8 Now concerning[a] food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.[b]
4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”
1 Corinthians 8:1-4, ESV
Through the Bible: 1 Corinthians 5-8
I’m in a Facebook group called The Bible ReCaptains. There a several thousand participants, all who have committed to reading the Bible through chronologically this year. (Pro-Tip– if you are considering making this a goal for 2025, I promise you, Tara-Leigh Cobble has been one of the most influential Bible teachers in my life, and The Bible ReCaptains is an amazing community. It is my favorite corner of the Internet. To find out more, go to thebiblerecap.com/start.
Last year about this time, someone in the group asked this question:
This is something I’ve been wondering about and researching and am finding conflicting answers. Does Christmas have any pagan roots to some of the traditions we follow, such as having a decorated tree in your home? I ask because sometimes I worry how many things that may have originally been pagan somehow made their way into the holidays we celebrate.
For instance, I’m sometimes conflicted that we celebrate Christ’s birthday in December when he was most likely born in the Spring. Making me wonder if some kind of pagan tradition was adopted or adapted?
This sincere sister in Christ had heard lots of opinions that you may have heard yourself: that a Christmas tree was nothing more than a modern day Asherah pole. That the bending down to pull gifts out from under the tree was akin to bowing down before an idol to receive gifts. More generically, she was concerned that the Christmas tree was part of a consumer-driven, secularized “Xmas” that, along with Santa Claus, Rudolph, and the Home Alone franshise has taken focus away from the birth of Jesus.
She has a good point on the last one. The Christmas season is way too commercialized. We’ve replaced Mary treasuring these things in her heart (Luke 2:51) with a heart set on treasures.
Christmas is beautiful, but it’s also complicated. Evergreen trees, wreaths, December 25th—depending on what book or article you read, someone will tell you these things are pagan; someone else will tell you they’re not; and a historian will tell you, “It depends.” So what do we do when traditions we enjoy may have tangled roots?
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians gives us a surprisingly timely framework.
What was Happening in Corinth?
The church in Corinth was confused about whether or not it was ok to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols. Nearly every social event—dinner parties, business meetings, guild gatherings—served meat that had been offered to an idol.
There were some who said “Idols are wood; meat is meat; everything’s good; bon apetit.” Others were afraid that eating such meat might associate them with pagan worship. Still others, especially those who had come from pagan backgrounds, were horrified that anyone would even consider eating meat that was first sacrificed to idols, and their own consciences were defiled at the mere thought (verse 10).
These groups were all partly right and partly wrong. The line of Paul’s argument went like this:
- Idols are as nothing in the world (v. 4).
- We know there is only one God (v. 6).
- But not everyone knows this (v. 7), and for those who are new to the faith, our knowledge can be a stumbling block to them (v. 9).
- In some cases, it is better for you to limit the freedom you have in Christ for the sake of the gospel and the love you should have for your less mature brothers or sisters (v. 12-13)
Paul doesn’t solve the issue by tracing the history of the meat. He solves it by tracing the motives of the heart.
“We know that an idol has no real existence,” he says (v. 4). In other words: the meat itself isn’t spiritually contaminated. But he also says that knowledge alone isn’t the test of holiness. Love is.
The question isn’t just Can I?
The question is Should I, and will it help or harm someone else’s walk with Christ?
So What About Christmas Trees?
Here’s where Corinth helps us. Does a Christmas tree, standing in a living room draped with lights, have any inherent spiritual power? No. It’s wood and wire. The same is true of wreaths, holly, and mistletoe. Even if some early customs intersected with pre-Christian festivals, those associations do not define the meaning of the practice today. A symbol only carries the meaning you give it.
But Paul also reminds us that Christian liberty is never an excuse for trampling another believer’s conscience. Some Christians really do feel a pang of unease about certain Christmas customs. If that is you—if a tree distracts your heart from Christ or stirs up old associations—there is absolutely no shame in abstaining. The goal is worship, not decoration.
And on the other side: if you put up a tree with a clear conscience, not as an idol but as a symbol of life and light in a season of celebrating Christ’s coming, you have freedom to enjoy it with thanksgiving.
Was December 25 a Pagan Holiday?
Now, what about the second question this person in my Facebook group asked. Is there anything pagan or inappropriate about celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25? He wasn’t actually born on December 25, right? Wasn’t that just Constantine repurposing the pagan festival to the Sun? Doesn’t it have something to do with Ceasar’s Birthday? (Answers: Not necessarily, yes, maybe, and no).
According to Romans 14, the church in Rome was not only divided over meat sacrificed to idols, but they were also dealing with whether one day was held to be more sacred than another day. While the specific issue for the church in Rome was whether Christ followers were required to observe Jewish feasts and festivals, or whether they were forbidden to. He wrote this:
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
Paul’s advice was that the church not quarrel over opinions. We find this in Romans 14:1, where the idea of “opinions” is variously translated as “disputatable matters,” doubtful disputations,” or “differences of opinion.” He gives virtually the same advice to the Romans as he did to the Corinthians:
Stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.” (Romans 14:13-15).
The Better Question
Paul doesn’t tell the Corinthians to obsess over origins. He tells them to examine outcomes.
Does this lead me—or anyone who watches my life—closer to Christ or further from Him?
For some, a tree covered in Scripture ornaments or family heirlooms becomes a testimony to God’s faithfulness. For others, it becomes one more symbol of the frantic, consumer-driven machine the season too easily becomes. The same object can draw one heart upward and another heart away.
So don’t ask only, “Where did this tradition come from?” Ask, “Where is this tradition taking me?”
Keeping Christ in Your Christmas
Christmas can be a time of worship or a time of distraction. The greatest danger to our spiritual health isn’t a tree in the corner—it’s a heart unguarded in a season overflowing with noise, spending, and sentimentality.
If you find that a simpler Christmas helps you see Christ more clearly, simplify with joy.
If you find that beauty and light help you celebrate the Light of the world, decorate with gratitude.
Whatever you choose, do it “in remembrance of Him,” not in fear of ancient festivals or in bondage to modern consumerism.
The tree in your home doesn’t determine your holiness.
The posture of your heart does.
For Further Reading:
- How December 25 Became Christmas
- History of Christmas (from the History Channel)
- Time.com: Origins of the Christmas Tree
- Day 334: Would I Really Rather Be Wronged? (1 Cor 6:7)
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