I really am curious.
I always grew up with Christmas as just a Santa thing. As an adult I have sometimes wondered what I want to teach my kids. The world does put this religious tone on the holiday, so is it wrong to bring faith into the holiday? I really have quite a bit of anxiety about this at times.
I don't believe we know when Jesus was born, and I do believe we should celebrate him every Sunday, but how do I verbalize this to my kids? I have to be honest, I'm a little embarrassed to even post this, but I doubt I'm the only one with this question. I just feel like it's something that was never addressed in my life and something I've never been able to get anyone to answer.
I would love any advice from parents who have talked with their kids about Christmas or from those who feel like they have a plan for how to do this.
I did just see this posted on a friend's Facebook page... it does make me think.
" I am very confused and concerned with all Christians that celebrate Christmas as Jesus' birthday.
1) Jesus was most likely not born on Christmas day. It was most likely not in the winter months at all.
2) The Roman Catholic church added Christmas and Easter to the christian calendar (long after the Bible was completed) even though the Bible is very clear about how we are not to add to the Bible.... Rev. 22:18
3) Christmas is NOT in the Bible! How can it be when man invented if AFTER the Bible was written?
4) God never told us to celebrate Jesus birth. Don't you think if He had wanted us to celebrate it He would have told us the exact day on which to do that? However, He did tell us to celebrate his death on the first day of every week. This should tell us something!
I sure hope and pray that members of God's church are not celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday at all and certainly not just because the world as a whole celebrates it as such!
Stand up for what is right and for what the Bible says!
I for one would hate to have to try explaining to God on judgment day why I thought I could improve upon His perfect book by adding to it.
References - The Bible; Should Christians Celebrate Christmas as a Holy Day? Allen Webster"
9 comments:
I'm going to agree with the FB post only on the thought that if God wanted us to rever a day of Jesus' birth, he would have let us know when it is (but we don't so the day must not really matter). And add that in all likelihood the date of December 25 comes from the Mithra cult that was being practiced during the days of the early church. Their new year and the Mithra's birthday was believed to be December 25.
But I believe that if the world is going to stop and turn to Christ and be open to hear about Christ around Christmas, I don't have a problem using their seasonal openness as a time to share about what we do know to be true- there was a young woman who conceived by the Holy Spirit. I have no problem using their seasonal openness as a time to tell them about a God that loves them so much he sent part of himself to earth to live among us, to experience all we experience so that we can know His character and know that we can experience Him more fully by following the life example of Jesus. And if their seasonal openness allows me to be able to go on with the story to tell them that in the end, what the world saw as a failure (the cross) was the greatest victory the world will ever know and that they can now live as citizens of God's kingdom here on earth and have all the rights as God's chosen people--- then yes, I will let Christmas be a celebration of the birth of Christ.
As for my children, I word it in just that way- we don't know when Christ was born, but we do know he was born and we know that right now people are open to celebrating that. I try to convey that we don't celebrate this once a year but what a blessing that this something we get to experience day after day. And what a good reminder that his birth, his life, his ressurection should help us be kinder to everyone (as most people are kinder at Christmas), and this should help us give to others (as most people tend to volunteer more and give more at Christmas) and we should remember to show love and grace to all people all year (as most people share it during Christmas).
I also hold true that I would rather focus on God and his gift of Christ (though true that it's not his actual birthday) during this time of year than the overcommericalization and gluttonesque shopping that so many (Christians included) do during this season. So focusing on God over gifts, doesn't sound too bad to me.
As for the other things the FB poster wrote (i.e. Judgment Day wrath from telling the story of Jesus at Christmas)- I think they might be well served with a bit of that love and grace so many non-Christians seem to find during this season.
Totally agree with Miss Kate. I think it's silly to make it out as some sort of a sin to use this time to recognize Jesus's birth, but I do think it's good to explain to your kiddos we don't really know the day he was born and that we really should remember that everyday. I think an important thing is also focusing on what we can give and not just what we will get. Why not use this Holiday as a time to go over the bible story?! It's just like I use the kid's bday to read the dreadful sex books!! Both are things you should talk about regularly, but the formal long version can be on a particular date if you want it to! :)
I agree with all of you and will just share what we have done with our kids - now 22, 20, and 16. We are glad that so many people think about the story of Jesus's birth, but we don't celebrate that day as his birthday. I remember giving my kids an example they could relate to from their own experience of going to VBS with friends at another church. They told me they saluted the Christian flag. We had a conversation about it and I told them I couldn't find anywhere in the Bible that it said for us to do that in worship. Same with celebrating Jesus's birthday. Having said that, if I was to be invited to a Christmas pageant or other religious observance, I might go to it out of respect for the other person and curiosity, but not as worship. We didn't ever take our kids to anything like that.
We take the good things of the season and enjoy them and emphasize giving to others because we love them. Santa Claus is a fun symbol of Christmas to us and we fill our house with festive decorations. I'm sure the kids were disappointed when they found out the real story about Santa but we told them to keep the secret and now they can be Santa to someone else. They seem to be okay with all this.
