Christmas Traditions

Christmas Day has come and gone. For Trisha and I, it was our first as a couple and we’ve been trying to figure out what kind of Christmas traditions we want to start as a family. But the more we think about it, you can’t really make Christmas traditions...they just start.

A forced tradition isn’t really a tradition at all. Think about it.

Did someone just decide one day to cut down a tree outside and make it free standing inside the house so that they could hang things that glitter on it year after year?


Did someone just decide that they were going to stuff little candies and trinkets in an old sock every year and hang them over the fireplace?

Did someone just decide that families would stand at the front of the church and light five candles on a wreath to represent the coming of Christ every year?

No. Somewhere along the way, these actions became traditions. These little decisions to do something different caught on. They became a part of Christmas. They weren’t forced. They weren’t declared mandatory. It was something that shaped year after year.

(It’s like my old english teacher used to tell me. You can’t have a “First Annual Fundraiser.” That makes it redundant. If it’s the first one, then it isn’t annual yet.)

There is this passage in Mark 7 where Jesus is talking with the pharisees about tradition. They are griping because the disciples hadn’t washed their hands ceremonially before eating at the marketplace (sounds like my mom). It was a tradition that the pharisees had taken part in for who knows how long and they were grilling Jesus about it. Here’s his response,

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?" He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:" 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! ...Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." (Mark 7:5-9,13)

What kind of traditions do you have? What kind of traditions are starting to take shape?
Most importantly, are these traditions nullifying the Word of God?
Have you let go of the commands of God to hold onto the traditions of men?

My prayer for you is that in all of your traditions (Christmas or New Years or Easter on Monday or the third Saturday of every month...whenever) that you aren’t nullifying the Word of God.
My prayer is that the traditions you and your family take part in seek to praise the name of Jesus and that your traditions are full of honor and glory to God and God alone.

Disclaimer: I usually wash my hands before I eat...
not because of tradition, but because I’m a pretty gross boy.