Church Weekly
26 Dec 2021

CHURCH WEEKLY

HOLY DAYS OR NOT HOLY DAYS?

From the Advisory Pastor

Dear Members in Christ,

Holy Days or Not Holy Days?

Some Christians and churches believe that we ought not to celebrate Christmas because of its origin. It is rooted in heathenism and superstition. Their argument is that Christians should only celebrate holy days - those that do not originate from heathenism or idolatry. This means that they can only celebrate the holy days that originated from God and not idolatry or heathenism.

The only nation where all things originated from God is Israel. If “origin” is the basis for celebrating holy days in the local church witness, then true Christians all over the world would all have to be Israelites and surrender the cultures of their respective races. Our holy days will have to be the Feasts of Passover, unleavened Bread and Tabernacles! But this is exactly what the LORD does not want us to do according to the Book of Acts (cf. Acts 15). When certain Jews insisted that Gentile believers had to be circumcised, the council in Jerusalem (mother church) led by James concluded and affirmed that all Gentile believers did not need to be circumcised. We today do not need to become Israelites! As long as any cultural practice does not retain its superstition or religious and mystical connotation, we are permitted to observe it, thus retaining our own distinct culture as Christians. The general guideline when observing a special or holy day or event is that the holy witness of the believer must not be compromised. 

It is true that in Old Testament times, when Gentiles became believers they had to be citizens of Israel to become visible witnesses for the LORD. They had to live in the Land of Promise to be seen as people who had accepted the Promise of the LORD, i.e. Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour! This was the God-ordained way during the period of the national witness. Ruth was one such example. She said that she would live and die in Israel after she decided to follow the LORD via following Naomi, her mother-in-law, to return home to Bethlehem Judah. Ruth 1:16-17 “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”

That is why Ruth said that even after Naomi was gone, she would remain in Israel where she would be buried. To leave the Land was equivalent to leaving the LORD. But in the local church witness the LORD knows that His people will be made up of many Gentile believers from all walks of life, race, language and nationality. Dietary laws were obviously impossible to regulate and be applied. Therefore there is none. Whatever was mandatory for a holy witness in Israel was not only annulled but forbidden in the local church witness.

An effective witness for the LORD is one who can reach out to loved ones and friends of the same culture. Foreign missionaries had to learn from scratch the languages, and the cultures of the countries and people they wanted to reach with the gospel. No matter how they tried they could never assimilate so perfectly, compared to a believer who is born and bred in his own home land and culture. We need to be Christians of our own culture. African Christians and Singaporean Christians believe in the same Christ of the Bible to be saved. We witness for Christ differently according to our respective cultures and holy days. Does this mean that local churches can just do what is right in their own eyes when it comes to establishing holy days for worship in their respective churches in different countries?

Thankfully no! The LORD does give us clear instructions that is perfect for all churches throughout the ages irrespective of race, language and cultures. Romans 14:5-8 “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.”

The key phrase is “unto the LORD.” The reason is we are the LORD’s. The phrase “unto the LORD” means that the holy days must glorify God according to Holy Scriptures. For example, if we wish to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, i.e. Christmas, the worship service must be God honouring. The church will not have any Christmassy decorations like mistletoes or Christmas trees, or have the pastor dressed up as Santa Claus or the elders dressed up as elves. The hymns sung must be theologically sound, including the music. The reverential and Christ-centred ambience in worship must be maintained. The Word of God must be biblically preached especially for the preaching of the gospel. Those who attend will then be blessed with God's Truth. This understanding applies to other services such as Good Friday Service, Resurrection Sunday, 16th Century Reformation, church anniversary, and the end of year or watch night service.

Every believer is free to attend or not attend, but must do so as unto the LORD! The ones who do not wish to attend must do so as unto the LORD, i.e. they will not criticise others who wish to attend. They may have something else that evening that is to be observed and that may also be holy unto the LORD. [NOTE: The Lord’s Day is different. The Lord commands that we keep it holy. It is a sin not to keep the Lord’s Day holy and not to attend worship. But it is not a sin if one chooses not to attend the other “holy days” of a church and if one is able to not attend “as unto the LORD.”]

This understanding is important. Christianity does not destroy cultures. It enhances their cultures as it helps Christians to retain them without sinning against God. This avoids any wrong understanding of the origin of Christianity – it is NOT a western religion as many have sadly misunderstood. One excuse for not becoming a Christian is, that when a person becomes a Christian he will stop being filial to parents and lose his culture. This is definitely not true. Our heavenly Father is far wiser than we can ever imagine. He knows about the local church witness better than all of us as He was the One who designed it and brought it into existence. He brought it into existence on the day of Pentecost. He prophesied of the local church’s existence long before Pentecost! Romans 9:25-26 “As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.” (cf. Hosea 2:23) Christianity is from heaven and not the west even though when the gospel spread the Lord sent it westward before it arrived eastward.

Local churches are given permission to have their own holy days to observe as long as they observe them as unto the LORD. Thank God for this liberty that we have in Christ. Let us be holy as He is holy even as we celebrate our holy days to His glory. Amen.

In Christ,

Rev. (Dr.) Quek Suan Yew