The Golden Calf of Christmas

What could be better than decorating the house with the family, and ensuring that all the kids have a meaningful understanding of all of the various traditions and customs of Christmas?  The following short narrative is something I wrote to illustrate how a typical Christian home might celebrate the season:

Dad would come home from work as early as possible on the day the tree was going up.  He always managed to find a great tree, and every year it seemed to be more beautiful than the year before.  However, when the tree first came in the house, we had to leave it in the basement overnight to ensure all of the snow and ice would melt off of the branches before we put it up in the living room.

While getting the tree in the stand and ensuring it is lighted to perfection is typically Dad's thing, Mom has been busily setting up Christmas cards on strings around the house, along with hanging of evergreen garlands, mistletoe, and other decorations around the house.  Mom always likes to bring out the special meanings of each of the decorations to ensure we kids understand what Christmas is all about.

"Now, this holly we're putting out," she would say, as she was placing some special candles with holly accents on the endtables, "because it has sharp edges, reminds us of something very special.  It was the very sharp thorns in the crown that the soldiers used to mock Jesus.  Also, Janie, honey," she says to my younger sister, "these little red holly berries represent the blood of Jesus, which was shed for everyone, including those who rejected him."

My sister's eyes widened at the thought of actual blood.  "Is there real blood in the berries, Mama?"

"No, no, honey, it just represents the blood of Jesus, because it is a red color like blood, not actual blood."

Janie still wrinkled her nose at the thought of berries that had blood in them.

"What about the mistletoe above the doorway, mama?  Does that have a special meaning, too?"

"I'm glad you asked, sweetie.  The mistletoe is the type of plant that needs another plant to live off of; once it's attached to a tree, it needs that tree to live, or else it will die.  Mistletoe is a symbol of love, because we can only love because God first loved us.  His love helps us to love others."

"Hey Dad," I asked my dad as he was finishing the first light strand on the tree, "is there a special significance from the Bible about the tree?"  I thought that would be an easy answer, because everyone has Christmas trees at Christmas time.

"Actually, son," he replied, "if you help me get this strand around the back of the tree here, I'll explain it to you."  He handed me the end of the light strand through the branches of the tree, and I dutifully draped them as best I could around my side, until the string was complete.

"Not bad," he said as he came around to see my handiwork.  "Maybe it's time to take a short break."  We both sat down on the sofa facing the tree as he surveyed where the next lights would need to go.  

"You see, the Christmas tree has been chosen because it represents God in lots of ways.  First of all, because it is green all year long, it represents hope, which never dies.  Its needles and its top point upward, which is meant to keep our thoughts turned toward heaven.  Because of its triangular shape, it represents the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit united as one.  Also, because the tree is cut down and then erected again, it has come to symbolize Christ's resurrection."

I sat silently for awhile thinking about these things as the home decorations continued around us.  Then a thought occurred to me: "Dad, are these examples of symbols found in the Bible?"

"Well, no, son, not directly.  You see, these are meanings people have given these objects over the years so we can keep the focus on Jesus during this season."

THE LOOSE THREAD

Something doesn't seem quite right.  How can we just make stuff up that's not in the Bible and still honor God with it?

In our human desire to search for meaning, Christians are sometimes no different than anyone else on earth.  We invariably attempt to assign meaning, albeit a Christian emphasis, to everything we can.  As this applies to our study of Christmas, this covers worldly and arbitrary traditions that we assign religious or Christian values to, to make them more "meaningful".

The mom in this story could have easily said something like, "The hot cocoa we're drinking represents the warmth and comfort of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us.  The sweetness of the cocoa reminds us that God's love is sweeter than any earthly love, and the richness of the chocolatey flavor is a symbol of God's rich mercy towards us."  See how easy this is?

Now watch this, I'll even add some Bible verses to give it even more credibility:  "The hot cocoa we're drinking represents the warmth and comfort of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us forever (John 14:16).  The sweetness of the cocoa reminds us that Christ's love is sweeter than any earthly love (Ephesians 3:19), and the richness of the chocolatey flavor is a symbol of God's rich mercy towards us (Ephesians 2:4-6)."  See?  All made up in, like, two minutes.

Try it yourself.  Just take something typically done at Christmas, find a quality of God that is positive and encouraging, and match them up together with some Bible verses.  Presto, you now have a new Christmas tradition that explains all about God to your children.

However, ask yourself: is this really a legitimate way to honor God?

I have discovered a paradox in my short life, and it is this: the more that Christians try to put Christian meaning into worldly Christmas traditions, the further they are moving from traditional Christianity. This happens by not understanding (or ignoring) the original history of particular symbols and traditions, then attempting to assign Christian meanings to them. The further one grows from the truth of Christ, the closer one moves toward the practice of idolatry.

Instances of idolatry plagued Israel throughout its history, and now, I believe it sorely plagues those belonging to Christ, most noticeably in the Christmas season.  More specifically, it is the idolatrous practice of  using representative, or substitutionary, icons.  This is the idea that God can be worshiped through something else that represents him, as long as we are sincere in assigning an appropriate religious meaning to it.

WHAT'S REVEALED AFTER UNRAVELING:
While these sentiments most likely have been very sincerely intended to create Christian meaning in various Christmas traditions, they are merely inventions of Christian people attempting to "Christianize" worldly customs so they can still participate in them.  As mere inventions of people, they are not really the way God desires to be worshiped.  They may carry the spirit of what's important, but since they are just made up they are not the truth.  We must worship in both spirit AND in truth.  All of these types of definitions are man-made symbols, designed to represent some aspect of God or his nature.  These easily lead to iconic veneration or image substitutions of the real thing. When you boil it all down, this is essentially what idolatry is.

