I am shocked and surprised at those who are coming to "defend Christmas." If you are free in your heart to enjoy these holidays, then there is no reason to attempt to convince others they are acceptable.
I have worn nail polish off and on for years, it is basically a worthless thing, but not forbidden in the Word. It is a worldly enjoyment I have from time to time, but I feel no compulsion to convince anyone else that they do as I do. Nor do I care if anyone else accepts it. If one feels the holidays are completely acceptable, then why bother arguing to convince others that it is.
Those that say we should not go back under the law with traditions and rituals are placing themselves under human rituals called the "holiday seasons."
They do the same thing year after year the same way and are grieved and upset if they are told there is no need to follow them. My question is, why would we choose to follow man made traditions and rituals when we are no longer under God's rituals and traditions as outlined in the OT passages?
I am not criticizing the use of the rituals as much as the use of the excuse of "not under the law" in this particular post.
The choice to follow man made rituals, tells me that using "we are no longer under the law", is merely an excuse to ignore God's principles to be able to follow the expectations of man. My educated guess is that if everyone stopped celebrating the holidays, most Christians would see no reason to do it all by themselves. The masses celebrate the holidays because everyone else is doing it. The same reason so many are divorcing, when just a 60 years ago most were not, and no one in normal families were using pot, but now many are.
Something to think about. If we are "no longer under the law of God, how much more free are we from the law of man through traditions and rituals.
I grieve every time I see a believer cherry picking scripture to justify their man made traditions. They just love their traditions.
Mark 7:8 " "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."
I can understand believers holding onto their traditions, it is human nature to keep what makes us feel warm and fuzzy and gives us happiness, however, I cannot understand fighting and arguing to justify it.
Why not just ignore the debates, why work so hard to convince others they should celebrate the holidays or to accept our choice to do so?
There is a simple answer, many people cannot enjoy their choices unless others endorse it. That is an indication that they are not as convinced of their position as they say they are. When we base our actions on what we are familiar with and what keeps us friends with other people, then we are not looking vertically but rather we are looking horizontally, for the acceptance of men rather than learning to please God.
Those who enjoy the holidays and attempt to make them more Christlike, ignore these debates, because although they are free to indulge in them, they do not make them an issue. They understand that they are not necessarily Biblical, but do not want to encourage others to do as they do necessarily.
No one can honestly defend the holidays as being ordained of God. No one can say that Christ commanded it as He did the Lord's supper.
If I see a post against nail polish, I will laugh and ignore it. If I see a post about the length of a woman's hair, I will ignore it, because I see no clear commands in the Word on these matters.
However when God says "do not do as the heathens do", we are to follow "God rather than men", I see a need for believer to evaluate what they do on this basis rather than just following what they have always done or what makes them and other people happy.
1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify."
