Time for a seasonal issue. Ho, ho, ho! Does the Bible say it’s wrong to have Christmas trees?
Some of you are now squinting and maybe laughing at the thought. Others are nodding, having heard this belief from someone or somewhere. Maybe other readers are agreeing soberly and very seriously that yes, the Bible does have a verse that forbids dressing up a tree indoors.
My hope is not to offend anyone, especially those in the third group. Also, God forbid I should actually tempt you to do something that truly would violate your conscience. Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 keep me from doing that.1
What this piece won’t address is two things:
- Whether Christians or the Romans truly started Christmas.
- Whether a Christmas tree or other traditions are pagan in origin.
Perhaps a future column could address these issues, from historical and personal perspectives. Rather, the specific question is: does the Bible actually condemn decorating a Christmas tree?
Ye have heard that it was said …
It’s wrong to have and decorate a Christmas tree (Jeremiah 10: 1-5).
AKA: Having a Christmas tree could be like having an idol.
Figure A:
A Christian family, citing concerns about acting or appearing like the world, decides not to have a Christmas tree with their annual December tradition. They may give gifts, sing carols, or even have an Advent wreath or Nativity scene, but the Christmas tree is out. We don’t want to base things around an object that is like an idol, they explain. Jesus is the reason for the season.
Figure B:
One wonders what Jeremiah, if he were alive today, would say about all the Christmas trees that now decorate our Christian homes and Christian churches? Would he sound a similar alarm like he did among the ancient Jewish population in Jerusalem? He probably would.2
What’s the truth in this?
Materialism, stress, shoppers rushing home with their treasures, silver bells, etc., are definitely not the reason for the season. Jesus is. It would be wrong to assure people that holiday traditions are fine and good without also saying they can be corrupted. Surely for some people, a Christmas tree can be something that distracts from His incarnation as a human baby.
What’s the lie in this?
But is Jesus only the reason for the season? Isn’t He also the reason for everything? Could everything include an evergreen tree decorated with bright lights, bows, ornaments? Is such a thing a “creation” of the devil or the world? Or can they only twist good things God has made?
Many people in effect “worships” things like cars, food, a job, a marriage, family members and friends, even a church. Should Christians give up on all such good things, created by God? Yes, they can be twisted. But we know humans themselves are twisted — though created as good, human nature is corrupted by sin (Romans 2-3) and even Christians still struggle with remnants of their sinful nature (Romans 6, 1 John 1:8). Christians aren’t told to avoid all other humans.
But all that may not matter if Jeremiah really and specifically condemned Christmas trees. . . .
What’s the Word?
The writer: Jeremiah, a specially appointed prophet of God to Israel.
His audience: people of God’s original covenant who, true to form, had wandered away again, tempted by idolatry and other rejections of God’s law. In short, “They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my [God’s] words” (Jeremiah 11:10).
“Learn not the way of the nations,
nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
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.”
Jeremiah 10: 1-4
“Silver and gold”? Yes, it sounds like part of a Christmas song. But was Jeremiah really addressing Christians of about 2,500 years later who, as part of celebrating Christ’s birth, might bring an evergreen tree indoors to decorate? Rather, who was Jeremiah’s audience? They were citizens of Israel, who were wandering blindly after dumb customs of other nations.
Without reading further, we might even see he doesn’t even say this is part of an idol-worship tradition. God only proclaims such customs as “vanity.” One could say that’s a sin too, but this is more the sort of “vanity” that means useless.3 God is describing their custom as just dumb.
Real idols are next. His thought continues: these objects are worthless. They can’t even do evil.
and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
for they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”
Jeremiah 10:5
The “they cannot do evil” part is key here. Items used for idol worship are not themselves evil. They may be stupid, vain and useless.4 But what is evil is how the people treat them.
If I really tried, I could treat a Christmas tree as my idol, even worshiping it likeunto a god, and claim that passage doesn’t apply to me. Why? I could say I haven’t cut down my tree with an axe (it’s artificial!) and I didn’t use silver and gold decorations (I used green and red) and didn’t need nails to fasten it (a Christmas tree stand works just as well). But still it would be an idol.
