At the risk of losing my readers I am posting this. Click on these links to find out where I'm coming from. I don't belong to this church, nor am I a Jehovah's Witness. I am simply a follower of Jesus Christ and it concerns me when I see other people say the same thing and then celebrate pagan holidays. I am certainly no expert on the matter and our family is still learning as we search for answers. But I ask you, what does the Easter Bunny, rabbits, and colored eggs have to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Does It Matter to God? I do not agree with everything written by this organization, but they do have some very good stuff. If you think they are wrong then research it for yourself and find the truth. Here are some other things on the history of Easter. Fertility Symbols: Beneath the Dignity of God, The Chronology of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection, The Resurrection Connection, Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth.
We are led to believe so many things by people we think are to be trusted, or we blindly follow traditions we have had in our lives for so long. I am troubled that Christians excuse the things they do by saying things like "I'm not celebrating a pagan holiday, I'm celebrating the birth/resurrection of Jesus. We can do it any time we want and I choose to do it now." I ask, "Why?" So we don't look odd in the eyes of our family and friends? Let them mock. Jesus suffered far worse for us. So our children won't "miss out" on fun and presents? Let them be deprived. They will learn a far more important lesson when they see their parents standing for what they believe in. The children of the first century Christians were "deprived" in that sense. I wonder what they think now?
Some people say that Easter is in the Bible. Yes, but it is a pagan holiday in the Bible. It is not wrongfully translated. It is not really Passover. Why would Herod observe a Jewish holiday? He wanted to have his fun and then afterward get back to the work of persecution. (This is one point in which I disagree with the article in the links above).
I hope I don't come across as prideful or critical. I am asking you to search out the reason you do certain things. My children have never hunted Easter eggs and don't believe in Santa Claus. We teach them the truth. And they don't feel deprived. We don't substitute Resurrection Sunday for Easter. We don't do a birthday cake for Jesus at Christmas. At the risk of flames I'm asking, "Why do Christians do these things?" I will also say that the Bible says if you observe one day as special you have the freedom to do so. So please don't get upset with me if you are offended. Ask yourself why you are offended? "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:165
Now to sound really far out there; I am currently researching the history of birthday celebrations. Currently we have a special meal for the child on their actual birthday, then we have a big party in the summer. A birthday bash we call it (we copied that from the Jeub family). The only difference being that we specifically say don't bring gifts. We give out little goody bags to the kids and fix a big meal for everyone, have fun and games, and pinatas. If you think there is anything wrong with this please let me know. Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic. I want to know if I am doing anything that would cause my brother to stumble. (1 Cor 8)
When we stand before Jesus Christ, will He say, "Why didn't you celebrate Easter and/or Christmas?". No, we will be judged for our works, whether they will stand the test of the fire or not. (1 Cor 3). I am purposely not putting these verses in so that you will look them up for yourself.
Please understand that I am writing this out of concern for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. If I did not care, I would not say anything. If you disagree; well, isn't it wonderful that we have that liberty?
And my reference to Easter in an earlier post? We are having a ham dinner, but we are not celebrating Easter. Remember, no egg hunt? :)
Until next time...(if anyone comes back)
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8 comments:
Of course I will come back. You have some good thoughts and it is always great to have people thinking. Reading and studying is always incredibly beneficial too. I do appreciate your thoughts and it gives me something to think about.
We don't do anything for Easter, either. We do have a nice dinner with family/friends, but don't do egg hunts or pictures with the bunny or anything like that.
We do celebrate Christmas, but don't look down on anyone who chooses not to celebrate it for the same reasons you've mentioned. We try to keep it small and simple for our family, and for now it's working for us... it may or may not change in future years, though, as it's easy to get caught up in the commercialism and just plain craziness that seems to take over that time of year!
Good food for though, Jen. We do celebrate Resurrection Sunday. We try not to call it Easter (b/c of the pagan connotations); however there are people out there who don't readily understand what day I am talking about when I say Resurrection Sunday, so I tend to clarify with the word "Easter". We do occasionally hunt eggs, but the idea being that eggs are a symbol of new life, something we have in Jesus.
Honestly, I see nothing wrong with celebrating Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Without the resurrection, our faith would be nothing. Unlike a "holiday" like Halloween, where there is nothing good about it, there is much good in celebrating "Easter". Granted, every Sunday is a celebration of our Lord conquering death and our new life in Him, but to have a special day to celebrate this fact doesn't necessarily mean we are celebrating paganism.
So, there's my humble .02 and I'll definitely keep reading b/c you have a lot of good thoughts! :o)
Good points. So many customs and celebrations today have pagan origins.
FOod for thought. DEfinitely a deep subjectthat could invoke a lot of emotions and opinions. I'm glad to see that it's not been riotous ove rhere because of it!
We celebrate Easter, I guess. We don't do the bunny but we color eggs as a family and the kids get a small little basket with 2 gifts and a few little candies. I guess I figure that as long as the know why we REALLY celebrate Easter then it doesn't take the focus off of it to hunt for colored eggs.
INteresting birthday celebration. WE're pretty traditional, I guess. I'd LIKE for my kids to not get a bunch of gifts, but that's because they don't need them. I'd rather people just donate the gifts to a shelter or arrange to just spend time with my child, ya know?
What about Christmas? What do you do there? I assume no Santa. We don't do Santa either (or the toothfair, for that matter!). Do you exchange gifts? Do you have a manger? But it's been proven that Jesus was, in fact, NOT born on December 25th nor even in the month of December so why celebrate Christmas?
Let me take it all one step further, just in the interest of sparking conversation. Jesus rose on what day of the week? The first day. The Sabbath is what day? The Seventh Day. SO why do most churches keep a Sunday Sabbath? Did the commandment get changed somewhere in the Bible? Most people I've asked say "We go on Sunday to commemorate His resurrection." But did He *say* "Hey - can ya'll change the Sabbath to the day I was resurrected instead of the day my Father rests on?"
Honestly - I'm not trying to be argumentative or anything - your post just suddenly sparked all of these questions! LOL
I totally should have edited and spellchecked that before sending. Do forgive me. LOL
Oh and hey, exactly how restful are most Sundays for folks? Hurry, scurry get to church on time, make the pot roast with all the trimmings for dinner, invite 15 families over, go to prayer meetings, choir practice, evening service, etc, etc. Whew, I'm wore out just thinking about it.
Just a thought to add, but the Bible never commands to worship on the Sabbath. It was always commanded to be a day of rest. So, we worship on Sunday in honor of his resurrection. Also, of all the original 10 commandments, the one about the Sabbath day is not repeated in the New Testament. (I could be wrong, lol, it's been a while since we did our research.) :o)
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