What Would The Early Christians Have Done On December 25th?
The Early Christians and Christmas
It is that time of year again. December 25th. The day when most of the world, both Christians and non-Christians, gather in a supposed celebration of the birth of the Savior, Jesus of Nazareth. Christmas as we know it today does not emerge in the history books until AD 336. This means that Christianity existed for nearly 300 years before the first mention of Christmas.
This leads me to ponder: what did Christians do on December 25th for the first 300 years of Christianity?
Surely, they did not celebrate the birth of Christ in the same way the world does today. This is assuming that they even celebrated His birth at all. The account of the birth of Christ is found in the New Testament Scriptures in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Outside of this, there is no mention of the birth of Jesus in the New Testament or of His followers remembering and celebrating His birthday as an annual holiday.
What would the early Christians think of our activities on December 25th?
Would they join in?
Would they be pleased?
Would they rebuke us?
Would they be saddened or perhaps even angry?
To answer this question, let us go to the Word of God. The only inspired source of truth that the world has is the Scripture. It has been given to us by God.
The Apostle Paul declares,
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Immediately after writing this to Timothy, Paul tells Timothy,
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
I cannot think of a clearer example of this than the myth of cultural Christmas. Where most of the Christian world believes it is okay to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a way that is NOT given to us in the Scriptures. Let me remind us all of how Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were consumed by God because they did not regard Him as holy and offered up unauthorized incense as worship (Leviticus 10:1-3). Are we guilty of this very thing?
Celebrating the Son or the Sun?
History tells us that on December 25th there would be a great celebration of Sol Invictus which was the birthday of the unconquerable sun. It was a huge public celebration. The pagan world gathered in a public celebration of the birth of their sun god. This was not a clean, family friendly celebration. It was a very ungodly celebration full of immoral acts.
In just reading of the activities associated with this celebration it would be clear that the early Christians did not participate in the event. What then did they do on December 25th? Did they sit in their houses gathered around a tree with tinsel and presents? I believe the answer to this is a resounding NO. There is no scriptural evidence that would suggest such an activity.
What would they have done then? I believe we can accurately describe the activity of the early Christians on this day, and every other day, from the pattern given to us in the Scriptures. The pattern of early Christian activity is laid out before us is found in the book of Acts. It is easy to take verses and rip them out of their original context, so I encourage you to not take my word for it. Read the book of Acts yourself. Study it in its context.
If you need a resource to aid you in this study see our devotional guide:
Activities Described in Acts
Let’s look at a few of these descriptive verses from the book of Acts. You are encouraged to make your own list. We’ll look at them quickly.
These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. (Acts 1:14)
And:
And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:44-47)
And:
But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)
And:
“We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” (Acts 5:28-32)
And:
Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. (Acts 8:1-4)
Do you see a pattern emerging? As I read these verses, I see a pattern of gathering, prayer, devotion to study, giving, and the proclamation of Christ. This seems to be true for all the early Christians. So naturally, what would they do on December 25th? They would have done what they always have done: gather, pray, devote themselves to study, give, and proclaim Christ.
Christians & Pagans
However, as noted earlier, December 25th was a major pagan celebration. A celebration where much of the unbelieving world would be gathered to celebrate the birth of their sun god. The early Christians would almost certainly have used this gathering as an opportunity to preach that the eternal Son of God became a man and dwelt among us, to live a perfect and sinless life. So that He would be crucified by the hands of lawless men, as a payment for the sin of the world.
They would have declared that:
Having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)
They would have proclaimed that God has given us life in order that we would repent of our wrong beliefs and believe upon the spotless Lamb who took away the sin of the world. This is what the early Christians would have been doing on December 25th. Gathering for prayer and proclamation. Doing exactly what Jesus told them they would do in Acts 1:8,
but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
This is what the early church did. Those called out of darkness went about proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus (1 Peter 2:9).
What do you do on December 25th? Are you a Christian who has been caught up in the doctrines, traditions and myths of men? Or are you busy doing the work of God, as an ambassador of Christ? Urging and begging people to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)? Would the early Christian brethren be proud of your behavior or ashamed? Would Jesus Christ who is both Lord and Savior be pleased?
Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. (2 Corinthians 5:9-11)
In America we don’t see people gathered publicly to celebrate the birth of the sun god. But we do have many opportunities to bear witness of Christ nonetheless.
Many people are out in public getting ready for a celebration. Witness to them.
Many people gather with friends and family. Witness to them.
Many people gather for festivals and parades. Witness to them.
Our unbelieving children and relatives ask questions. Witness to them.
Never cease gathering with the brethren to pray, devote to study, and to stir one another on to love Christ more and bear more fruit for His glory. We must do all things for the glory of God. This means that we need the Scriptures to define our activities. NOT the world. Honestly assess your own activities on December 25th (and every other day for that matter) in light of the Scriptures.
Is Jesus the Reason?
I am not condemning anyone for celebrating Christmas or for not celebrating Christmas. In both there can be error. What I want you, and myself, to consider is: are we using the God given opportunity of cultural Christmas to do the work we have been given to do, to preach Christ? I hear many believers urge people to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” But I must ask in love, where do we read reason in the Bible for virtually any of the things we do in the name of Jesus during the Christmas season?
It seems apparent as we read through Scripture that God’s people should be careful doing things in the name of God that He does not condone or ask for. Christians should celebrate the incarnation always as we lift up the Son of God in the world and urge all people, everywhere to believe upon Him. Not just in December.