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Rom 14:4-7 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 one man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
Christmas is somewhat a strange holiday in the Christian community of believers. Some people celebrate the secular part of Christmas, as it relates to the pagan celebration of the winter solstice. These traditions include gift giving, caroling, trees as well as other commonly know practices which have been translated into our Christmas holiday. Others only desire to celebrate the Catholic adoption of the holiday where the birth of Christ is celebrated; and all other well known secular Christmas imagery is considered evil. Other Christians denounce any such notion of celebrating Christ's birth in a holiday, concluding that there is no direct commandment to celebrate the birth of Christ. Still others celebrate the birth of Christ as the focal point, but allowing other secular traditions to partner in the celebration, by substituting Christian meaning to solstice symbols. Is Jesus the reason for the season, or should their not even be a season connected to Jesus' birth. This battle rages on every year with each providing his or her reasoning. The above passage sheds some light on such disagreements within the body. I don't know that anyone can cast any objective argument without some valid rebuttal on how to deal with the notion of Christmas. The passage says either way "Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind", if any day is to be regarded above another.
My argument is this, there may always be a theological debate on the validity of Christmas and its Christian origins, but I am not willing to allow atheist or human secularist to decide for us. The attack on Christmas has been an ongoing war for several years now. This war is not a theological battle among conservative Christians; it has now become a battle with the secular movement desiring to dispose of all public displays of Christian symbols and traditions. For years even those who could have cared less about Christ, at least acknowledged the Christmas Holiday as Christian. Even greedy retailers acknowledged Christ in their stores, even if it was only to make money. Looking back, there was at least some victory in their hypocrisy, exalting Christ even if for a few weeks. Now however, it has become politically incorrect to say "Merry Christmas", or to show a nativity. Regardless of how you may feel about Christmas, I hope brothers and sisters find it worth fighting for. Let us debate it among ourselves rather than letting the ACLU decide whether we say Merry Christmas or not. Whether you find Christmas tress despicable, the inaccuracy of most nativities laughable, or the whole idea of Christmas as a Christian Holiday ridiculous, realize Christmas is worth our common effort to protect, even if it is so we can argue it amongst ourselves.
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