Paul

However little it actually was, there was a bit of confusion regarding whether I celebrate Christmas. I’m posting this to help clarify my position. This isn’t directed at anyone, but perhaps it’ll be something I’ll be able to refer back to for the benefit of future visitors. Additionally, writing things out tends to help me examine my thoughts and understand beliefs better.

Perhaps the best way to do this would be to run through some of holidays and simply give my opinions on them.

• Christmas - If there was a secular name for Christmas, I’d use it. In the past, I have eagerly defended Christmas as a Christian holiday, decrying all the “unbiblical” traditions (tree decorating, Santa Claus, and so on). However, I praise the Lord that He has cleared my perspective a bit on this, and I have come to realize that the problem with Christmas is that Christians want to make it something which it is not.

  It isn’t Jesus Christ’s birthday, and the Scriptures never even hint that we should make recognizing a day as such the biggest holiday on our calendar. Honestly, the celebration of the Eucharist¹ ought to be of far greater importance than any other event; in it, we remember, celebrate, and show gratitude for the incomprehensible sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us.

  So I dislike the “Christian” side of Christmas; however, as a winter festival celebrated via decoration, gift giving, and getting together with family and friends… Well, I love me some of that! It’s part of our culture, after all,² and it provides us remarkable opportunity to be a light to the world — to family we never see, to friends we rarely talk to, and to strangers we may never meet.

  Certainly, I’m not saying that every secular detail of Christmas is perfect, and perhaps my biggest pet peeve is a tiny bit from the song “Here Comes Santa Claus”: “Santa knows we’re all God’s children / That makes everything right.” Whenever I hear that, I cringe; we are not all God’s children. The first chapter of John plainly states that those who believe in Christ are given the power to become sons of God; quite obviously, unbelievers then would not by God’s children.

• Thanksgiving - I love good eatin’, so Thanksgiving is awesome. However, I disagree that I need a dedicated day in order to get my thankfulness sorted out; we ought to be thankful always. According to various commentaries I have access to, ancient Jews would read Psalms such as 100 & 136 almost on a daily basis to express their joy and thanksgiving to God.

  On the other hand, Thanksgiving does provide another opportunity to get together with loved ones, which is (or at least should be) always a good thing.

• New Years - No particular objections to this one. Again, participating in celebrating the entering into of a new year may help us to engage the culture more thoroughly. I personally could live without this one, but you’ll likely still find me watching the ball drop in Times Square with family.
• Halloween - Like Christmas, I’ve gone back and forth on this day as well. Let me state up front that I don’t care how previous generations have viewed Halloween; ancient ghost stories provide only a background for our culture’s Halloween practices. Dressing up, passing out and getting candy, and (like days already mentioned above) spending time with friends and family are not bad things. Halloween provides us a great day to engage the culture, and as Jeff Gill notes elsewhere, it may even be a very important day for Christians to get involved in and provides an excellent day to exercise the second greatest commandment (loving your neighbors).

  I’ve written about Halloween here in the past, and you may even wish to get creative by incorporating Reformation Day remembrance into your day’s activities; bonus points for dressing up like Martin Luther!

• (Mother|Father|Grandparents) Day - Quite obviously we as Christians should strive to show love, appreciation, and respect for our families, especially our parents and others in generations above ours. However, there’s certainly nothing wrong with setting aside a day to specially express those things.³ There comes a point when this becomes silly, though, when we start making up all manner of Profession Days (Bosses Day, Secretaries Day, etc.), but that still does not make it wrong for Christians to participate.
• Birthdays - Again, nothing inherently wrong here. And just in case someone calls me on not celebrating “Jesus’ birthday” while I continue to celebrate my own… Celebrating Jesus’ birthday is a matter of worship; worship for us is defined within God’s Word, and if I am to let God Himself define how He wants to be worshiped, then I must be honest and admit that He never told us to celebrate His Sons birthday. My own birthday, however, is not a matter of worship. While the day is certainly a great reminder to be grateful to God for life & diverse blessings, it provides yet another opportunity to engage family & friends’ culture — and for them to engage yours.⁴
• Civil holidays - If I haven’t irked you yet, this one may regrettably step on your toes. The Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and so on are great in that there’s good food, fun celebrations (who doesn’t love fireworks?), and the chance to (wait for it) engage our culture. However, far too often Christians get mixed up in this nonsense that America is a Christian nation (it isn’t), that it is the greatest nation on Earth,⁵ and that being unpatriotic is a terrible, terrible thing.

