The Top 10 Reasons Why I Don't Celebrate Christmas



Are there valid reasons for not participating in the Christmas celebrations?
hristmas is a hugely popular holiday celebrated by some 2 billion people worldwide. It’s become such an ingrained part of modern culture that even people in nations with little or no Christian history or tradition are celebrating it in increasing numbers.
Christmas is so big that it plays a key role in the economies of many nations. In the U.S. retail industry, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday is commonly known as “Black Friday”—not because it’s bad, but because this marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season and stores that have been “in the red”—operating at a loss all year—suddenly see their sales shoot up so fast that they are now operating in the black (at a profit) the rest of the year. “Black Friday” is the biggest shopping day of the year due to its Christmas sales.
Christmas is big— very big. Schools and colleges commonly take a week or longer break at this time, some businesses shut down to give their employees time off, many families plan trips and get-togethers, and some people darken the door of a church for perhaps the first time all year.
So it’s not surprising that I get some pretty shocked looks when I tell people I don’t celebrate Christmas. That’s pretty unusual for anyone, much less someone who’s been an ordained minister for 15 years and edits a Christian magazine.
So what’s up with this? Why would anyone not want to celebrate Christmas like nearly everybody else? Are there valid reasons for not participating in all the holiday hoopla?
American Late Show
television program host David Letterman is famous for his “top 10” lists in which he offers pointed commentary about popular culture and current events. So here I offer my top 10 reasons for not celebrating Christmas!


1. Christmas is driven by commercialism.
It’s not that difficult to recognize what really drives the holiday in our age. Cal Thomas, an American syndicated columnist who often writes from a Christian perspective, acknowledged uncomfortable truths about Christmas in a December 2003 column.
Having said good-bye to the Christmas habit several decades ago, I couldn’t have said it better myself!


2. Christmas is nowhere mentioned in the Bible.
This is rather obvious, but most people never give it a second thought. The books of the New Testament cover 30+ years of Jesus Christ’s life, then another 30+ years of the early Church following His death and resurrection, but nowhere do we find any hint of a Christmas celebration or anything remotely like it.
Yes, the Bible does give us quite a few details of His birth—the angelic appearance to Mary and then Joseph, the conditions surrounding His birth in Bethlehem, the heavenly choir’s performance for the shepherds in the fields outside the town. But nowhere in the Bible is there
any record of anyone
observing Christmas or any hint that God the Father or Jesus Christ expects us to do so.


3. Jesus wasn’t born on or near December 25.
Surprising but true! Remember those shepherds who were “living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night”? ( Luke 2:8 ). December weather around Bethlehem is often miserably cold, wet and rainy. No shepherd in his right mind would have kept his flocks outside at night at that time of year!
The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary says this passage argues “against the birth [of Christ] occurring on Dec. 25 since the weather would not have permitted” shepherds to be out in the fields with their flocks then.
And Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays tells us that Luke’s account of Christ’s birth “suggests that Jesus may have been born in summer or early fall. Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night” (p. 309) rather than keeping them outdoors.
Also, Luke 2:1-4 tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem because his parents came to that town to register in a Roman census. The Romans were well known as highly efficient administrators. It would have made no sense to have conducted a census in the dead of winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and traveling was difficult due to poor road conditions. Taking a census under such conditions would have been self-defeating!


4. The Christmas holiday is largely a recycled pagan celebration.
Again, surprising but true! Read it for yourself in just about any encyclopedia.
Consider the customs associated with Christmas. What do decorated evergreen trees, holly, mistletoe, yule logs, a jolly plump man in a fur-lined red suit, sleighs and flying reindeer have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ?
None of these things have anything to do with Him, but they have a lot to do with ancient pagan festivals. (Read the eye-opening details in our free booklet Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep? )
And what about the date of Dec. 25? How did it come to be assigned as the supposed date of Jesus Christ’s birth? Historians Gerard and Patricia Del Re explain:
“The tradition of celebrating December 25 as Christ’s birthday came to the Romans from Persia. Mithra, the Persian god of light and sacred contracts, was born out of a rock on December 25. Rome was famous for its flirtations with strange gods and cults, and in the third century the unchristian emperor Aurelian established the festival of Dies Invicti Solis, the Day of the Invincible Sun, on December 25.
“Mithra was an embodiment of the sun, so this period of its rebirth was a major day in Mithraism, which had become Rome’s latest official religion … It is believed that the emperor Constantine adhered to Mithraism up to the time of his conversion to Christianity. He was probably instrumental in seeing that the major feast of his old religion was carried over to his new faith” ( The Christmas Almanac, 1979, p. 17).
It’s difficult to determine the first time anyone celebrated Dec. 25 as Christmas, but historians generally agree that it was sometime during the fourth century—some 300 years after Christ’s death. And then a contrived date was chosen because it was
already a popular pagan holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god!
Similarly, virtually all of the customs associated with Christmas are recycled from ancient pagan festivals honoring other gods.


