On Christmas Trees and Other Pagan Practices

Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
Thus says the LORD: Learn not the way of the nations,
nor be dismayed at the signs of the heaven
because the nations are dismayed at them,
for the customs of the peoples are vanity.
A tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
They decorate it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.

Every now and then some well-meaning but wrongheaded Christian approaches me with the above passage (Jeremiah 10.1-4), insisting that God sees Christmas trees as an abomination, along with every pagan custom attached to our Christmas celebrations – yule logs, mistletoe, elves, and even celebrating on the date of December 25 – and that Christians are sinning by doing such things, and I as a pastor ought to condemn these practices.

I say they are well-meaning because they wish to revere the Bible as God’s Word and they wish to be obedient and avoid evil.


I say they are wrongheaded because the passage is not about Christmas trees (which wouldn’t come into existence for another 2300 years or so) but about the pagan practice of carving wooden statues, plating them with gold or silver, and worshiping them as ‘gods’.


Isaiah famously mocked pagans for this, amused that they didn’t notice that with half the wood they made an idol and with the other half the fire over which they cooked dinner (Isaiah 44.9-20).  It is this practice – worshipping the creation instead of the Creator – that Jeremiah (and about 100 other Old Testament passages) identify as ‘the customs of the peoples’ and ‘the way of the nations’ to be avoided. 

 
I’ve yet to see anyone present an offering or a prayer to a Christmas tree!


Pagans planted crops, ate food, drank water, and wore clothes (among other things) but their doing so didn’t make these things evil.  We have all emerged from pagan cultures and ancient practices have traveled with us and evolved over time.  The following are examples of pagan practices once vested with mystical religious meaning:


…the names of the days of the week and the months of the year
…wearing jewelry and gemstones
…the practice of spring (or seasonal) cleaning
…herb gardens, herbal medicine, and herbal teas (often considered signs of involvement in witchcraft)
…decorating the interior of the home with herbs, flowers, and plants
…putting flowers in a woman’s hair, wearing a wedding veil, wearing belts or neckties and capes or cloaks
…saying “God bless you” after a sneeze, knocking on wood, breaking wishbones, New Year’s resolutions, crossing fingers, and wishing on stars
…blowing out candles on a birthday cake and making wishes


Finally, just about any and every food – grains, shaped breads or cookies, cakes and pastries, alcoholic beverages (including wassail), fruits and nuts, porridges and soups and stews, honey, eggs and milk (including egg nog) – had a special pagan religious meaning somewhere along the line.


Are we pagan idolaters if we make use of these things in our lives?


While I appreciate the zealous desire to be thoroughly Christian, those who condemn the celebration of Christmas as ‘pagan’ miss a simple fact about Christianity:  there is not, nor was there ever, such a thing as a purely Christian culture!


The gospel doesn’t call people into an already defined “Christian culture”.  Instead, the gospel comes to unbelieving nations and transforms the souls of people who then transform old practices, often infusing old customs with new meaning that brings divine blessing to that people!


Christ redeems people, and in changing them, changes their culture.


And that is how I see our Christmas traditions:  the redeeming victory of Christ, bringing life and light to death and darkness!


O come, let us adore Him!
Merry Christmas!