But Is It Idolatry, Or Otherwise Worshiping Other gods?

So far in considering the Old Testament books, the major argument I see possibly leveled against the practice of Christmas is the issue of idolatry. In Christian perspective and by the witness of scripture we know we serve a jealous God. We are commanded over and over to worship Him and worship Him ONLY. In the small sampling below we see clearly this command to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our might, and to serve Him only.

Exodus 20:1-6 The first two of the Ten Commandments...

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."
Exodus 34:13-14

You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim  (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
Deuteronomy 6:4-6
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart...."
Deuteronomy 11:16-17
Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.
Deuteronomy 30:17-18
But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,  I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
1 Kings 9:6-9
But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,  then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins.  Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’  Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’”


As the Israelites moved through the promised land laying hold of the territories God was giving them, the were explicitly told to keep nothing from those lands and cultures, but to destroy and burn the graven images, idols and alters to other gods. They were cautioned of the small ways they could possibly absorb the culture into their own and corrupt it.

Therefore, our question now becomes, "Is the practice of Christmas idol worship? Does it break Gods command to have no other god?"   I believe we each and all need to exercise caution and an honest look at our selves on this point, because the practice of Christmas certainly CAN be idol worship, and can break both the first and second commandments...And the 9th and 10th too, with lying and covetousness. (Really, these are areas we need to examine ourselves in regularly, not just in this discussion of Christmas.) 

I am assuming my readership is mostly those who identify as Christians, I will then also assume you are not outright venerating or worshiping your tree, candles or an image of Santa Claus during this season.  For us who name Christ as Lord, it is rather more insidious than that. While Christmas-y 'stuff' may be morally neutral there is a point we all struggle with...When you are stuck on the trappings of Christmas: showy lights, Pinterest-envyable decorations, a cute family photo to let your friends marvel at your creativity, doing all the 'stuff', perfect gifts for everyone on your list, pitching a fit when the month or day does not go the way we envisioned, etc. When these things consume your thoughts it is a form of idol worship. Maybe the thing has become an idol, or maybe you have  made your own ability and prideful will into an idol for yourself. This is the point of realization where I said "OUCH!" But after prayers of confession and repenting from at least 20 years where I know I have transgressed in this area. Oh there is such freedom on the other side!
Please set some time aside (If you have kiddos this will actually take some planning.) to pray about your Christmas practices and expectations, and to examine your heart in the matter.

Tomorrow I will look at the New Testament verses relating to the keeping of special days, and any which may speak to how we practice Christmas. I will share my considerations of the various individual Christmas traditions with you in coming days. 


As you prepare your heart and home for Christmas I encourage you to keep these things in mind--Does this practice point (me, my family, my neighbors) to Christ? Does this cause us to glorify God and enjoy him? Are we celebrating the real thing?... That is, are we focused on the amazing incarnation of our mighty God? Do we see His volitional humility? Do I need to change things up a bit to make that so? Is this thing an idol for me? Is it my pride driving this thing I think we 'need' to do? Is there a practice we need to change or drop altogether to avoid idolatry in our celebration of Christmas?

"It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the profoundest and most unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie.  'The Word became flesh' (Jn. 1:14); God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. ...The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets."  J.I. Packer
(as quoted on pg5 of the digital booklet accompanying the 'Prepare Him Room' recording, Sovereign Grace Music)