  I am not an American patriot. I regret ever having pledged allegiance to the American flag United States of America, and I no longer sing songs in praise of America. My loyalty and patriotism are due the Body of Christ alone. I pledge allegiance to Jesus Christ and Him alone. If my allegiance is already sworn to America, what happens the day that it becomes illegal for me to teach biblical truths like homosexuality being a sin or abortion being murder? Suddenly my allegiance is torn, and if I am to remain loyal to Christ, then I must break my pledge to be loyal to America. There is, after all, a reason why Jesus told us not to swear!⁶

  Don’t get me wrong, I’m by no means anarchist — far from it. My loyalty to Christ demands that I be a good citizen, obedient to the laws of the nation. Paul establishes that we are to be obedient to higher powers, for such governing positions are ordained by God.⁷ The apostle makes the case that we should be obedient to governing bodies not only because they have the right to execute us for disobedience, but also for conscience’ sake, for resisting the rule of government is the equivalent of resisting God.⁸

  Elsewhere, Paul exhorts or encourages us to offer up supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving not only for all men, but for all who are in authority;⁹ in doing this, he tells us that it will be conducive toward living a quiet and peaceful life in honesty and godliness.¹⁰

  As I said earlier, there are aspects of civil holidays that are good and easily redeemable by Christians; however, when the culture pledges its allegiance to a nation of men, that’s when I bow out. It isn’t to be unamerican, though no doubt there are those who may think I am. But I hope I’ve explained myself well enough regardless of what those few may think.

Phew. I think I’ll wrap it up there. No doubt I could go on for quite some time. I didn’t even touch great days like Pi Day or International Talk Like a Pirate Day, after all! Astute readers may have noticed I didn’t mention Easter as well. That was intentional; you’ll have to wait until springtime for an obligatory Easter post.

Before I close I’ll again state that I believe the Eucharist to be the Christian’s most important celebration. It is spoken of quite a bit in the New Testament — certainly more than any of the days in the list above — and has been an integral part of the Church since Jesus created it. And if we get a hold of what the word “Christmas” really means,¹¹ you’ll come to see that everyday is Christmas for the Christian. There’s a reason the Jews cherished their Psalms and recited them often. It probably wouldn’t hurt us to do the same; check out Psalm 100 if you’re not familiar with it. Savor its words, and cherish its subject.

So whatever you celebrate, wherever you are, happy holidays and God bless.

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1. The term “Eucharist” was in use to refer to the Lord’s Supper prior to the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church and prior to the idea that the bread & wine physically change into flesh & blood; the word itself is transliterated from a Greek word meaning “gratitude,” which I believe is appropriate. If you are a Protestant, do not be afraid to redeem the term in describing the breaking of the bread! [↩]
2. Jesus Himself is our example here; He didn’t hesitate to attend a wine-laden wedding in His own culture, and neither should we be afraid of handing out boxes covered in foil wrap decorated with geometric snowmen, reindeer, and pudgy men in red; if you think those things are terrible, you’re probably one of those people who would condemn Jesus for making and partaking of wine, and if that is the case, I know where you’re coming from and respectfully disagree. [↩]
3. Though regrettably, I fail often to do this. [↩]
4. Are you sensing a pattern here? I didn’t intend for this to become a “every special day provides another chance to engage the culture” post, and I wasn’t really conscious of that fact when I began. Frankly, we need redeem what we can from the culture and make it our own — just like Paul did when he went into the Jewish culture, into their own synagogues, and preached to them Jesus Christ. [↩]
5. To the contrary, I’d have to say the Church takes the cake as the greatest nation, for while all other nations are of the earth, the Church is holy, specially called by God Himself (1 Peter 2:9). [↩]
6. Matthew 5:34. [↩]
7. Romans 13:1-7. [↩]
8. The notable exception is when we must disobey man in order to be obedient to God. (Acts 5:29) [↩]
9. Paul told this to Christians who were subject to the persecution of the Roman Empire; if they were able to be thankful for such rulers, ought not we be thankful for ours, whether they be Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, or perhaps even Hilary Clinton? Biblically, we should be. [↩]
10. 1 Timothy 2:1-2. [↩]
11. It literally means “celebration of Christ”; don’t believe the lies spread by some fundamentalists that “mass” means “death” and so “Merry Christmas” means “Merry Christ’s death.” [↩]

In writing to Timothy, Paul instructs Timothy to pass on what he has learned to “faithful men” (2 Timothy 2:2), men who not only are redeemed by the mercy & grace of God but who have also shown themselves to be upright & full of integrity, willing to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” without concern as to whether it offends those ears which just want to be tickled.

It seems nowadays anyone (even women!) can go to seminary, get a degree, and start leading a church (err, sorry, “Christian gathering”), as if it were a career like unto computer programmer, business manager, or nurse.

I cannot help but wonder what Paul had in mind when he told Timothy to give special instruction to faithful men? What then is withheld from “unfaithful” men?

Would understanding the difference have helped churches keep theological wimps out of the pulpit?

Just wondering. Paul wouldn’t have said it if it was not important!

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Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got till it’s gone

Most of you have probably heard the song “Big Yellow Taxicab.” It’s been recorded by several artists and is an excellent song promoting the conservation of the environment. I have it in my collection by crossover Christian artist Amy Grant, and I very much enjoy the song.

