I just finished reading a good article by Phil Johnson of the Spurgeon Archive and Hall of Church History entitled “Ecumenical Politics”. In this article he discusses how too great an emphasis on “engaging the culture” (meaning politcal activism) leads to religious compromise and an abandonment of the gospel message.
I will post some of my own comments on the article when I get some time.
I grew up in a Christian home that celebrated Christmas as the time of Christ’s birth. After being converted around 18 or 19 years old I continued to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th. Now, 6 years later I’m questioning whether evangelicals should be joining a remembrance of the birth of our Savior with the holiday known as Christmas.
I propose a few thoughts and questions that I have been considering.
1. We do not know the day of Jesus’ birth. Many scholars believe that He was not even born in December. To claim December 25th as the day of Jesus’ birth is speculation at best and lying at worst. (I know that some will say we don’t claim December 25th to be the day of Christ’s birth rather the day we celebrate it. Yet, most evangelicals would consider it to be the day of Jesus’ birth anyway no matter what is said in principle).
2. The reason Christ’s birth has come to be associated with December 25th is due to syncretism with pagan culture in the early centuries of the Church. December 25th was a day of worship and celebration in pagan religions. Many of the traditions associated with Christmas are derived from these pagan festivals. Does it honor Christ to worship Him using traditions derived from paganism? Does it glorify God when we take pagan holidays and simply substitute Jesus for whatever deity was previously worshiped on that day? It is interesting to observe that God specifically prohibited the Israelites from worshiping Him in the manner that the nations occupying the Promised Land worshiped their gods. Rather, the Israelites were to be careful to do exactly what God had commanded them to do (Deut. 12:29-32).
3. Do we really want to participate in the celebration of the “Christ-Mass” even if we say that it does not hold that meaning for us? It would be one thing if the Christ-Mass was simply a corruption of something ordained by God. But the Christmas celebration has not been ordained by God. Are we simply trying to modify false worship so we can participate?
I think that it is hard for us to really question the validity of Christmas as a celebration of Christ’s birth because the holiday is so ingrained in the both the secular and religious cultures of our nation. It may help to imagine yourself in India. Imagine that there is a popular Hindu holiday that occurs once every year. The holiday exists for the worship of Vishnu and his role in preserving the universe. The holiday includes many rituals and traditions. The Christians do not want to worship Vishnu on this day but they would like to use the holiday to worship Christ because it is an exciting time of year and has always held a special place in their hearts seeing as they have celebrated the day their entire lives before coming to Christ. Furthermore there is great similarity between Vishnu’s role as preserver and Christ’s work of creating and preserving the universe.
So what do they do? The believers designate the holiday as a day for worshiping Christ. They retain the rituals and traditions from the Hindu holiday, modifying them only slightly in order to better reflect Christ’s work of creation and preservation. References to Vishnu in the rituals and traditions are replaced with references to Christ. The celebration is a big success and continues year after year. This turned out to be a good move on the part of the believers. They had been mocked for not joining in the holiday in the past but now their new observance of the holiday has pacified their enemies. The Hindus have watched the Christians celebrate the holiday and have concluded that there is no real difference between the two festivals. The Christians are no longer seen as radicals because they appear to be participating in the cultural and religious traditions of the society. The children of the believers often ask their parents why their family participates in the same worship festival as their Hindu neighbors. The parents simply respond that the real meaning of the day has to do with Christ not Vishnu and that even though they may be observing the same rituals and traditions their focus is on Christ not a false god.
So, how do we respond to this? Is this the worship of Christ triumphing over paganism or is it syncretism? Is there any similarity to the situation we are faced with in the day known as Christmas? Are we guilty of syncretism and false worship? These are not easy questions to answer, but each year I become more convinced that what we call “Christmas” is paganism with a Christian exterior. I’m not trying to be Scrooge. I do not, however, want to stand before God one day and be found as one who has worshiped the Lord in the way the nations have worshiped their gods (remember Deut. 12:29-32?).
