(In reply)
Thanks for your email. It is wonderful that your eyes have been opened to much of the evil that is Christmas. The fact that you still struggle with dealing with it is not surprising: it is very invasive at this time of year and every Christian I know who takes a stand against it, still finds it difficult for all kinds of reasons in seeking to be totally separate from it…
The argument that it’s a matter of “Christian liberty” has no basis in Scripture. The issue of such liberty is restricted to matters which are indifferent in themselves; whereas Christmas day is a pagan holiday and thus is not an indifferent matter which can be forsaken or not as one sees fit. This is an old argument in favour of keeping Christmas, but it is a very false one.
Regarding sending of cards, even blank ones: the recipients of such will still assume you are sending a “Christmas card” even if it’s blank. They will always associate your card-sending at this time of year with Christmas. It is better to simply tell them that you won’t be sending any more cards and ask them not to send any to you either, and tell them why. Gospel tracts can be sent at any time in the year.
The lady who attends your church and who wrote the way she did is very typical of the majority who will do anything to justify their observance of Christmas. You will hear this kind of response throughout your life. Once one knows the truth about this festival, however, one can brush off such nonsense, because one knows it is error to take such an approach.
Many have said that we should use the Christmas festival as a time to evangelise. Let me repeat here what I have recently written to another Christian on this matter, who sent me an email she received from a man who justified Christmas-keeping [see the email above].
It is a difficult time of year for those who reject this holiday, but we have the truth of God’s Word on our side; the “other side” has nothing except human traditions, paganism, and Romanism! – Shaun Willcock
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Thanks for the reply [the reply above regarding Christmas], it is much appreciated, I keep reading more and more about it and am trying to have reasons ready for people who say different things.
I had people say the following too. Some of them are really sound Christians, that’s why I get confused when I see that seasoned mature good solid Christians, can’t see anything wrong, and then that’s when I think that I am being stupid and ridiculous!
Here’s one comment I had: “It is a matter of Christian liberty, let no one judge you whatever you decide to do (Colossians 2:16)…. If you decide to do Christmas, then do it unto the Lord, not the world, not with wanton materialism. But you must decide for yourself and not let others bully you with false guilt etc. The one thing we must avoid is giving the impression that we belong to a cult. The JW’s shun all to do with Christmas, and they make their children suffer as a result, they grow up resentful and bitter. It can be done in a way that honours the Son of God and for witness. But whether we observe it or not we are no better off, it is Christ and Christ alone that matters. It will not add or subtract from our salvation.”
Here he (this man is a mature Christian, and a preacher) is comparing people that “don’t do Christmas” with JW’s, but that doesn’t make it wrong to keep away from it all, just because they don’t celebrate it, does it?