However, there are those out there who don’t want me to enjoy that song. By listening to it and — God forbid — enjoying it, I’m selling my soul to the world and am apparently forsaking the good & righteous way.

Sounds crazy, I know. I thank the Lord that most of you have never been exposed at length to much that comes out of Baptist fundamentalism. I, on the other hand, spent a few years wholly immersed within it, embracing and defending all the right traditions, one of which concerned itself with what style of music Christians listened to.

And occasionally, I like to revisit my old stomping grounds, rereading fundamentalist material to remind myself how far I’ve come, and to force myself to continually renew my mind in light of the Scriptures.

What does that have to do with “Big Yellow Taxicab”? How thoughtful of you to ask!

You see, moments ago I landed on The Contemporary Christian Music Test on Terry Watkins’ Dial-the-Truth Ministries. The very first question on this “test” concerns “Big Yellow Taxicab.” I liked how Mr. Watkins lead into it…

Rather than just asking whether the song was performed by a secular or a Christian artist, Terry first casts the secular artists — Joni Mitchell, the writer of “Big Yellow Taxicab” — in the worst possible light. Whether or not any of what he says there is true, I don’t know, and frankly it doesn’t matter. Watkins’ point is pretty clear: Amy Grant performed a Joni Mitchell song, and thereby somehow linked to Mitchell’s supposed “satanic New-age” beliefs.

Now this is where it gets interesting. See, we have a situation similar to this in the Scriptures. The author of about half of the New Testament books, in fact, makes use of material from someone more than likely far more pagan than ever Joni Mitchell has been. Check it out:

One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Titus 1:12, 13a, NASB

Here we have “Paul, a bond-servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ” (Titus 1:1) quoting a pagan poet to make his point. What you probably haven’t heard is just how pagan the poet was — or where the quote came from. Check this: The poet’s name was Epimenides of Knossos, and he wrote a poem called Cretica. Addressing the pagan god Zeus, the poem reads thus:

They fashioned a tomb for thee, O holy and high one
The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies!
But thou art not dead: thou livest and abidest forever,
For in thee we live and move and have our being.

Note the second line which is clearly the source for the quote in Titus 1:11. But pay close attention to how Epimenides used it. Why were the Cretans all liars? Because they believed Zeus was mortal! Epimenides believed otherwise, that Zeus was not only alive & well, but immortal!

As outrageous of blasphemy that is from a biblical perspective, Paul reaches straight into Cretica, latches onto that line, and tucks it neatly into Scripture to serve his purposes.

In other words, that portion of Scripture is made up of material written by Zeus worshiper, yet God had no qualms about incorporating it into His Scriptures. Yet Mr. Watkins of Dial-the-Truth Ministries wants to critique Amy Grant for singing a song by Joni Mitchell? A song which in and of itself is infinitely less pagan than ever Cretica was?

And as if Titus 1:12 isn’t enough, Luke informs us that Paul made use of Cretica in the middle of his Mars Hill sermon. Imagine the audacity, standing up and preaching pagan poetry! Yet here we have it:

“For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’” Acts 17:28, NASB

Yep, that’s definitely Cretica again, but while Epimenides was praising Zeus, Paul turns it around — redeeming it, if you will — and applies it directly to the Lord Jesus Christ! What boldness!

But if you’re a Christian singer, and you want to bring a good-messaged secular song to a Christian audience, you’re being totally worldly! If you were being used to write Scriptures, you’re more than welcome to quote the unbelievers — even borrowing freely from poetry in praise of Zeus — but if you’re going to record an album, that stuff is forbidden!

Watkins’ logic is at best faulty and at worst patently unscriptural, and I encourage everyone to be careful in what they believe, trying everything by the Word of God. No other standard matters.

Before we wrap up, however, we must look at the song in question itself. “Big Yellow Taxi.” Here’s the sample of lyrics Watkins provides:

They took all the trees and put ‘em in a tree museum
And then they charged all the poeple [sic] twenty-five bucks just to see ‘em
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT now
Give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees, please
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Yes, it is an environmentalist message, but it is it false? Parking lots are useful, but nature is far more wondrous. Remember, while parking lots — like Babel — are tokens of man’s accomplishments, nature (including forests) is a testament to God’s glory. Should we not be concerned that we’ve been so reckless as a whole in our treatment of nature?

Whether we’re paving forest after forest, field after field… Whether we’re dumping loads of pesticides & herbicides & every other -icides you can think of into the environment… Whether we’re wasting clean water while elsewhere people go thirsty…

We abuse nature, and if the earth and the fullness thereof belong to God, doesn’t that abuse reflect on our attitude toward God himself? I believe that it does.

I commend Amy Grant for bringing “Big Yellow Taxicab” to the Christian community, and I encourage Terry Watkins to get back to the Word without the blinders of Baptist tradition.

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