Different Christians will come to various conclusions on the matter. Whatever decision we make we must see to it that we are not just accepting Christmas because it has so long been a tradition in the church.
A recent issue of WORLD Magazine contained an article about Christian bookstores doing business on Sundays. A few excerpts from the article should make you gasp:
[Berean Christian Stores] VP of store operations, Greg Moore, said Berean began opening on Sundays three years ago because “customers indicated they needed to be served on Sundays.” Mr. Moore said Berean views itself as a ministry with products people might need to buy on Sundays: “There is more value in saving a lost soul than in adhering to an Old Testament custom that later became a commandment.” Wow! He seems to just cast aside the 4th commandment as something trivial and uses the lofty language of “saving a lost soul”. A passion for seeing people come to Christ is great, but it never entails disregarding the commandments of God.
[Family Christian Bookstores] President Dan Browne told the Associated Press that his company’s decision on whether to remain open on Sundays was different than a chain like Chick-fil-A because FCB sells “ministry products.” “No one’s going to go to hell for not eating a chicken sandwich,” Mr. Browne said. Notice the mentality: “If we don’t open our doors on Sundays somebody will go to hell!” Correct me if I am wrong but shoppers aren’t going to hell because they can’t buy a copy of the latest Left Behind book on Sunday.
There are some excerpts however that demonstrate sound Christian thinking about the circumstances. I’m proud to say that the following quotes come from the owner of a bookstore that I have spent many a dollar in.
John Cully is the owner of one of the largest independent Christian bookstores in the country. He has operated Evangelical Bible Bookstore in San Diego for 34 years, but has never opened his doors on a Sunday. “It’s simply breaking God’s law to be open on Sundays,” Mr. Cully said. “I don’t work on Sunday because God says not to in His Word. The Fourth Commandment says, Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall do no work.’”
Ms. Powers said Family Christian Bookstores polled its customer base before opening on Sundays. The results: Eighty percent said they shopped on Sundays, and 89 percent said they would shop in FCB if it were open on Sundays. Evangelical Bible Bookstore’s Mr. Cully said there is nothing in his bookstore or any other Christian bookstore that can’t wait until Monday, and that FCB’s customer survey reveals “a weakness in the church.”
Mr. Cully also said that Christian bookstores opening on Sundays “reflect the quality of the literature they are selling.” A call to the Family Christian Bookstores national customer-service center revealed the number of books in its inventory specifically about the Sabbath–zero.
What follows is several pieces of Scripture that teach believers to look at the world of unbelieving people around us missionaly:
Jollyblogger has several posts on “Bridging the Chasm” between Christians and the rest of the world. In one of the posts he makes an excellent point concerning how Christians should view the mass of unbelieving people around us. Battlefield or mission field? Here is what he says:
In my last post I listed seven suggestions that Michael Spencer has listed for bridging the chasm between evangelicals and the rest of the world. I thought I would interact with one or two of them in this post.
His first suggestion is that we talk to them rather than to ourselves all of the time. Novel idea, eh?
I agree. I think what he is getting at is that we tend to get all of our information about the world out there from a few gatekeepers of information within evangelical circles. What we know about what is happening out there is filtered to us through these few gatekeepers. Furthermore, most of the gatekeepers through whom this information is filtered to us view this world as a battlefield, whereas I would say that we should view this world as a mission field. The “battlefield” mindset judges those in the world to be our implacable enemies against whom we must stand and fight. Therefore, we have to build a fortress of protection around ourselves, and the only people we talk to about the information we have received are other evangelicals.
If we viewed this world as a mission field rather than a battlefield, we wouldn’t see “those people out there” so much as threats. We might see them with the eyes of Jesus, as sheep without a shepherd. We might look upon them with compassion. By compassion, I don’t mean a condescending kind of pity. That would be as insulting as viewing them as a threat. It’s just that we are to interact with them as respectfully as we can, and understand that there are stories behind whatever hostilities they have toward us. If we listen to the stories we can start building bridges.