I am a Christian and I don’t Celebrate Christmas

Most people are shocked when they discover that I don’t celebrate Christmas. When they ask me why I don’t celebrate Christmas, I simply answer them, “I don’t celebrate Christmas because I am a Christian.” I immediately get different reactions from my friends. Some would react with a constipated look, while others are just look at me with suspicion. After all, if you are a Christian, you should celebrate Christmas, right? Well, let me explain this to you and show you why Christians should never celebrate Christmas.

Yes, you read that right. December 25 is not Jesus’ birth date. People are led to this popular belief. However, a lie which is believed by many people doesn’t make it true. A LIE IS A LIE, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. I invite you to read any available encyclopaedia and you will soon discover that that Jesus was not born in December 25. In fact, most secular and biblical proofs show the complete opposite!

Here are some of the biblical evidences that Jesus wasn’t born in December 25.

• Luke 2:7 - “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.”

We know that shepherd will not allow their sheep to be out in the field during December. Sheep are sensitive and delicate livestock. If they are exposed in the cold of December night, they will easily catch cold and eventually die from the illness. The account of Luke suggests that Jesus might have been born around summer or fall.

• Luke 2:1-4 – “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.”

This verse tells us that Jesus’ parents were going to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus issued a decree that all of its territory should have a census. Travelling many miles away during rainy and cold season of December can surely be very defeating. The census is very important for the Roman Empire because it is a way that they can tax their people. For this reason, it is illogical and irrational to schedule the census during winter season.

The Bible does not clearly indicate when Jesus was born. Then how did the date December 25 became the popular date for Jesus’ birth? The answer can easily be found in history.

The fact is that Christmas was being celebrated thousands of years BEFORE Jesus birth! According to history, ancient people celebrate December 25 as a day to worship and honour the sun.

It was in 2^nd century BC that the Greeks worship their god Dionysus. Because of the popularity of the feast of Dionysus or Bacchus, the celebration later spread from Greece to Rome. The festival was commonly celebrated with dancing, singing and other types of revelries that at times, the celebration went out of control, indecent, and even chaotic. Later, the Roman Senate needed to pass a decree in 186 B.C. to suppress the festival because of the nocturnal orgies that associated with it.

In addition to the Bacchanalian festival which is celebrated on December 21, the Romans had also a popular festival on December 17 which lasted for 7 days. It is the festival held in honour for the roman god named Saturnalia. During this feast, people were encouraged to be drunk along with gambling and uncontrolled feasting. People typically exchanged gifts and men wear women’s dress. Candles and Yule logs burned to scare away evil spirit as the Romans believed that darkness is at its height during the month of December.

When the Julian calendar was officially set in the Roman Empire during 46 A.D., December 25 was chosen to be the decreed time for the celebration of the Saturnalia and Bacchanalia. It was in December 25 that daylight is at its shortest length. This means that the night is longer than the day. For the ancient pagan worship, the sun is thought to be the supreme god that gives life to the world.

Through the celebration of Saturnalia and Bacchanalia feast, people are said to be “helping” the sun god to return its light again. After December 25, the winter solstice is finally over and the length of the day is beginning to be longer.

But this does not solve our question yet. How did December 25, a pagan festival, become a Christian festival?

The popularity of Christianity was gaining popularity and it eventually reached Northern Europe. Christianity was faced with the dilemma of how to turn these sun-worshipers into worshiping Jesus Christ. The pagans were told that they can keep their tradition as long as their focus will be to worship the Son of God instead of the sun. They can still keep their pagan customs which include mistletoe, evergreen trees, exchanging gifts, holly, ivy, Yule log burning other unbiblical practices.

Thus we have now a pagan holiday with “Christian” wrappings.

One of the biggest lies propagated among children during the Christmas season is Santa Claus. How on earth could a fat man in red jumpsuit who supposed to be travelling from North Pole riding on a flying sleigh pulled by reindeers begun to be associated with Christmas?

Santa Claus is a name derived from St. Nicholas who lived in southern Asia Minor (curiously, if you rearrange the name Santa, you can get Satan). He is a catholic saint honoured during December 6. It is really difficult to imagine how St. Nicholas from Middle East live in North Pole.

It is believed that the modern appearance of Santa Claus was derived from the gods known as Thor and Woden. These two gods are worshiped in the farthest northern corner of Europe.

While we cannot find the word Christmas in the Bible, we can derive some principles from the bible which tells us to depart from festivals with pagan origin.

Let us read Deuteronomy 12:28-32.

28 Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

29 The Lord your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, 30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of DETESTABLE THINGS the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

The instruction from God is very clear. There is no gray area, all are black and white. God plainly tell us not to mix pagan worship with how we should worship Him. CHRISTMAS IS LIKE PUTTING JESUS CHRIST INTO OPEN SHAME, putting Him into something that God Himself said that it is detestable and abominable. God later said that you must not add to the commandments of God and even take away from it!

Now, you might say that this instruction is for Israel only. But what does the New Testament said? Galatians 3:29 said;

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

If you belong to God, then you are part of the spiritual Israel. The Church of God is now called the spiritual Israel. Therefore, the instruction found in Deuteronomy 12 is as applicable to us as it is to the ancient Israelites.

Do you know that Christmas trees are found in the Bible? Surprisingly, it is condemned by God rather than being promoted. Read Jeremiah 10:2:5.

2 This is what the Lord says:

“Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the heavens (talking about sun worship),
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the practices of the peoples are WORTHLESS;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with SILVER AND GOLD;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good.”

God demands that we should worship Him in TRUTH and SPIRIT. This is evident in John 4:23-24.

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.”

So if you want to worship God, you must worship Him in truth and spirit. Now ask yourself, is Christmas the real day of Jesus birth? Did Jesus command us to celebrate His birth? Is it alright to worship God with festivals associated to dark, obscure, and pagan origin? Is celebrating Christmas a form of worshiping God in spirit? Will God be happy with how we worship Him?

Let us be honest and take a second look at Christmas. Satan is very clever and he wrapped Christmas in a very attractive wrapping, but inside you will find different types of dark secrets. Will you worship God according to the tradition of men and according to how you want to worship Him? Or will be you be willing to submit your life into God’s hands and finally follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ?

Make a decision today. Do not be deceived by what the majority of people are now doing. Make a choice. Make that choice right by not celebrating Christmas because real Christians follow God’s commandments. Real Christians do not celebrate Christmas.