To Tree or Not to Tree

By the time you read this, a lot of you are perhaps in your final preparations for your Thanksgiving gatherings and meals. (BTW, don't forget to turn your bathroom scales back 15lbs until New Years). Soon enough, we will be transitioning to Christmas. Many of you will be pulling out your Christmas decorations to start decorating. Part of that is going out to get your freshly cut tree or pulling out your artificial tree from your attic or basement. You may have noticed some well-intentioned Christians on social media arguing that putting up a Christmas tree is a pagan practice and therefore should be avoided. Some even mention doing this out of obedience to Scripture. Their prooftext is the King James Version (KJV) of Jeremiah 10, 2-4 which reads, "Thus saith the LORD, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not."

Before you take your Christmas tree out to the dumpster, take a closer look at the passage in Jeremiah in its original context. What was Jeremiah really talking about? It might help to clear up some confusion by comparing the KJV translation with a more modern translation, such as the CSB. "...for the customs of the peoples are worthless. Someone cuts down a tree from the forest; it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel(Jer 10:3)." If you look at the phrase I've underlined, the act being condemned by Jeremiah is not the cutting down of the tree from the forest. The act being condemned is the working of the craftsman's hands with a chisel in order to make an idol out of the wood from the tree and then decking or beautifying it with gold and silver to worship it. The rest of this passage talks about this piece of fashioned wood not being able to speak, not being able to walk and needing to be fastened or secured with a hammer and nails so that it doesn't fall over. Verse 10 sums it up with, "But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and eternal King."

The Bible makes it clear that created objects, in and of themselves, such as Christmas trees, have no special spiritual power. It's what people make them out to be or the way they view these created objects that the Bible condemns. In other words, these objects only have symbolic meaning that we assign to them. This doesn't mean that we are free to do what we want during Christmas. The commercialization and consumer mindset of the Christmas season can be a huge distraction and take our minds off of what we as Christians know and believe what Christmas is all about. This mindset would fit better with the context of Jeremiah 10 for us today. We can't forget that it marks the birth of Jesus Christ, as God's provision and plan to redeem people for Himself.

People who oppose having Christmas trees can make a valid argument that we do not find Christmas trees in the Bible. That is true but does this necessarily mean that we should forbid those firs and pines from being in our living rooms? A Christmas tree can be decorated so beautifully, and I've seen some of these masterpieces, that it can be something that people sit around admiring or taking pride in. It all comes down to this: If having a Christmas tree in your home distracts you from worshipping Jesus, then I would recommend keeping it out in the forest or in the box in your attic. On the other hand, if you do have a Christmas tree in your home, and you properly understand their intended meaning, they can and should help remind the believer of the Eternal Life that we have in Christ Jesus, the Light of the World. Perhaps decorate it in a way or with things that remind you of your life in Christ or reminders of what He has done in your life.

"For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6-7

Pastor Bryan