Pastor John Piper On Whether Christians Should Celebrate Xmas

"I sympathize with those who want to be rigorously and distinctly Christian, who want to be disentangled from the world and any pagan roots that might lie beneath our celebration of Christmas, but I don't go that route on this matter because I think there comes a point where the roots are so far gone that the present meaning doesn't carry the pagan connotation anymore. I'm more concerned about a new paganism that gets layered on top of Christian holidays.

Here's the example I use: All language has roots somewhere. Most of our days of the week—if not all—grew out of pagan names too. So should we stop using the word "Sunday" because it may have related to the worship of the sun once upon a time? In modern English "Sunday" doesn't carry that connotation, and that's the very nature of language. In a sense, holidays are like chronological language.

Christmas now means that we mark, in Christian ways, the birth of Jesus Christ. I think the birth, death and resurrection of Christ are the most important events in human history. Not to mark them in some way, by way of special celebration, would be folly it seems to me.

I remember I lived next door to somebody back in seminary who didn't celebrate birthdays for their kid. The idea was, partly, that all days were special for their kid. But if all days are special then it probably means that there are no special days. Yet some things are so good and precious—like anniversaries, birthdays, and even deaths—that they are worthy of being marked. How much more the birth and death of Jesus Christ!

It's really worth the risk, even if the date of December 25 was chosen because of its proximity to some kind of pagan festival. Let's just take it, sanctify it, and make the most of it, because Christ is worthy of being celebrated in his birth.

There is no point in choosing any other date. It won't work."

~ Pastor John Piper (Source)

A Brief Response To Those Who Say Christmas Is Pagan

"he was laid in a manger" (Lk. 2:7)

CHRISTMAS is a joyful season when families gather together to commemorate the incarnation of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. It is a celebration of God's love in giving us (sending) His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh so that sinners might be saved through Him (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 8:3). It is the Gospel which is (or which should be) the essence of Christmas.

Sadly, however, most people today who celebrate  the season don't really take what it means by heart. Worse, there are people out there who repudiate the celebration altogether, saying it is an evil tradition which is of pagan origin meant to worship Satan. These people I call the "anti-Christmas Gang." The gang offers three basic arguments against the tradition:

1. We are told nowhere in the Bible to celebrate Christ's birth.
2. The belief that Christ was born on December 25 is a myth. There is not a single concrete evidence that can prove Christ was born exactly on December 25. In fact, bible references points us to a different date which is most probably in the month of March.
3. The feast of Nativity was placed by the early Christians in ancient Rome on December 25 to correspond with the official feast day of a prominent pagan god in Rome named Sol Invictus. Thus when you celebrate Christmas, you are actually worshiping Satan.

Based on these assertions, they conclude that those who celebrate Christmas are not really honoring Christ but the Devil. But is that true? Can they prove that objectively? We shall see.

First, they argue that the Bible never commands us to celebrate Christmas. But I ask, is there any prohibition in the Bible against it? or perhaps indications in Scripture that it is sin to do so? How many times have we seen Paul commemorating the birth of Christ in his letters (cf. Rom. 8:3; Gal. 4:4-5; Php. 2:5-8)? Sure, Paul doesn't prescribe a specific date on which to commemorate Christ's nativity, but nobody's saying that celebrating Christ's nativity every December 25th is an absolute moral obligation either. The funny thing is that most (if not all) who demonize Christmas would still celebrate their own birthdays and wedding anniversaries without even asking themselves if they were ever told by the Bible to do so! 

Second, they say that December 25 is not really Christ's exact birth-date. But who cares? How is it a big deal? They could quote hundreds of references all day to prove that, but they would just end up taking down strawmen. I myself am convinced that nobody knows the exact date of Christ's birth, but this doesn't automatically mean it is ungodly to celebrate His birth on any chosen date. After all, we must commemorate Christ's birth everyday, aren't we? 

Lastly, the gang have this old chestnut that the choice of Dec. 25 as the official birthday of Jesus Christ was influenced by the pagan celebration of the feast of 'sun god' named Sol Invictus. Now in fairness to these anti-Christmas folks, it is somehow true that the feast of Sol Invictus had something to do with the choice of December 25; yet again, it cannot be proven that the early Christians had chosen the date to purposely identify Christ with the pagan god. Their intent was most probably to divert attention away from idolatry to the worshiping of the True God (which is indeed an admirable tactic to propagate the Gospel), not to paganize Christianity. But whichever the case, it is still an invalid reason to insist it is sinful to celebrate Christmas just because it corresponds to a pagan feast. Otherwise, those who were born on December 25 are also sinning if they celebrate their birthdays on that cursed date!

In conclusion:

Romans 14:4-6 (NIV): "Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers very day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God."

Peace out and Merry Christmas!

- Jeph

 

The Twelve Doctrines Of Christmas