Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 22, 2021 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Contemporary issues / Encouraging words / Hope in Christ / The church / Thought for Today

As Christians, this is a joyful time of year, although it can be a very difficult time, especially for those who are grieving loss, particularly the loss of a loved one.

But, as I was going through Facebook posts—something I do less and less frequently—I ran across posts railing against the celebration of Christmas as a “Popish invention” or similar types of comments.

First, the celebrations of the Christian year were in place long before the rise of Roman Catholicism and the resultant power of the Pope. For the first few centuries, the “bishop of Rome” was one among many, and not preeminent. But, that is not the main point of this post.

How do we worship as Christians? Much hinges on how one answers the question: In worship, are we restricted to what the Scriptures directly state, or are we limited only by what the Scriptures specifically forbid? To me, one of the reasons that the Scriptures give only general instructions (see Acts 2:42 for example) rather than specifics is precisely because different cultures will have different worship practices. We should not expect worship in our own country (whatever country that is) to be identical to worship in South Korea, France, or Kenya.

As discussed before in this blog, whatever is not of faith is sin. If one sincerely believes that celebrating Christmas is “a Popish invention,” then don’t celebrate it. But please don’t condemn those who do not share your opinion on that matter. Every church has a “liturgy.” It is safe to say that every church has some worship form or practice that isn’t directly found in the Scriptures. To cite one example: where do you find “going forward to receive Christ” in the Scriptures? Calling on people to repent and come to faith in Christ? Absolutely. Doing so by specifically “going forward”? No. Does that make “going forward” wrong? No.

One of the reasons I spend less and less time on Facebook is the amount of bickering—not to mention outright hostility—that I see there, sadly, even among Christians. All too often we are viewed by the world as being ugly contentious people, who can’t even stand each other. “The world will know you are my disciples by your contentions with one another.” That is NOT what Jesus said, is it? Rather, “A house divided against itself will not stand.” Biblically, we are in contention with what the world believes, says, and does, in terms of what the Bible calls sin. But, Christ calls us to unity with Himself.

Better to focus on one of the hallmarks of the season: “Peace on earth, good will to men” (meaning all humans). Do we seek the good of others? Are we living at peace? More directly, are we living at peace with other believers? Are we resting in the joy and peace we have through Jesus Christ?

May you have a joyful Christmas!

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