Christmas time is approaching, and gives rise to many thoughts, not the least of which is whether Christians should celebrate the occasion at all, or whether the positive aspects of a “Season of Goodwill” are sufficient to compensate for a general licence to “eat, drink and be merry.”

Firstly there is enthusiastic commercial encouragement to overspend, overeat and over drink. Stores are full of tinsel-draped trees and glittering baubles. Jolly red-and-white Santas appear – a different one in each store – and shelves full of items and gadgets we would walk past at any other time of the year now assume vital importance as we try to work out whether the multi-coloured scarf would be just right for Aunty Betty’s Kris Kringle and whether we can get away with socks and tie for Dad again.

Post-holiday months are spent trying to lose extra kilos from too much plum pudding and catching up with credit card repayments.

On a more positive note, Christmas is also a time to remember others, particularly those who do not share the advantages many of us enjoy. It has long been a time to remember the poor – indeed the forerunner to our modern Santa (the red and white costume is rumoured to be a later addition by Coca-Cola) – was a philanthropic gentleman who used to go around leaving gifts on the doorsteps of poor children. He became known as “St Nicholas”, which was eventually shortened to “Santa Claus”. 

Today, Christmas is a busy time for most charities as they collect donations for a range of causes, including a bewildering array of livestock for Third World families. Personally I am delighted to “receive” something I don’t have to dust, feed or find a place for – and hopefully someone else gets to benefit.

Then there is the Christian message – “Jesus is the reason for the season”. We remember the birth of Christ – the babe in the manger, the saviour who is Christ, the Lord!

We use the time to promote God’s wonderful message of salvation to humankind.

Of course, we know Jesus wasn’t born on the 25^th December. If he had been the shepherds, far from watching “their flocks by night all seated on the ground” would likely have been buried under several feet of snow.  As many know, the date originated from the old pagan Midwinter festivals of the Northern Hemisphere – the Norse Yule-feast and the Roman Saturnalia (which, was anything but Christ-like in concept and execution.)  

In the 4^th Century the Catholic Church officially decreed the 25^th December to be Christ’s birthday in the belief that the Midwinter Festival was so strongly entrenched in popular culture that they might as well preserve the date in honour of the Christian God.

The use of greenery such as mistletoe, holly wreaths and trees was borrowed from pagan customs and incorporated into Christmas festivities.

There is no record of Jesus instigating, or the apostles and early Christians celebrating the birth of Christ. For this and the above reasons, many Christians choose not to celebrate Christmas.

They are convinced we should not be using the date of old pagan festivals to commemorate the Saviour’s birth. Many also object to the commercialism and encouragement to excess that invariably accompany the “Silly Season”. 

An alternative view is that whenever we do it, it is important to remember that Christ was actually born all those years ago, particularly in these times when belief in God and his plan for the earth is facing competition from multiple sources.  The story can be used as a springboard to open discussion about one’s faith. Is there really anything wrong with “putting Christ back into Christmas?”

Christmas time, at least in Western and European cultures, is a particularly magical occasion for children. Who of us cannot recall the breathless anticipation on Christmas Eve, the night which seemed to pass so slowly as we waited for the first rays of dawn to herald the moment we were allowed to creep down the hallway into the room where the Christmas tree, so painstakingly decorated in the weeks beforehand, was now surrounded by a mound of coloured packages.

Did it matter whether “Santa” had brought them mysteriously in the night, or if (as every kid over 7 had worked out or been enlightened by older siblings – “It’s your Mum and Dad.”? Who would deny a child that brief period of excitement?

Should we therefore claim the moral high ground and become “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”, or are those who participate in these celebrations at risk of perpetuating dubious worldly customs? Is there a middle ground whereby Christians can remember the birth of Christ and use this special time to extend love and goodwill to others?

At what point does “He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it…and gives God thanks (Rom. 14: 6) morph into “…Every man did that which was right in his own eyes?”