The following post was originally published in December of 2012 on the original Refined4him website at blogger.com. It is here in its original format, unedited. I can no longer guarantee that any links associated with this post are still active. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

We went over the arguments on why Christmas is viewed as a sin in Part II. This time around we will discuss the customs that are in Christmas but were carried over from paganism. These include decorating trees (or decorations in general), feasting, and gift exchanging. 

To Decorate Or Not To Decorate
CHRISTMAS TREES. I know there are many other pagan based customs out there. The yule log, mistletoe, etc. But I choose to pick on Christmas trees because they are the most common decoration and the biggest scapegoat for the whole “former pagan anti-decoration” movement. Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. (Jeremiah 10: 3-5). Even though this passage is not talking about Christmas trees, or what kind of trees or decoration, it is talking about bringing in some form of plant life and decorating it. So how can the simple act of bringing in a tree from outside and decorating it be a sin? Well let’s look at the big picture first. Most of us know that pagans worshiped the creation, not the Creator. They either adorned trees with decorations in celebration towards a god, or they carved the tree into an image of a god and decorated it. Nonetheless, they brought in a tree and decorated it and idolized and worshiped it. One can believe that this, plus the scripture that is in Jeremiah 10, is evident that anyone who puts up and decorates a Christmas tree is in danger of God’s wrath. But, the sin does not lie in the act of bringing in greenery and decorating it. The sin was that they worshiped and idolized the tree that they brought it to their homes. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3). Most modern people who put up Christmas trees do so as either family tradition, or decoration, or both. Most do not do it to honor another god or do they worship the tree. Granted, some people may admire their tree too much, but they do not worship it as a god.

So if you bring in a tree and decorate it this Christmas season, will you be guilty of sin? What about the family down the street who have a fake tree in their dining room adorned with lights as a year round decoration? Are they guilty too? What if one brought in a fern and hung it in their living room and decorated it with a fake cardinal?Are they destined for Hell’s fire? The customs of the pagans were evil because they involved worshiping other gods and God’s creation. If the pagans had never done this, but God’s people did and they did it to honor God because they appreciated His marvelous works, would it still be a sin?

As you may recall from David Black’s blog post from Part I on this series (it was one of the links that was against Christmas), they, as also others, believe it is also a sin to put up a nativity display. Sorry. Did I make you spit your Cheerios out all over your laptop? You will have to excuse me. Please forgive me. The reasoning behind this idea can be found in Exodus 20:4: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. What this is saying is that we are not to conform God into any kind of physical image. Why is this? Because the ancient Jews did not have a visual image of what God looked like. So they made statues of what they believed God looked like and eventually worshipped the statue. They made God into the image of bulls, rams, crickets, whatever. This commandment was set forth not just to protect the Holy image of God (by not reducing Him down to an object), but to keep us from inadvertently worshipping an idol.

However, God made Himself into a physical image when He left His throne and came to earth in the form of a man, Jesus Christ. We no longer had to wonder. He was here in the flesh..and people worshipped Him. They worshipped the physical “graven” image that God had become. So does that make all of Christ’s disciples, and all of us Christians, sinners because we worship The Lord Jesus Christ who was a physical image of God? If it is wrong for us to worship God in the physical image He had become, then it is wrong for us to worship Jesus. That isn’t so, is it? So any kind of carving or painting of Christ should not be blasphemous (as long as it glorifies Him) because He was a real man. A nativity is a depiction of something that happened and was real and honors the birth of our King.

Eat Up!
I am not quite sure where in the Bible it says that it is a sin to get together and enjoy a meal with loves ones. It almost sounds ridiculous to say that dining and fellowship is a sin. Some scriptures in reference to fellowship with others and eating include: And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he given you (Deuteronomy 8:10); And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do (Deuteronomy 14:29); That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ (a good reference for getting together to honor Christ at Christmas)(1 John 1:3); When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up (1 Corinthians 14:26). I can only imagine that coming together in honor of Christ with loved ones and enjoying food together would actually be a pleasant and enjoyable blessing to one. If you don’t agree with that, then your church needs to cease from having any after church potlucks. Because you are doing nothing any different than if you were getting together at Christmas.

To Give Or Not To Give
Is it a sin to give gifts to one another, just because pagans do it? Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther’s feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity (Esther 2:18). Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another (Esther 9:19). …as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor (Esther 9:22). Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bear gifts to you (Psalm 68:29). Many seek the favor of a generous man, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts (Proverbs 19:6). And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11). If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11). I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God (Philippians 4:18). Hmmm, I think not. Even God’s people (and His own Son) received and gave gifts.

Well. It seems we have covered alot so far. The roots of Christmas in Part I, the sinful viewpoints of Christmas in Part II, and the sinful customs and traditions of Christmas here in Part III. In Part IV we will discover the beast that is Christmas. Also, if you feel that I have been siding with the pro-Christmas crowd thus far (which it seems that I have been), we will discover the negative and true sinful nature behind this holiday. Until then…

Love In Christ