But it is all a little confusing - sing Away in a Manager or not? Well we do. Nativity scene in your house? No. Send a religious card? No. But I know some who send them in my congregation. Kinda crazy!
I'm not there yet in having to really explain to my child about the deal with Christmas, but I agree with the other comments. I think it's a time to not focus on the fact that it really is Jesus' birthday, but to take the time when the world is having a celebration and to use that as an opportunity. It's a good time of year to give to others in the name of Jesus and to not be so bogged down with gifts and what we receive. I don't see Christmas as a problem to celebrate a time with family or to send cards to people you want to bless as the year wraps up. Summer Lashley told me once that they get all their cards together at the end of the year and pray for everyone who sent them a card by name. I think that is something special I want to start with our family...I don't know if any of this made sense but I look forward to telling my kids the story of Jesus, whether it's Christmas time or not.
I agree with all of you as well. With my birthday being on Christmas day I have had many awkward times when people say, "Oh! How special, you share Jesus' birthday !" I don't correct them, but I do explain to our kids that we don't know when Jesus was born. We try to focus on giving to those in need and letting that be a way to show our love for Jesus. I like the idea of letting the kid's celebrate Santa and then getting to be Santa someday too! Great topic to bring up, Chellie!
Aubrey have me a heads up about this, since we are thinking about this issue too. I'll offer a few quick thoughts:
1) Almost no one thinks Jesus was born Dec. 25. I doubt the original celebrators of Christmas thought that. So it's not a matter of being set apart from those who claim Christ was born Dec. 25. Almost no one makes that claim. Dec. 25 is a day (yes, likely with non-Christian origins) that Chriatianity appropriated for the purpose of celebrating Christ's birth.
2) Romans 14:5-6 is relevant here: "One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every 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
3) I find the idea of using Christian holidays and festivals to orient our lives to be a fascinating one. The ancient Israelites oriented their lives around a calendar of festivals outlined in Leviticus and other places. While I certainly identify some concerns with Christmas, Easter, Lent, etc., there is something about orienting our lives around a Christian calendar that is appealing to me. I'm not ready to fully subscribe to this yet, but it does sound appealing. (By the way, most of these holidays pre-date the Roman Catholic church. I know in the past I've often dismissed them as just some Catholic thing, but they're older than that.)
Sorry for the rambling Bible-nerd response.
I liked what Cianne Knowles said at my house today when she and Chelsea were talking about Christmas. She said, "Yeah, Santa is cool, but God is even better and we can't forget that!"
It was so obvious that her parents, or Bible class teachers or both are teaching priorities, which is what I want to emphasize with my child.
As for Christmas being Jesus birthday... We bought the Little People Nativity Scene before Chelsea was two. It is on a shelf all set up in my parents house and she plays with it year round and loves it. We never put it away.
While I do think we should think about Jesus' birth all the time, do we? I can honestly say I don't so for me, remembering his birthday this month is ok, though I know it is not actually when he was born.
Growing up, my family always read the Christmas story from the Bible and that is a tradition I like to keep in my new family.
Though the Bible doesn't specifically say, "You must celebrate Jesus' birth!", lots of people did. Think about it, angels rejoiced, shepherds came to see, wise men came from all over came to celebrate the birth of the new king and give gifts, and God himself placed the star over the stable so that people could come and celebrate. This is why I have no problem celebrating Jesus' birth just as I would celebrate my own child's birthday.
I agree that the focus should be on Jesus' death, sacrifice, and resurrection but without his birth we wouldn't have that to remember.
On a side note, celebrating his birth also helps me remember that Jesus did take on human form, to live as we live which ultimately leads me to think about his sacrifice.
Great thoughts from all, though I still don't understand the person's comment about reading sex books on a child's birthday. Where did that come from?!
So, two of my biggest problems with Santa have not been addressed yet. One being that he rewards children for doing good, which is clearly not a Christian principle. Yes, God looks on us with favor for doing what is righteous, but the entire message of the New Testament is that grace covers us by Jesus's blood because we can never be good enough to deserve what he has given. Santa, however, rewards "good" children materially, but in reality, there are many "good" children out there whose parents can't afford or are pressured to "provide" gifts to their "good" children to keep up with the Joneses. Also, what type of message is it that there are some kids who seem to get everything they want from Santa, but are obviously not the "good" influence we want our kids to emulate.
My second thing is a little more tricky since I know many of us who are still faithful to Christ after growing up with a Santa-based Christmas have been just fine distinguishing the reality of the Gospel and the (excuse me for saying this) lie of Santa Claus. I'm afraid it is a hard thing for children to grasp what is real and what is fake when there is not much difference in a child's mind in praying to God and writing a letter to Santa. "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good..." Oh really? Who are we talking about here? So I'm afraid that once children grow up to realize that Santa, the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, etc aren't real, it will be easy to throw Jesus in that same mix. So, I'm less worried about teaching kids about when we do or do not celebrate the birth of Christ and more about actually believing in Christ at all.
Merry Christmas!
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