You don't believe the Christmas tree is an idol?  Then don't have one next year and see what happens.  See what your family and friends say.  Find out what your kids think about that.  The Christmas tree is iconic veneration at its height; in fact, it is so pervasive, it is practiced by religions and nationalities the world over.

In this sense, these meaning substitutions begin to lead individuals down the dangerous path of syncretism.

Syncretism is a word that means combining or reconciling opposing practices and principles. It is most commonly used in a religious or philosophical context, and as with Easter, Christmas too is syncretic in its origins: a pagan celebration whose provenance long predates Christ’s birth, but which eventually made its way into the Christian mainstream.  Source link

Another definition of syncretism says it is "the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion." Dictionary.com.   That means that opposing or differing philosophies or religious theologies are merged to form some sort of compromise between the two.

Any sort of compromise between the Christ of the Bible and a worldly tradition or custom is an unholy alliance.  As Paul writes:

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.  -  2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Does it sound like I'm advocating some type of isolation from the world in order to serve Christ effectively?  No, I'm not.  Well, at least not entirely.  The ascetic nature of mystics and sects does not serve to enhance the gospel, it merely gets people out of the worldly influence for their own benefit.  How many times I would have loved to belong to a commune somewhere to be removed from all of the temptation and struggle in the world!

However, as Christians, we are the church of Christ.  The very English word church comes from the more accurate Greek word ekklesia, which means "those who are called out," and I believe, in that calling out, we are to demonstrate not a separation from society itself, but a separation from the worldly influence of society so we can be the lights to our culture that Christ wants us to be.

The Other Resources page offers a few articles to further explore the destructive nature of syncretism.

When this happens with biblical ideals, it is my opinion that all representative substitution and symbolism is idolatry and is extremely offensive to God, no matter how sincere our intentions are.  This is clearly illustrated in instance after instance throughout the Bible, going all the way back to the most recognizable of all idols: the golden calf that was manufactured as Moses was receiving the ten commandments.

The people had become impatient waiting for Moses to come back down from Mount Sinai, where he was  receiving the ten commandments from the hand of God. They wanted Aaron to fashion a representation of the God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. This was not intended to be a pagan celebration of some newly invented god, but a sincere feast honoring God "who brought them up out of Egypt."  To be clear: the people had not been asking Aaron to create a "new" god for them to worship, but a representation of the God who had delivered them from slavery.

So Aaron consented to this representative type of worship, and agreed to make an symbolic representation of  the God who brought them up out of Egypt.  The people knew that it was not a calf that had delivered them from slavery, but because they were raised in Egypt, this would be very common: having some physical thing representative of God to which they pay homage.  This is idolatry in its most basic form.  Also, it appears Aaron felt that as long as the people still had the intention of actually worshiping the Lord, it would be acceptable to "help" them worship God with some sort of representative icon they would feel culturally comfortable with.

To demonstrate they manufactured the golden calf as a representation of the one true God (Jehovah), Aaron specifically states the purpose of the feast the next day was going to be "a feast to the LORD [Jehovah]."  Verses 4 and 5 show that the calf was to represent the god who had brought them up out of Egypt, that Aaron's (and the people's) intent with the golden calf was to worship the LORD (Jehovah),  not to invent a new god.

The next morning, the people performed their religious duties, even reverently bringing their sacrificial offerings, rising up early to honor the Lord (Jehovah) who brought them out of Egypt. They were apparently sincere in their intent to honor Jehovah, and to bring real and meaningful sacrifices before him (even though they represented him as a golden calf).  It wasn't until later in the day that the "celebrating" became more indicative of the practices they had learned in Egypt: "and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play."

Upon seeing all of this, the Lord became incensed at how quickly the people had reverted to their cultural norms.

 Exodus 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

32:2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods [elohim], O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

32:5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

32:6a And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings;

32:7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

NOTE: God was not immediately indignant that "the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play" (although, I'm certain that didn't make the situation any better).  What he says really demonstrated that they had "corrupted themselves" involved three specific things:

• "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them"
• "they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, "
• "and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt"

They disobeyed God;  they created some representative, symbolic thing with their own hands; and worst of all: they worshiped and offered sacrificial gifts while saying "this is the God who delivered us from the land of Egypt." This is representative and substitutionary worship, and it is extremely offensive to God. This is the rebellious attitude that we can worship God any old way we want to, or that is culturally acceptable to us, as long as we're sincere about it.

Don't be fooled by others, and stop kidding yourself any longer by justifying family traditions over the plain truth of God's word. Remember, God is holy; and by not understanding (or ignoring) the history of particular symbols and traditions, then attempting to assign Christian meanings to them, people grow further from the simplicity found in Christ. The further one grows from the truth of Christ, the closer one moves toward the practice of idolatry. It's time that true believers in Jesus Christ begin taking a stand for what God reveals about his holy nature, and to stop the complacent spirituality and hyper-emotionalism of participating in the Christmas idolatry of this world.  God is not honored when we assign religious meanings to pagan symbols, and then attempt to demonstrate a sense of piety back to him through something he has already condemned!  This is idolatry, plain and simple, and is abhorrent to him.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, 

that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2)

  

"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves." (2 Corinthians 13:5)

 "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."  (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

The author will gladly revise or repeal anything in these articles that can be shown to disagree 

with the clear teaching of the Bible or historical facts.  Thank you.  

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