Remember part of what Jesus told His hearers, after more debates over true and false moral laws with the Pharisees, “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him” (Mark 7: 14-23).
Further in
Heart check: do you treat your Christmas tree like an idol? Does cutting it down — or putting it together from a box — and putting up lights, ornaments and more draw you away from God? Do you value a tree too highly? For you, would it even be a worthless practice?
If so, then yes, you may have something in common with the pagan practitioners whom Jeremiah (speaking for the Lord) condemned. You shouldn’t have a Christmas tree.5
But such sin isn’t a tree’s fault — any more that it’s the Bible’s fault when, ahem, its verses like this are wrongly thought to be specifically about modern practices, which ignores the (human) author, his (and His) audience, and the reason for the writing.
Again, it would Biblically be wrong to insist someone must have a Christmas tree for whatever reason, or even celebrate Christmas at all, to be a truly spiritual person.
Yet people who are worried about acting worldly should consider questions like these:
- Would it really violate your conscience to have a Christmas tree? Or would it only seem to resemble a compromise with the world?
- Perhaps some parents believe a tree (or giving gifts, etc.) is something they must avoid for the sake of their children, so they will remember that Christians must have different standards. Yet should that truth be balanced also with the truth that objects are not evil, but how they are treated can be evil?
- What message does this show non-Christians about where we believe sin comes from?
- Depending on your motivations, could not having a Christmas tree be a kind of idol?
- Would you personally be sinning against God in your heart by having a Christmas tree?
Even if a Christmas tree, or another tradition, does have pagan origins (which itself is disputable anyway, according to Gene Veith and many others6), maybe the children of some Christians need to learn in this way that God can take “pagan” things and redeem them from sin for His glory.
A Christmas tree can be an example of this. Jesus is the reason for the season, but He is also the reason for everything. And Christmas trees, gift-giving, even stories of Santa Claus, can be included, in context, serving as teaching moments, with both showing and telling, as ways to glorify God to Christian children and their parents. That works even better than acting (in deed, even if not saying so openly), that it is a tree with lights, and not human nature, that brings sin.
After all, a prime example of a dirty pagan thing redeemed for the service of the Savior: you.
- Yet Christians with stricter standards are also told not to judge those who don’t follow those standards as somehow less spiritual or more worldly. ↩
- “The Christmas Tree Debate,” Ernest Martin, Nov. 1, 1991. ↩
- Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon: it’s the Hebrew word hebel, meaning emptiness, uselessness, vapor or mist, something that doesn’t last. The author of Ecclesiastes uses the same term to describe (from a Godless perspective) the uselessness of work, or pleasures, or anything. ↩
- The Hebrew term hebel is first used in Deuteronomy 32:21, in which God says that idol-worshipers “have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols.” That last word, idols, is translated vanities in the KJV; the words here are interchangeable. ↩
- The same could be true if you really don’t care about having a tree anyway. ↩
- See “Why December 25?”, Gene Veith, World magazine, Dec. 10, 2005. ↩
I like this article, and I am glad that you drew the distinction between vanity and sin. If vanity is equated with sin then you have a big problem with Ecclesiastes in which the writer calls everything vanity. I am also glad that you brought up the point that we cannot blame sin on an object such as a Christmas tree. Too often today we want to blame our sin on people who cannot be responsible for another’s actions, and we want to blame our sin on objects, which clearly cannot be evil or good. I think alot of people are living their lives in a miserable state because they see some objects as good and some as evil. They spend alot of precious time ridding theirselves of anything that they think is evil and gathering to themselves what they deem as good. The real issue is, most of the time if not all of the time, internal not external.
Separate issue Stephen: what about Christmas trees in church? There we have a problem, especially for those who subscribe to the regulative principle (whatever isn’t prescribed by Scripture for worship is forbidden in worship). That’s the major objection to advent/Christmas traditions in general.
In that case, I think Christmas trees and other decorations would fall neatly into the category of Meat Sacrificed to Idols. Christians who have no special convictions to avoid those should not rub it in to those with “weaker” consciences, who would automatically see pagan connotations if, say, a tree or Advent wreath were in a church sanctuary.
This is one reason why church denominations can be good. Some Christians may really not be comfortable with some traditions (say, certain art forms in worship), and others who may be at the stage (maturity?) of benefiting from these could best be together.