5. God condemns using pagan customs to worship Him.
Since Christmas is supposedly a day to worship and celebrate God the Father and Jesus Christ, wouldn’t it be a good idea to look into the Bible to see what it says about how we should worship God?
The answer is quite clear. God gives specific instruction about using pagan practices to worship Him— the exact thing Christmas does! Notice what He says in
Deuteronomy 12:30-32 : “. . . Do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way . . . Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (emphasis added throughout).
And lest some think this is simply an Old Testament command that no longer applies, the apostle Paul makes the same point in 2 Corinthians 6, where he addresses whether unbiblical religious customs and practices have any place in the worship of God’s people:
“What fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial [the devil and/or demons]? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God . . .
“Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate,
says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.’ Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ; 2 Corinthians 7:1).
Rather than relabeling pagan customs as Christian, or allowing members of the Church to continue their old pagan practices, the apostle Paul told them in no uncertain terms to leave behind all these forms of worship and worship God in true holiness as He commands. Jesus likewise says His true followers “must worship in spirit and truth” ( John 4:24 )—not revel in recycled pagan customs and symbolism.


6. Christmas is worshipping God in vain.
Since Christmas is a jumble of ancient pagan customs invented by men, and a holiday found nowhere in the Bible, does God honor or accept such worship?
Jesus provides the answer in His stern rebuke of the religious teachers of His day, men who had substituted
human traditions and teachings for God’s divine truths and commands: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites . . . ‘in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ . . . All too well you
reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition” (Mark 7:6-9 ).
In the 17th century Christmas was actually outlawed in England and some parts of the American colonies because of its unbiblical and pagan origins. They knew something most people today have forgotten or have never known!

7. You can’t put Christ back into something He was never in.
Some people admit the many problems with Christmas. But rather than face up to those problems, some assert that we should “put Christ back in Christmas.”
However, it’s impossible to “put Christ back in Christmas” since He never was in Christmas in the first place! He never so much as heard the word “Christmas” during His lifetime on earth, nor did His apostles after Him. You can search the Bible cover to cover but you won’t find the words “Christmas,” “Christmas tree,” “mistletoe,” “holly,” “Santa Claus” or “flying reindeer.”
Putting Christ back in Christmas may sound like a nice sentiment, but it’s really only a misguided effort to try to justify a long-standing human tradition rather than what the Bible tells us we should do.


8. The Bible nowhere tells us to observe a holiday celebrating Jesus Christ’s
birth —but it clearly does tell us to commemorate His
death.
As noted earlier, the Bible nowhere mentions Christmas or tells us to celebrate Christ’s birth.
This is not to say that the Bible doesn’t tell us to commemorate a highly significant event in Jesus Christ’s life on earth. It does —but that event is His death,
not His birth.
Notice what the apostle Paul, conveying the instructions of Jesus Himself, tells Christians: “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’
“In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes . . . Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup” ( 1 Corinthians 11:23-28 ).
And yes, many believers do what they consider a form of this today in taking communion or “the Lord’s supper.” They fail to realize, however, the full significance of these acts, or that what Paul is actually describing here is the Passover — which is what Jesus Himself called this observance ( Matthew 26:18-19 ; Mark 14:14-16 ;
Luke 22:8-13 , 15).
And many have no idea of the real date of Christ’s death and the annual Passover observance, but that’s an issue for another time. (Hint: It isn’t “Good Friday” prior to Easter as so many mistakenly believe.) The point is: Jesus clearly expects His true followers to commemorate His death—not His birth—by observing the Passover.


