really would be no purpose to celebrating it in the first place. You could also go so far as to say you could be at risk of breaking the 2nd commandment.
This post is to spark a series on holidays. Mostly holidays that are celebrated in the United States, though it is possible I may expand into holidays celebrated in other countries. The main thing I would like to discuss is what are the holidays we have around us and whether or not, as Christians, we should participate/celebrate these various holidays.
While looking at these various holidays it will be important to take a look at their origins to better understand what is being celebrated and why. So it is not without precedence that we take a look at the history and concept of the word "holiday". Though the origins of the word "holiday" are traced back to an old English word "hāligdæg" we can agree the concept of it goes back much further than when the word we use was invented.
The word itself literally means "holy day" yet a religious event is not necessarily being celebrated on every holiday. On many holidays what may be celebrated could be any of the following: the anniversary of an important battle, the death or birth of an important person, the anniversary of a country gaining its independence, the founding of a city or town, the harvest of a particularly bountiful crop, or any myriad of other reasons. The point being that even though the day may have the title of "holy day" applied to it, it may not necessarily have anything to do with any kind of religious aspect other than the fact that it is celebrated every year.
The question ultimately comes down to, "Should we, as Christians, celebrate a specific holiday?" Well, this can be further clarified with the following consideration: Is it possible to bring honor and glory to God when observing/celebrating the holiday? If not then there really would be no purpose to celebrating it in the first place. You could also go so far as to say you could be at risk of breaking the 2nd commandment.
As we look at many of the different holidays we need to keep this in mind. Some may be easier than others when considering this aspect but, nevertheless, it is quite important.