You're probably thinking, "Here she goes again. She already stirred things up about Halloween, now she wants us to think about Xmas trees!" Just by reading the title of this post, you've probably mentally stated your "position" on the surprisingly controversial topic of Xmas trees. Am I right? :-)
In the 80's my husband managed one of the stores for an independent Xian bookstore chain in the DFW metroplex. Sometime at the beginning of our first holiday season in Dallas my husband told me that the owner of the stores thought that Xmas trees were "wrong". Being a new Xian, I'd never heard such a thing! So, you can imagine my surprise (and confusion) when we were invited to the home of the owner for a Xmas party--complete with a Xmas tree in the family room! Apparently, not everyone in the household shared his "conviction".
In the years since then I've run into other Xians who have the "conviction" that Xmas trees are wrong. Some are tolerant, even kind, toward those of us who choose to enjoy Xmas trees, but far too many use the matter as a sort of measuring stick to determine ones level of spirituality--theirs and mine.
Whether you have no Xmas tree, one Xmas tree, or a whole forest of Xmas trees, I hope you'll take time to read a recent post at Pulpit Magazine titled, "Christians and Christmas Trees". I think they do an excellent job of clearing up some of the misconceptions, and helping us gain a Biblical perspective on true Xian freedom--not just in the area of Xmas trees!
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2 comments:
Hank Hanegraff has an excellent article on this same topic, which I have shared with some people who have concerns over Christmas trees.
If you're interested in reading it, you can go here:
http://www.equip.org/free/CP9003.htm
Good thoughts, Connie.
A friend of mine sent the following to me via email--read how they make their Xmas holiday unique and special! Thanks for sharing Debbie!
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In our family we don't do a Christmas tree, not because we are opposed to them - we just like our "original" CHRISTmas tree better. We have a simple wooden manger and a wooden cross that my husband made over 20 years ago. Then we hang ornaments on a string along our hallway (because we still end up with ornaments and everyone enjoys the memories with them).
When we set up the manger we put CHRISTmas presents TO JESUS in the manger and our wooden nativity set underneath it. When they were younger we would clean out and find good quality toys and things (good enough that they would want them for a present) and donate them to the local Crisis Pregnancy Center . The kids went along for the delivery of their CHRISTmas presents to Jesus. Now as they are older we are more likely to have them pick out something they pay for from the Samaritan Purse gift catalog (www.samaritanspurse.org – click on Christmas catalog: $4 for a week’s worth of milk for children in poverty stricken countries, $3 for a Jesus Loves Me Lambs given to children in crisis, $6 for blankets, and several other gifts for $10 or less) or make a donation to HSLDA’s Home School Foundation (www.homeschoolfoundation.org) to help needy home school families. We wait until CHRISTmas Eve to set out all the CHRISTmas presents under the manger to keep our emphasis on Jesus’ Birthday, not the presents we are getting. When they were younger we would wait until they were in bed, now as teenagers they like to help set out all the presents (especially the ones they are giving) and add bows to the different packages before going to bed. This is one way our family tries to keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas.
Debbie
Broken Arrow, OK
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