9. Christmas obscures God’s plan for mankind.
Passover, mentioned above, has enormous significance in God’s plan for humanity. The Old Testament Passover, described in Exodus 12, was symbolic of Jesus Christ’s future role and sacrifice. As the blood of the slain Passover lambs on the Israelites’ houses spared them while the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain, so does Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on our behalf spare us from death— eternal death.
Paul alluded to this great truth when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that “Christ,
our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” Similarly John the Baptist, speaking under divine inspiration, said of Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” ( John 1:29 ).
Peter wrote that we are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19 )—a clear reference to the Passover lambs (Exodus 12:5 ).
A central key to God’s plan for humanity is Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on our behalf. He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8 )—meaning His death for our sins was planned before the first human beings were ever created (1 Peter 1:18-20 ). Only through His death to pay the penalty for our sins can human beings receive God’s gift of eternal life (John 3:14-17 ; Acts 4:12 ; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 ).
Christmas, in contrast, teaches us none of this. Regrettably, because it is a hodgepodge of unbiblical customs and beliefs thrown together with a few elements of biblical truth, it only obscures the incredible purpose of Jesus Christ’s coming—as well as why He must return to earth a second time! (For more details, request our free booklets
Jesus Christ: The Real Story
and The Gospel of the Kingdom . )


10. I’d rather celebrate the Holy Days Jesus Christ and the apostles observed.
God in His Word sets out many choices for us. Will we do things His way or our own? Will we worship Him as He tells us to, or expect Him to honor whatever religious practices we choose regardless of what His Word says?
It’s always good to ask the question, What would Jesus do? The answer, from the Scriptures, is quite clear as to what Jesus did. Jesus didn’t allow His followers the option of adopting pagan practices in their worship. He and the apostles plainly kept God’s Holy Days and festivals that we find recorded in Leviticus 23.
As noted above, they kept the Passover (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ). Scripture shows they also observed the Days of Unleavened Bread (Acts 20:6 ; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 ). The New Testament Church itself was founded on the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:1 ), another biblical festival they clearly observed (Acts 20:16 ). They likewise kept the Day of Atonement (called “the Fast” in Acts 27:9 ) and the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2 ; John 7:10 ).
Christmas, meanwhile, is totally missing from the biblical record.
Most people don’t know that the Bible includes a whole list of festivals that God commanded, that Jesus Himself observed and that the apostles and early Church were still keeping decades after Christ’s death and resurrection. And unlike Christmas, these reveal a great deal about Jesus Christ’s role and mission.
Each one teaches us a vital lesson in what Jesus has done, is doing and will yet do
in carrying out God’s great plan for humankind. The differences between these and the tired old paganism and crass commercialism of Christmas is truly like the difference between day and night. Why not look into them for yourself?

[source ]https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-top-10-reasons-why-i-dont-celebrate-christmas [/source]

Nice and interest maybe if I read it though

I'm non believer, but I celebrate Christmas (ours is in January 7), Easter, Meskele (coming of the true Cross) and some other Christian festivals. The environment during festivals is great and this is the most important thing.

Hati13:
I'm non believer, but I celebrate Christmas (ours is in January 7), Easter, Meskele (coming of the true Cross) and some other Christian festivals. The environment during festivals is great and this is the most important thing.

Justifies the Topic. ..

Great post

Unfortunately many will not take heed because Christmas comforts lost Souls. It is evidence of the power of belief and why the struggle to save our minds is not an easy one.

I neeed me my Xmas chicken

A good number of people know that Christmas is a commercialized venture and also a pagan holiday but hey nobody cares.

It is that time of the month where you get to lay back and chill after a year work. And you also get to meet families which simply translate to; it brings family together.

Forget about what it symbolize, just appreciate the advantages that comes with it.

lolz...
Religion of today is just so funny.
If all these things you stated and other factors that every church keep bringing up, confusing the said christians are the true defination of righteousness and the will of God,, then even you the 'op' isn't sure of your heaven.
By the way, which one we go follow now because those that celebrate it will even come up with better points than yours.
Abeg leave all those story jor.

