Introduction – Many Christians
shun the Christmas tree (an many shun the whole
celebration of Christmas) as inappropriate and ungodly because of its
association to paganism. Of course,
scripture does not overtly mention a Christmas tree. But scripture is our final authority of
teaching on everything, and therefore, we must allow scripture to be brought to
bear on everything. As
always, this requires wisdom (which, by the way, is represented to us as ‘a
tree of life’ in Proverbs
The Problem – In the dead of
winter, trees and bushes look like death, except for the evergreens. Druid priests, worshipping ‘Woden’, brought these trees (or at least branches from
those trees) into their homes and decorated them with fruits and nuts. They believed that the tree symbolized
eternal life. Germanic tribes likewise worshipped trees, and brought trees or
branches into their homes to entice the good spirits to protect them. Jeremiah warns us of following the practices
of pagan rituals, and Chapter 10 specifically mentions cutting down trees and
decorating them with gold and silver.
We, who are not to give any place for the devil (Eph 4:27), nor imitate
the unbelieving culture, what are we doing bringing Christmas trees into our
homes (not to mention the ecological waste of between 30 and 40 million trees
‘uselessly’ cut down)?
Is God Guilty of Paganism? – We did not
steal the idea of using a tree representationally
from the Druids. Rather, they stole the
idea from God. With this in mind, we
take it back from the pagans.
The Two Trees
(Gen 2:8-9, 15-17) – These two trees were placed in the Garden by God to
represent the eternal moral issues to Adam and Eve. The Lord gave man and woman life and the Tree
of Life was somehow connected as a means of sustaining that life. God spoke to Adam and Eve and they were given
the choice of the gracious gift of His Word or the works of their own pursuit
of knowledge through the second tree.
Eve was deceived and Adam outright rebelled from the temptation given by
the serpent (3:5). God then barred them
(graciously) from the Tree of Life (
The Tree of the
Curse (1 Pet 2:24, Acts 10:39, Gal 3:13) – Jesus hung
on a wooden cross, a tree cut down by men and fashioned for a particular use,
because God said that there He would bear the curse for the salvation of
men. The first Adam was cursed at a
tree, and the last Adam was cursed upon a tree.
The first Adam’s actions barred men from access to the Tree of Life, the second Adam’s actions became the Tree of Life to
all who would believe.
The Tree of
The Logical End of ‘Ghost-Buster’ Mentality
– If we claim it is unlawful to have a Christmas tree, why are we teaching our
children to name the days of the week after the same gods? Wodens-day, Thors-day, and the like. Why do we encourage them to blow the candles
out on their birthday cake? Why are you
wearing that ring on your fourth finger on your left hand? Why do you keep blessing people when they
sneeze? We are rife with
superstitions. But Paul says, ‘if you
want to eat the meat, go ahead’ (1 Cor
Messy History
– The fact of the matter is that traditions are often obscured by centuries of
customs blending, changing, and changing again to reflect new ideas, reactions
to old ideas, and reactions to those reactions.
You can trace the cutting of trees to pagan rituals, and you can trace
the decorating of a Christmas tree to a long history of Godly symbolism as
well.
What Has (Can) the Tree Symbolize?
– Beyond the clear teaching from the Word that trees may symbolize eternal
life, a place of judgment, or the gathering of the nations to Christ, other
lawful symbols have been developed in the use of a Christmas tree.
The Star or
Angel – Here is the Star of Jacob, prophesied in Num
24:17 and followed by the Magi to worship the King of kings. The angel represents the heavenly host who
sang to the shepherds and sent them to
The Lights
– Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the Light of the world (John
The Ornaments
& Packages – Trees bear fruit, and these ornaments now
represent the gifts of God’s Spirit upon and in us. We are to overflow with the fruit of the
Spirit and it must manifest itself in how we give to others. The tree, loaded with packages like ripe
fruit fallen, should picture our love, joy, peace, patience, and the like,
towards one another.
Pitfalls in the Midst of Lawfulness
– Christmas and Christmas trees, lawful in themselves, quickly become idols
when we –
Worship
Sentimentalism – So much disdain for Christmas comes from a
syrupy, emasculated holiday emphasizing getting into some kind of ‘spirit’
(read – mood) other than the Holy Spirit.
But we are not to worship our emotions.
We rejoice in the birth of our Savior.
Give Ourselves
to Coveting – We live like lights when we ‘do all things
without grumbling and arguing’.
Christmas is a time of thanksgiving, which always requires of us to
ponder God’s sovereignty over everything.
He has, by definition, been good to you again.
Live Like
Hypocrites – We are hypocrites when we think that
celebrating ‘the Incarnation’ can be done solely in our brains. God has repeatedly taught His people about
the importance of celebration, feasting, and rest. We are also hypocrites when we put up all
kinds of lights while living in the darkness of malice and bitterness.
Dave Hatcher,