How to celebrate Christmas as a christian family
As december approaches the question arises how to and if you want to celebrate Christmas as a christian family. In this blog I share reasons why christians may or may not celebrate Christmas. Read along as I share encouragement on how to focus on the Lord and the bible in this time of the year.
Should you celebrate Christmas as a christian family
If you read this blog you probably already have an opinion about celebrating Christmas as a christian family. I witnessed not so christian discussions about this topic before that made it seem that there are two big camps. The ones with the Christmas tree, santa and 100 gifts per child and the ones that think it is a pagan symbol and refuse to visit their friends with one in the house.
Obviously it doesn’t work that way. There are many factors to consider when it comes to such an interesting topic as Christmas. In and outside the church there are many different opinions about it. You probably don’t find to christian families that celebrate Christmas in the exact same way.
Let’s first talk about some of the reasons why christians might choose to not celebrate Christmas. Then dive into the arguments for celebrating Christmas as a christian family. As a disclaimer: we celebrate Christmas ourselves in a way that is honoring the Lord (or at least that is what we strive for). Read along as I share tips on how to choose your own way of celebrating Christmas as a christian family.
Reasons why you shouldn’t celebrate Christmas as a christian family
In the bible there is no scripture that tells you to celebrate the brith of Jesus. It most probably didn’t happen in the winter and certainly not at the 25th of december. The tree, Christmas tree balls and most other ornaments are of pagan origin worshiping some other kind of gods. So you might as well ask: why would you celebrate this holiday?
Origin of Christmas
There are many interesting articles about where Christmas comes from. Let me summarize this article from History Cooperative briefly. Christmas origins back to the ancient Roman traditions. The word pagan was used by early Christianity to refer to romans polytheistic beliefs. The Romans used to celebrate Saturnalia in order to worship their god Saturn. On the 25th of december days started to get longer again (in the global north). This was a big reason to celebrate for the Romans but also Norse civilizations.
Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree was a symbol of eternal life in Roman beliefs. That is very contradicting the Christian beliefs that (without Jesus’ salvation) we have to die (Genesis 2:17). The Romans used to feast for several days, giving gifts to each other, drinking and eating probably too much in order to worship their god.
When christians came to Europe they used the present festivals and switched up Saturn to Jesus in order to win people for Christianity. So looking at history there is no christian origin at all behind Christmas.
Santa, gifts and overeating
Even if we don’t consider the pagan origin of Christmas there are more factors to think about. It is challenging to raise our children believing in God which is not visible but real. If we tell them that Santa is real (which they can see) and later find out that he is not real it really can hurt the trust of your little ones. It also is questionable if it is good for our children to get so many presents and eat that much.
One could therefore say that we are celebrating Saturnalia instead of Christmas every year, bringing pagan symbols and unchristian traditions into our homes. Personally I don’t think that this is everything there is to say about it. Let me explain.
Reasons why you should celebrate Christmas as a christian family
Even though the origin of Christmas is pagan, people do associate it with Jesus and the bible these days. I think that we would slip on a beautiful opportunity to reach people that are not normally thinking about Jesus, His life and His mission. That is one of the first reasons why I believe that we should not ignore Christmas all together.
Imagine if our children would remind Christmas as a stupid time because everyone else had a nice time but our family didn’t. We might choose to celebrate Christmas differently than other families. But I want our children to remember it as a beautiful time of the year anyways.
Bringing nature into our homes in all seasons is such a blessing. Christmas gives a nice opportunity to celebrate the winter season as something special.
But how can we celebrate Christmas in a way that honors the Lord?
5 tips on how to celebrate Christmas as a christian family
If you choose to celebrate Christmas as a christian family those 5 tips might help you to stay focussed on what really matters in the Christmas season.
My tips are centered around the following 5 areas:
- Gifts
- Pagan symbols
- Christmas season
- Christmas day
- Your families environment
Give gifts that matter
Sometimes Christmas can shift to a holiday were we actually remember Jesus birth to a holiday were children look forward to because of the gifts. I can remember that after the vacation in school everyone would just speak about what they got at Christmas. That can’t be the point of Christmas.
No matter if you choose to give gifts to your children or not you can use the time of the year to give gifts to others together with your children. Think for example about Christmas presents programs for orphanages. How beautiful can it be if you and your children fill a box with items for someone else.
You can choose to bake some cupcakes or Christmas cookies and distribute them for free in your neighborhood. Maybe you can craft with your children some presents for their grandparents for Christmas. I think anything that teaches us as a family to be generous and give to others is so beautiful to do in this dark season of the year.
What to do with the pagan Christmas tree
If you worry about all the pagan symbols surrounding Christmas you can of course celebrate simply without them. We choose to have a Christmas tree every year. I know that the festival for Saturn was the reason that we started to take Christmas trees into our homes but honestly I decorate our home with greenery all year round. In spring and summer we have flowers in the house and in fall we decorate with pine cones and dried leaves. I believe that the meaning that you give to a thing is more important than the actual item. God says many times in the bible that he doesn’t need us to repeat some kind of tradition to worship Him but that He is interested in the hart. No matter your choice for or against the Christmas tree, let’s look into our hearts more than onto a Christmas tree.
If you want to have nice winter decor without a tree, think about dried orange and apple rings, other evergreens, paper snow flakes at the windows etc.
How to center the advent time around Jesus
We love to sing christian songs all year round but every year we specially look forward to the time we play Christmas carols. Take the season to learn poems, bible verses and songs that speak about Christs birth. Use the opportunity to speak with others about the birth of Jesus. And maybe it is a good chance too to tell people not only about that he is born but also that he lives and comes again!
You can use the time to go to church regularly and connect with people there. Maybe make an advent calendar where you write a card to someone that can need it every day together as a family? We use the opportunity each year to send our neighbors a Christmas cards with a bible verse and our good wishes in order to stay connected. You can make an advent calendar with a nice bible verse every day and so on.
I think there are a lot of awesome things that you can do in the Christmas season to center your family around Jesus and service to others. Maybe something sticks as a tradition in your family bringing you closer together.
How to celebrate Christmas as a christian family
When it comes to the actual day of Christmas there are some things that can help making the holiday something special and enjoyable for you as a christian family. In our family we spend the days around Christmas and even into New Year’s Eve together as extended family. It is a special time where we are together all day, playing games en enjoying each other’s company.
Every Christmas we read the story in Luke 2 of a young couple that goes to the city of Bethlehem and have their son Jesus there. I love hearing the story every year again and again. My grandmother reads a story that is centered around christian values and Christmas and then we sing songs together. After those activities we exchange gifts. Everyone gives one gift so someone else and everyone receives one gift. That’s it. No big deal around gifts what so ever.
When you are together as a family eating is a big part of feasting. Make it easy on you and the family and provide a meal that has plenty of healthy options available. That might help to prevent you from overeating. As a family we decide to not drink together. We have some soda and juices and stay sober. That way we can be present in the moment together and keep feeling well the following day and days.
Make the winter a fun time for kids
I hope to encourage and inspire you for this upcoming Christmas season. There is no right or wrong in my opinion about what to do and what not to do. If you are not sure about something ask God in prayer what the right thing for your family is. What is your experience with Christmas as a christian family? Do you celebrate and how do you teach your children about the birth of Jesus? Leave a comment, I would love to hear all about it!