To say Christmas is not in the Bible is false.Christmas in the Bible and was celebrated by the angels,the wise men and shepherds.Christmas is not December 25.It is the birth of Jesus

The days of the months January to December were named after Roman gods by Julius ceaser.How come you are still using it despite such origins

Christmas and Sundays are universal Christian C H O I C E S for Celeberation and Worship. That is, revering The Majesty and Worship of God's L O V E for Humankind.
It is not a Jewish choice for the children of Juda. It is a Catholic Christian choice for all children of Abraham.
Jesus is Love.
Majesty is Celeberation, the Father of Love.
Worship is Sunday Services for demonstration, the Mother of Love.
Please think again:-
For God so love the World that He gave Jesus to show His love for us.
God gives Consciences for Freedom of Choice and we universally choose Sundays to demonstrate our services for this catholic Love. What is wrong with that?
Now we universally(Catholic) choose December 25th to celeberate This Great Love of God. What is wrong with that?
Nothing Nothing Nothing!!!
It's all Hallelujah galore 'cos God is Great. Jesus is Love. God is Majesty(Demonstration). Holy Spirit is Worship(Celeberation).
Hallelujah!!!
-by Orisa37

Sundays are Demonstration Services to revere The Majesty of God.
Chrismas is Celebrating with Reverence The Worship of God.
For God so love The World that He gave His son Jesus that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have Eternal Life.
The operative Words in the Three Paragraphs above are:-

M A J E S T Y

W O R S H I P and

L O V E !!!

tstx:
I neeed me my Xmas chicken

Who is this guy?

orisa37:
Sundays are Demonstration Services to revere The Majesty of God.
Chrismas is Celebrating with Reverence The Worship of God.
For God so love The World that He gave His son Jesus that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have Eternal Life.
The operative Words in the Three Paragraphs above are:-

M A J E S T Y

W O R S H I P and

L O V E !!!

What is CHRIST--MASS ?

orunto27:

Christmas and Sundays are universal Christian C H O I C E S for Celeberation and Worship. That is, revering The Majesty and Worship of God's L O V E for Humankind.
It is not a Jewish choice for the children of Juda. It is a Catholic Christian choice for all children of Abraham.
Jesus is Love.
Majesty is Celeberation, the Father of Love.
Worship is Sunday Services for demonstration, the Mother of Love.
Please think again:-
For God so love the World that He gave Jesus to show His love for us.
God gives Consciences for Freedom of Choice and we universally choose Sundays to demonstrate our services for this catholic Love. What is wrong with that?
Now we universally(Catholic) choose December 25th to celeberate This Great Love of God. What is wrong with that?
Nothing Nothing Nothing!!!
It's all Hallelujah galore 'cos God is Great. Jesus is Love. God is Majesty(Demonstration). Holy Spirit is Worship(Celeberation).
Hallelujah!!!
-by Orisa37

Brother, Christmas is not a Christian thing. ..except you are talking abt another Christian. The first Christians never made any choice of sort... The whole Bible didn't mentioned it, so where did it come from?

Any practice in Christianity without a biblical root must have a devilish root, which will definitely have diverse effects on the practicing body...

The whole world cannot contain The Activities of Jesus Christ. So The Bible is just like a Sentence Precis. Christmas is a Word of God meaning Celebration and Worship of The Love of God in Christ Jesus. Worship is The Mother of all Charities. I know these by The Inspiration of The Holy Spirit.

What is CHRIST--MASS ?
Christ is Character, Crisis, Job-in-us, Pure, Power, God-of-Peace, God-of-Light, Good-God, Great-God, God's-Life, The-Faith, The-Hope and God-in-Love..
Mass is gathering to celebrate all of the above.
Christmas means celebrating God's Gift to Humankind.

Celebrating Christmas and not celebrating Christmas will any lead you to heaven?
Which is more important, remembering that Jesus was born,he died and resurrected and his coming to take his own or arguing unnecessary about his birth date?

You are trying not to conform? Leaving Christ to form His opinion about you? Good. Such is your Conscience!!!

Invalid and baseless reasons up there.... God created the Sun and the Sun illuminate darkness.... In other words the Sun represent the Risen Christ while the darkness the devil.. Hence, not faulty to celebrate the Birthday of Christ on that faithful day.