Last week (mid October) I was surprised to hear Christmas music in a store I was in. Although, I really should not have been. While at the cash register, I made a comment about the music to the young girl behind the counter, hoping to spark a conversation. She only stood there sheepishly smiling. Had this been November or December, I am sure that along with the Christmas music, I would have received some form of holiday greeting
After making my initial comment, I politely said that I did not celebrate Christmas. I am quite sure that she did not care one way or the other about my stance on Christmas. Nevertheless, a seed of Truth had been planted. I did not give her a chance to respond before I left.
My Experiment
One year, I did a little experiment. When given a Christmas themed salutation, I politely said that I did not celebrate Christmas. I wanted to see if anyone would ask why I do not celebrate this holiday.
The result of my experiment was that no one—zero, zilch, nada—wanted to know why. Not one person asked me a single question about my comment about Christmas.
I have heard discussions about the different ways Torah-pursuant Believers in YAHUSHA respond to pagan-rooted holiday greetings. My heart is to not judge anyone on how they handle these situations. Nor is my heart to judge people who still celebrate this holiday.
They Just Don’t Know
You see, many people just do not know the truth about Christmas. I am reminded of a group of people that Paul witnessed to in Ephesus.
And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Ruach Qodesh since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Ruach Qodesh.
Acts 19:1-2
Although Seeds of Truth were planted, had taken root in their hearts, and were growing in the Believers in Ephesus, they still had no idea that there was more Truth to be known and experienced in Messiah.
Perhaps it was Apollos who did the initial planting. Maybe it was another unnamed person. Yet, after they were exposed to Truth, Paul came along and watered these seeds with more Truth.
My inclination when told, “Merry Christmas” is to also drop seeds of Truth whenever possible. I trust that Father will one day send someone else to water those seeds.
Most of the time, my response (which may be different from yours and that’s okay) is “Thank you, but I don’t celebrate Christmas.” I am not consistent in this. Sometimes, I pretend not to hear and just do not respond at all.
I would be very pleased to hear your ideas and experiences of handling these greetings during this time of the year. Your suggestions may also be helpful to someone who is new to the Torah pursuant life and are going to experience their first year of Christmas greetings.
Plant, Water, Increase
Whenever I make known that I do not celebrate Christmas, I believe that Scripture backs up my endeavoring to plant seeds of truth into hearts and minds about this holiday.
I have planted, Apollos watered; but Elohim gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but Elohim that giveth the increase.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7
Abba’s Word does not return void to Him. I do not quote a Bible verse, but I still give the Word as a living epistle.
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Messiah ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Ruach of the living Elohim; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
2 Corinthians 3:2-3
Igniting a Flame
I trust that my words are infused with life that will promote the growth of Truth in their heart. My words are backed with my actual practice of forsaking Christmas and embracing Father’s seventh-day Sabbath and Feast Days. Hopefully, to interact with someone who does not do Christmas will ignite a flicker of a flame that will send hearers on a quest for more Truth.
You and I may be the first person that others encounter who do not celebrate Christmas, especially, if they are very young. They could have assumed that everybody celebrates this holiday. We may be that unknown bearer of Truth that crossed their path that they may never see again.
Don’t Know and Don’t Want to Know
However, I do realize that some people are just not interested in hearing Truth about this holiday. They are fully vested in the Christmas spirit.
Others may not understand what they should celebrate according to the Bible. They falsely believe that they will be left with a void with nothing at all to celebrate and participate in. They know nothing of the wonderful Feast Days that Abba has given those who keep His Commandments.
They do not know that through YAHUSHA Messiah, they are no longer Gentiles and that they are now grafted into the commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2). As one who is of the House of Israel, they would be commanded to do the things that YAH commanded Israel to do. They unbiblically think that YAH has a two-class system in His Kingdom (House of Israel vs. Gentiles).
Not Dreading Christmas
This year, rather than dreading this time of the year, I am looking forward to opportunities to plant seeds of Truth about Christmas.
Back in 2018, I wrote out an idea for little cards to leave with anyone that I may have an opportunity to speak with about this holiday. This year I have created these little witnessing cards on the computer. They are free in the Revelation for Living Resource Library.
Most of the time, there are just brief opportunities to drop seeds of Truth before parting ways. I want to leave a Bible-based resource to help them learn more. So, I plan to give them one of the cards and pray that they will search the Scriptures themselves to gain more Truth.
I am also praying that the information on these cards will shock them and thus shake them awake. The goal is to spark questions even after I have left a person’s presence. The intent is to also plant seeds of Truth that someone else can water with more Truth.
Catalyst Cards
My experience has been that those who do not have questions, generally do not welcome answers to questions that they are not even asking in the first place. Therefore, I do not plan to indiscriminately pass out these cards.
When I do give out one, my prayer is that these simple cards will be catalysts that spur a desire to open the Bible to read the Scriptures to find Truth about whether they should celebrate this ancient pagan festival that has been repurposed with Christian symbolism.
Here is a brief description of them.
There are two different versions with slightly different text and pictures. The Bible verses are the same for both. The focus of the cards is to lead people to understand how YAHUAH, the Creator feels about worshipping Him through Christmas observance.
I purposely used the titles of God and Jesus because for the most part, I would be witnessing to people who use and understand these titles for the Creator. The cards are in color and grayscale. The smaller cards are meant to be printed front and back and cut into fours. They can be printed on regular copy paper or on cardstock.
If you choose to use these yourself, you are free to share the files with anyone else who would like to use them. Also, graphic design is not my forté. You are also free to improve the design of them while preserving the information that is on the cards should you choose to do so.
I hope that this post and these cards are helpful and encouraging to you as we prepare to face a barrage of Christmas music, greetings and Christmas spirits in the months ahead.