However, I submit that a lot of “that offends me” notions that some Christians come up with aren’t the same as “that tempts me.” As Randy Alcorn says in his excellent article, A Stumbling Block: What it is and What it isn’t, a woman offended by a man with a beard can’t really claim a “weaker brother (or sister)” principle because she would not be tempted to grow a beard. Alcorn notes, about some “professional weaker brothers”:
[...] now as I was then, while lecturing my obnoxious self. Some of what I would say would be based on this week’s Wednesday column, about a Bible passage being misused about Christmas [...]
[...] An excerpt from last year — read the complete column here. [...]
The christmas tradition and custom is the work of CUNNING man.
Read with your eyes open or you will be SLING out of the land with your customs and traditions.
Jeremiah 10.
Christmas is the Saturnalia with a different coat,you worship satan with Christ name.
Go read what debauchery was done during the Saturnalia festival.
How can you beleive in the Bible and continue with such disgusting practice.
Indeed the Lord stated “they worship me with their lips but their heart is far from me”.
“They will say Lord we have preached in your name and healed and casted out devils in your name…” and the Lord will say “Depart from me I know you not”. There will be crying and knashing of teeth.
Thanks for that, Jerico’s. Now, would you like to interact with the already-established refutation of that view? I’ve already shown that Jeremiah 10 has nothing to do with Christmas trees or Christmas traditions.
If you believe that people are held guilty for doing something that other people used for sin, then what on earth are you doing using a computer? Other people use the computer for gambling, adultery, and pornography. How dare you indulge in this practice with the history that it’s had. Internet use is just porn-seeking with “a different coat.”
I do not agree with that notion at all! But to be consistent, you should.
Dear Stephen
I am really concerned about Jeremiah 10: 3:4. Isn’t the work of the hands of the workman, the tree that is being cut? I mean a friend told me some “commonsense.” He said, “The work of the workman, results in a tree being cut, therefore a felled tree, is ‘the work of a workman with the axe! Then it is decked with gold and silver balls!’ ”
I paraphrase, but that is the gist of what was said. Is his statement true? Please clarify, I am wracked with guilt because I have a tree in my house. Thanks in advance.
Stephen
I am really concerned about Jeremiah 10: 3:4. Isn’t the work of the hands of the workman, the tree that is being cut? I mean a friend told me some “commonsense.” He said, “The work of the workman, results in a tree being cut, therefore a felled tree, is ‘the work of a workman with the axe! Then it is decked with gold and silver balls!’ ”
I paraphrase, but that is the gist of what was said. Is his statement true? Please clarify, I am wracked with guilt because I have a tree in my house. Thanks, In Jesus.
Stephen,
I am really concerned about Jeremiah 10: 3:4. Isn’t the work of the hands of the workman, the tree that is being cut? I mean a friend told me some “commonsense.” He said, “The work of the workman, results in a tree being cut, therefore a felled tree, is ‘the work of a workman with the axe! Then it is decked with gold and silver balls!’ ”
I paraphrase, but that is the gist of what was said. Is his statement true? Please clarify, I am wracked with guilt because I have a tree in my house. Thanks, In Jesus.
If you are a true Christian then you would search it out for yourselves with prayer & fasting with a humble & contrite spirit . Knowing that all traditions which we were taught buy our family heritages are not all good as true Christians should stay away from practicing them & stop forcing them onto our children . Santa is a form of satan beliefs to conform to the ways of the world & stand your ground as a true Christian & say no to the worldly traditions & beliefs . Read your KJV Bibles & listen to His voice thru the scriptures & be a do’er of His word & not just a listener . I say all of this out of love to all my true Christians brothers & sisters ; seek ye first the kindom of God & all these things shall be added unto you .
Decorating Christmas Trees is NOT a sin UNLESS you worship it. I don’t care what Jeremiah has got to say about it because he was writing his book 500 years before anyone knew Jesus. God smiles upon smiles even if it means decorating a tree to celebrate the birth of Christ the Lord Jesus. None of this would matter anyway because God knows, in your heart, that you know Jesus is the Reason for the Season.
Nuff said,
~Rev. Joseph