Reasons why I don't celebrate x-mess

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post here titled 7 reasons why I'm glad I don't celebrate x-mess. All 7 of those reasons are very true even to this day, but I've decided to go ahead and write a post about why I don't celebrate x-mess.

I could really make this a long post by quoting scriptures and articles and, well just a whole lot of things. That is not the purpose of this post. If you want more detail information, let me know and I can direct you in the right places.


It might surprise some to find that this is a holiday that I have never celebrated. I was fortunate to be raised in a home didn't follow the so called mainstream Christianity. Perhaps it would be safe to say that growing up in a home that never celebrated it is indeed one of the reasons why I don't celebrate x-mess now.

When I tell someone that I don't celebrate the holiday that is celebrated by many on December 25th each year, I'm never sure what their response will be. I'm sure that the first thought, for at least some, is that I don't believe in Christ. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is because I believe in Christ as my messiah, and believe that the Bible is the true word of God, that I do not, and cannot, celebrate this day.

There is no Biblical instruction to celebrate or observe the birth of Christ. If this was something that was expected of us, wouldn't it be in the Bible. Rather there are several annual Holy Days that we are indeed instructed to observe, yet the majority of "Christianity" completely ignores them (Leviticus 23).

Christ was not born on December 25th. No human knows when Christ was born, period. That it was NOT in December is very clear. A simple case in point is the fact that shepherds would not have been out in the fields at night during the cool, rainy season that is December. Biblical and historical evidence points to the greater likelihood of Christ's birth being during the autumn. Still, no date, precise or otherwise, is given. Again, wouldn't this be important if we were expected to observe His birth?

The traditions and customs surrounding the holiday have no basis in the Bible, nor any association with Christ. In fact many of them, including the x-mess tree, pre-date the birth of Christ by many centuries. You can easily trace back the traditions to ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, and likely many other ancient pagan societies. Again, the Bible has no instruction for any of these traditions, so why follow them?

The Bible actually instructs against following pagan worship practices. In Biblical times God did not want his people worshiping Him in the same ways that the other nations worshiped their gods (Deuteronomy 12:30-31). Why would God want us worshiping him now with ancient traditions used in worship of the pagan gods?

Some will say that that applied to Old Testament times, but that these practices are okay now, as long as we dedicate them to Christ. Hebrew 13:8 states that, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." If he wasn't okay with it "yesterday", why would he be okay with it "today"? Easy answer is that he wouldn't be, and he isn't.

I could probably go on, and in great detail, about how x-mess was NOT observed by Christ's disciples, and that it was actually hundreds of year after His birth before he was wrongly associated with the pagan celebrations. I could try to explain how December 25th was an important date, even birth date, for a number of pagan deities. Perhaps even mention the importance of the date and customs and traditions in the worship of the sun. Instead, I will end here.

If this truly piques your interest in the origins of the celebrations, more information is merely an internet search away. None of this is hidden or secret knowledge, yet I know that the majority of people are so comfortable with their traditions and celebrations that, even learning of the truth, will never taken any action.

As for me, I cannot, with a good conscience, choose to celebrate x-mess when it has absolutely no foundation in the word of God. I cannot look at the traditions and practices of the pagan religions (ancient or modern) and say that is how I want to worship the true God. Rather I choose to do my best to observe the Holy Days that God has instructed His people to keep, and to avoid the practices that disobey and dishonor God. No one is, nor can be, perfect in the worship of God, however I can certainly do my best to avoid something that is clearly wrong.