This is the first year that Lisa and I have not celebrated Christmas. It's something that we feel the Lord has led us to do over the last few years. A lot of different factors have been a part of that process, but I think the central reason we have chosen this is that we don't personally feel drawn to worship Jesus in our hearts through observing that holiday. It's great if others do, but that's not the case for us. Romans 14 seems to imply that either way is ok as long as we are “fully convinced” in our own minds. For Lisa and me, our hearts very clearly lean away from celebrating Christmas.
There are a lot of things surrounding that holiday that we don’t particularly like, including materialism (a sin that I particularly struggle with at this time of year) and the non-Christian origin of Christmas. But I think there is freedom for believers to separate themselves from the way the world celebrates this holiday and still remember the birth of Jesus in this manner. This simply isn’t what we feel the Lord wants us to do. By the way, don’t worry, it’s ok to talk about Christmas with us. It isn’t some taboo subject. We’re open to questions about it, and we don’t want others to feel like they have to walk on eggshells around us either. The same goes for Easter, which we also don’t celebrate for the same reason.
