This is what we are
after. We have come through a period of history watching Christian institutions
(denominations, schools, churches, etc.) slide into liberalism, and we have
lost much faith in institutions and traditions. We think the Reformation
removed churchly authority, when it really put it in its proper place. This
mindset includes our holidays. When we reject the holidays which the world
commercializes, we are kicking out from under us the very
stabilizing elements we need to build a Christian culture that can promote
multi-generational faithfulness.
Family provides the
primary, but not the sole means of cultural stability. Very few parents have
all the resources they need themselves to raise their children to maturity. We
buy curriculum, we go to church. We also celebrate holidays that we didn’t
originate. We can strengthen the family by using “durable institutions, deep
roots, thick culture.” Our annual feasts are one of those strands. There was
wisdom in the annual feasts God gave Israel, but they are no longer binding on
God’s people (Col 2:16), and the sacrifices embedded in them are now set aside
(Heb 7-10). As the law has died and risen with Christ, so have these feasts.
The principles of the law abide, and the church for 2000 years has cultivated
this in tangible ways, one being Christmas.
The direct impact of a nuclear family upon a generation lasts about 20 years. If the children are faithful they carry it on for another 20 years with their own children. These “little platoons” are the foundation of society. Churches, schools, Boy Scouts, companies large and small, governments local and federal, and our holidays all are built upon, yet transcend, families. The direct impact of a faithful Christian institution like Harvard, the Presbyterian church or a government lasts an average of 80 or 100 years before going corrupt. They are a strata of society built upon the family that gets the whole building built. It needs constant remodeling, as family integrity is currently crumbling.
We can no longer look to the mainstream media for reliable and objective news. They have become too corrupt. As has Harvard. But we still need to find good news and good education. We just don’t have national examples that everyone can look to reliably. We need to look closer to home for good examples, and we aren’t used to doing that. So we think we have to do it all ourselves. But there are examples, in our church or neighborhood, or school, or homeschool co-op. We can no longer look to our culture for good direction on how to celebrate Christmas. There was a time the culture looked to the Church for that direction, but I wouldn’t recommend that today, honestly. And just at the time when we need a "thick culture" the most, we are rejecting traditions that can help us so much.
So let us treasure and
uphold edifying human traditions like Christmas. This is why we have “Heritage”
in our church name – it refers to our historical heritage passed on to us by our
Church fathers. Such traditions are not binding upon us, but often useful in
expressing our faith corporately, even if they aren’t commanded in Scripture. I
believe Jesus Himself participated in such traditions (John 10:22-23). Does “Christmas”
mean Christ mass, as in the Roman Catholic mass? Yes. This does not mean the
holiday is hopelessly entwined with erroneous Roman doctrine – it is not. In
fact the central fact of Christmas, the Son taking on human flesh, helps us
fight the error that physical things work against the spiritual.
Let us give thanks for
holidays that prompt us to remember the work of Christ on our behalf. Let us
foster in our families an annual celebration of the gift God gave the world.
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