Yes, it's true that there has been pagan influences on holidays. But the church spit in Satan's face when it took such holidays away from him. Imagine how angry Satan had to be when Constantine (the Christian Roman emperor) took a pagan holiday (the celebration of the solstice on Dec. 25th) and declared that it would honor Christ from that day forward! That, to me, declares that all holidays are Christ's and will honor Him from now on.
It would be like a Rock star coming to know Christ and using his guitar for worship from now on. To say that Christmas is 'unholy' because there was a pagan ceremony originally, is like saying we can't drink our water because it was once polluted even though it has since been purified (reclaimed).
Or like saying I can't drive my minivan because a dysfunctional family may have owned it before I did. That's ridiculous.
To transform and reclaim something that was wicked into something that celebrates the Lord is at the essence of our faith. We are all sinners saved by grace.
- Do we not baptize because of wicked things done in water in our past?
- Do we not sing because of wicked songs our vocal chords have sung before?
- All throughout history, the nation of Israel celebrated holidays and would even use pagan occasions to proclaim God (look at Elijah with the prophets of Baal).
Here's the point. Your faith has substance, true, deep, and profoundly Scriptural substance. Stand on it. Don't be intimidated. And approach the Jehovah Witnesses that cross your path with gentleness and humility. In the end, God will bless you.
Check out the rest of my posts on Jehovah Witness Calling, Part 1,2,&3
I really enjoyed this blog series. I wasn't aware of how far the Jehovah's Witnesses strayed from the truth. In fact, I really didn't know much about the group to begin with, but this was very insightful for me.
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