Gal.
4:9-11 But now, after that ye have
known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak
and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of
you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Rom.
14:1-8 Him that is weak in the faith
receive ye, but not to
doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all
things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth
despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge
him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest
another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea,
he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man
esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike.
Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that
regardeth the day, regardeth it
unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth
not regard it. He that
eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that
eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For
none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether
we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we
are the Lord's.
- The following are my (Frank Gouchnour) thoughts on the subject.
- First , let's set "Santa" aside from this discussion because he is very clearly a Satanic substitute for God and a patently obvious lie.
- We daily observe or “go by” a calendar arranged by a Catholic Pope and mostly named after Greek gods. This was set up before we were born and most of us seldom think about it. That doesn't make us all idolaters if we say something like, " see you on Thursday" (being named ofter the Greek god of war). Nowhere in Scripture is meeting on Sunday morning between 9:45 and 12 commanded. That was probably a Catholic invention too, yet we still do it. Why? I think mainly because people already by tradition have that time free and it is more convenient to go with it than to make a big issue about it being tradition (or some might even say pagan; Sunday being named after the sun). Biblically, the Church has freedom to meet at any time. So what about Christmas and Easter? We do not know the exact time of Jesus' birth or even the resurrection. The calendar has changed a lot since then. We can pinpoint the resurrection a lot closer than His birth. But we are not told to observe either of them as "holidays". Both of the ordinances (ordered observances) of Baptism and the Lord's table are showing the Lord's death and resurrection in a symbolic way. This is how we commemorate or bring into remembrance the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The early Church had communion every time they met. It was the central feature of their teaching, worship and remembrance. Most Churches do not do that today but rather focus on other forms of worship such as music. Tradition has very deep roots and often has no basis at all in Scripture. What about pews and pulpits? What about manner of dress? Men and women in Bible times all wore robes. So there are many things we do that are okay even if it is not spelled out or commanded, like what to wear or when to meet or whether we sit in pews or chairs. An idol could be made out of a normally innocent thing if it is allowed to displace The Lord as the center of our life. So, if you have a Christmas tree for reasons other than making an idol out of it or if you give gifts to people you love on a certain day is that idolatry? I don't think so. But if you esteem it evil then to you it is evil. To many it is nothing more than a nice reminder of God's creation of evergreens and that even in winter there is hope. By tradition people are to one degree or another thinking about Jesus during the Christmas and Easter seasons. Why not take advantage of that to preach the Gospel through the details of Jesus' birth and resurrection? Those Scriptures are there to be read and understood and should be taught anyway. Then there is the tradition of family gatherings at Christmas. Families don't get together enough as it is so why not take advantage of the time and use it for the glory of God? The Bible gives a list of things that we should be thinking about. Phil. 4:8 So let's look for the good and the praise worthy in all of this and think on that. Christians in early times bought and ate meat that had been offered to idols. That didn't make them idolaters. Let's just enjoy the meat and give thanks to God who created it and forget the dirty hands that prepared it.
_013.jpg){kind=spacer}
