December 25th: Church or No Church?

As December 25th approaches, a glance at the calendar will remind you that this Christmas falls on a Sunday.  While this may seem exciting for the average church attender, it raises some interesting questions among smaller congregations and can even become a point of contention between local churches.  The question?  "do we have service on Sunday or cancel it?"


At the sound of this, some of you may be appalled!  You might think, "why wouldn't we have church on Christmas? This is perfect!"  However, just as quickly as that thought came to reader's minds, other readers may be thinking something quite opposite. "Whew! One less thing to do on Christmas" or "now we can go visit Aunt Lula Bell without feeling guilty for not going to church."

The problem with this question is that it comes down to preference and not biblical mandate.  Sure, it almost sounds sacrilegious to not have service on Christ's birthday. Well, that is until someone points out that Christ wasn't actually born on December 25th and we are simply celebrating it that day.  It begs the questions, "why can't we celebrate it on Dec 4th, or what about every day all year long?"  You could also get into a discussion about the pagan celebration of the winter solstice and how Christians joined pagan roots with the timing of the celebration, but that's for another day.

On the other side of this issue, at least for me, is the evangelism card. Let's face it, some people only go to church on Christmas and Easter. These people, while perhaps nice enough, are not walking as closely with the Lord as they could (then again, who is?).  If the church doors are closed on Christmas day, does this prevent a possible outreach opportunity for those who only show up twice a year? Perhaps. With the doors open, there is much more potential to reach someone, than with the doors closed.

So what is a church to do?   I believe it comes down to a Romans 14 issue.  It definitely is not a biblical mandated issue.  So the answer must be decided by each individual church's (or denominations) leadership.  That's really all we can say about this without getting caught up in our opinions.

What about the congregations?

Assuming your church is not having services and you aren't traveling or spending time with family, or maybe you are but you want to attend church first, I suggest visiting another church. Despite what some insecure pastors might think, you haven't committed "church adultery" because you were never married to the church. You are the church and the church is married to Christ. Besides, your church is closed that day.

So find a church that is open on December 25th and enjoy celebrating the birth of Christ with like minded saints.

Or,get up that morning and read the Christmas story with your family directly from the inspired Word of God.

Whatever you do this Christmas, make it something that will glorify the King, not divide His children.