I used to be one of those "touch not, taste not" Pharisees who avoided Christmas. We even taught our kids that it was "pagan" and that Santa Claus was the "Christmas monster." What utter nonsense!
I was taught that Jeremiah 10 bans Xmas trees as pagan. Yet, any theologian will tell you that is reading our trees backwards into history, and that the context is clearly talking about decorating idols carved from trees. To me the Xmas tree now has more to do with symbolizing the tree of life than any later pagan symbol in history.
I was taught that Santa Claus is all wrong, yet was ignorant of the real Saint Nicholas, who lived around 400 or so I think, and was famous for giving to the needy. I celebrate such an individual, and gladly dress up in a Santa Claus costume. However, I tell my grandkids the REAL story, not some silly North Pole fiction.
I was also taught that we don't give to Jesus at Xmas, but selfishly to each other. That's also idiocy, because Jesus taught that what we do for each other, we do for him.
I was taught that the Catholic Church was the Great harlot of Babylon and the Christ's Mass was pagan, because of it. But that is stupid arrogant bigotry. Mass comes from the word dis-miss, or miss-al, and has been the end of communion in the Christian Church long before Protestantism was even thought of. In fact, we all in the west descend from that much maligned Catholic Church.
Then, when I started keeping Xmas, I ran into Xmas Pharisees too. Some told me not to X Christ out of Christmas, by spelling it Xmas. So, I looked that one up too in my handy dandy internet machine, and guess what? X is the first letter of Christ's name in Greek. It is an abbreviation for Christ. It does not X Christ out of Christmas at all, but is a legitimate abbreviation.
Whew! So, now I'm a Xmas junkie. I love it all! Even the much maligned commercialism. Why? Think about it! Xmas was introduced to Christianity around 300 AD or so as an evangelistic outreach. Times haven't changed! It's commercialism attracts everybody, even in non-Christian Japan, and in the midst of that commercialism, the Gospel is being sung.
Yes, Xmas is not commanded in the NT. It is an option, but I love it. I love every bit of it. What a fantastic opportunity to show that we Christians are not up-tight, stiff-necked, narrow-minded, judgmental little prigs, but we can actually have a good time celebrating the most important birth in the history of our planet!
