What I am finding is that pastors today, much like the pastor of the church we have been frequenting, are quick to push their interpretations of scriptures and traditions and then they build up defenses around these to prevent anyone from questioning them. These pastors do this even when they are lacking scriptural support.
Case in point was this last Sunday. The pastor was talking about the sin of worrying and was using Philippians 4;4-8 as his text.
I will not argue at all that we ought not to worry.
I also agree wholeheartedly on the pastor's point that in verse four where it says to "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" is more than a saying but it qualifies as a command.
But that is where we parted ways in what scripture states in light of the doctrines and traditions the church of today adheres to.
The pastor stated this last Sunday that when someone comes to him with arguments against celebrating Christmas they are sinning in that they are worrying. He used a real life example of this from his experience with a man who tried to do this with him in the past and somehow came to the conclusion that based on verse 5 of the fourth chapter of Philippians this man was sinning. This can only be interpreted by me in that if I were to try to share my heart on what the scriptures as well as early church history state on the topic of Christmas I would be instantly shut up and labeled as a sinful and incorrect worrier.
I submit that based on Proverbs 18:13 that this pastor is the one who is actually sinning. I will explain this is much more detail further below.
First I want to air out some more inconsistencies that I saw with this pastor's message in light of scriptures and early church history.
Simply put, The believers who lived or are still alive after that day that the Lord hath made (Psalm 118:24, actually see all of 118) are never told or commanded to celebrate Christmas. We are only given the historical account in the Gospels.
The believers prior to the coming Messiah, who was expected to be born among men, were given many things to do prior to His birth. Most of these rituals and laws were specifically given to foreshadow the coming Messiah. This has to be emphasized here because the pastor emphasized so much on the importance of obeying what we are commanded to do such as rejoicing in the Lord alway as noted above in regards to verse 4 of Philippians chapter 4.
We are, however, given a very specific command to do and that is to remember Jesus Christ's death until He comes again. Here are some clear scriptures that support this idea fully:
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:26
And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. Mark 14:22-24
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. Luke 22:17-20
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? 1 Corinthians 10:20-22
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Now I encourage the readers here and everyone I talk to on this subject to provide specific commands relating to the celebrating of Christmas in the Bible. In fact, where do we see in the first century church this being pushed as a requirement?
Another thing that came up this last Sunday that was disturbing was when the pastor spoke on why Thanksgiving should not be called "Turkey Day". My contention here is not that it should or should not be called Thanksgiving as I agree that a day set aside to give a special focus on thanking God for all we have is not out of line with scriptures. The inconsistency here is that the pastor gives weight to the name of the Thanksgiving holiday but fails to do so with Christmas as well.
Why do we call it Christmas after all?
Since the pastor brought up the importance of obeying the commands of scripture, which I fully agree we ought to do so, then he ought to obey scriptures where it says to "Prove all things". He has not done so with the name of Christmas.
So I ask again, why do we call it Christmas?
Here are some facts that are easily proved:
"Christmas" is a compound word originating in the term "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse... Crīst... is from Greek Khrīstos...and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist...(Wikipedia via other sources).
More on the etymology of the word itself:
Christmas (n.) late Old English Cristes mæsse, from Christ (and retaining the original vowel sound) + mass (n.2). Written as one word from mid-14c. As a verb from 1590s. Father Christmas first attested in a carol attributed to Richard Smart, Rector of Plymtree (Devon) from 1435-77. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Christmas
Christmas comes from the Old English words Cristes moesse, 'the mass or festival of Christ'. The first celebration took place in Rome about the middle of the fourth century. http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/e05.html
This irony of the day is that it is truly materialistically and emotionally focused but it is traditionally disguised and thus excused as the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
The mass part of the word originates from the celebration of the Eucharist which is the extra-biblical Catholic celebration of the supposed actual body and blood of Jesus appearing (transubstantiation) in the ritual called ‘mass’.
Herein lies more irony. A word that is catholic in etymology is embraced by the Protestants and evangelicals who adamantly insist on keeping the ‘Christ’ in Christmas but somehow excuse any attention to be given to the ‘mass’ part of the equation.
The irony goes even deeper and more sinister still.
The Bible tells us through Paul’s writing that the correct use of the bread and wine was that we were to symbolically use these to remind us of what Jesus did for us to be saved and to do so until Jesus returns. It is quite interesting that we are specifically told to remember his death until he comes again but no where are we told to celebrate his birth. If we are honest about it and call it what it is, it as a compromise alongside the world’s materialistic and emotional day of so-called giving (yet the getting is why most do it, I was there once myself...).
In short, Christmas is a word that denotes the celebration of the Death of Jesus in the pure make up of the word itself yet somehow we have, through the traditions of man, twisted it in order to excuse the celebration of the day where many a Christian find themselves on their knees in front of a tree excited about what material surprise will come forth. All this with Satan Clause (anagram intended) cheering us on. Santa Clause is technically an anti-Christ as he is given the attributes of omniscience (he knows if you’ve been bad or good) and omnipresence (he gets to everyone’s house in one night, essentially you would have be everywhere at the same time to do that or at least somewhere in that ballpark). These attributes as any Christian should know are only possessed by God himself and even to pretend to give these to someone or something else is what the apostle John and the entirety of the council of God (Bible) tells us is the spirit of the anti-christ is (against God, false god, false christ, image of a god or something close, etc).
I have arrived at an honest conclusion for myself that this day is a compromise for me as a Christian to partake in. I have no Biblical command or encouragement to celebrate it but I do have the specific command to remember the death of Jesus. My Saviour was born for the sole purpose of dying for my sins. I am thankful He was born but more importantly I am forever grateful to be saved through His death. I choose not to detract in any way from that focus.
So the way most today approach the so-called defense of their right to celebrate this day is both spiritually and intellectually dishonest. Logic dictates a fair look at this, if you are a believer in the death and resurrection of Christ and understand the intense severity of what He did for us on the cross some two thousand so years ago then it does matter...
Once again, here is our command to follow until Jesus comes again:
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
These details actually ought to be considered by the pastor who spoke last Sunday because as he always does he also took some pokes at the Catholic church. I as well do not agree at all with the heretical Catholic church but the pastor is not being consistent in his teaching and preaching. When he pushes Christmas he is actually pushing a Catholic invention down to the very name itself as proved above.
So in conclusion I am not at all worrying but instead I am obeying the word of God in proving all things and holding fast to that which is good.
I will also note that the pastor is not alone in today's modern churches as many are not proving all things but instead they are just promoting modern traditions over scripture and failing to listen to the wisdom as given to us in Proverbs 18:13. Thus it is the from the pulpits of today's church where the sin is occurring...
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. Proverbs 18:13
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8
...Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Mark 7:9
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