Against Christmas Trees

It always amazes me when Christians pull out this shotgun and try to blast away at it. "You know," they tell me in hushed, conspiratorial tones, "Christmas trees are of the devil. They've been around since the Old Testament and they're banned by the Bible." Sigh.

I remember the first time I heard this. He was sincere and trying to help me out, so I looked it up.

Thus says the LORD: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good" (Jer 10:2-5).

Well, there it is, by golly! Plain as day! We get a tree cut from the forest and we decorate it with silver and gold and we fasten it so it can't move! Well, they did have Christmas trees before Christ!

Hey, wait a minute! That's a problem, isn't it? "Christmas trees before Christ"? So I have to stop and step back and think for a second. And, of course, it becomes abundantly clear. These are "idols" (the word in the text, not mine). They make idols out of wood. (You see, if it was a Christmas tree, I'd be a bit confused by the "worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman" thing before it is decorated and secured.) Oh, I get it! God is telling His people not to make idols, not that they shouldn't have a Christmas tree for decoration. One guy in this whole conversation even told me, "You know, you worship those trees." "No, we don't," I countered. "Yes, you do! On Christmas morning you get down on your knees in front of it to get the presents out. See? Worship!"

It is my firm conviction that it is possible to misuse just about anything at all that God has given us. We know, for instance, that God has given us sex as a good thing for the unity of a married couple and the procreation of the species, but we also know beyond the shadow of a doubt that misuse of that good gift is a serious problem. We know that having a biblical view of the sin of homosexuality is a good thing, but that whole Fred Phelps thing is a real abuse of the concept and a problem. Kindness is a good thing, but I'm sure you've all heard the phrase, "Kill them with kindness." Just about anything can be misused. Even Christmas trees.

Don't buy that nonsense, folks. Jeremiah was not writing about Christmas trees. He was writing about making idols of wood. Don't worship your tree and don't miss the point of Christmas and you should be just fine. I'm in favor of avoiding misuse of God's gifts, but let's not get ridiculous about it, okay?