My friend, Steve Kneale, argues here that we should not give over every Sunday to Advent. His argument is that whilst it is not sinful to celebrate Christmas as a cultural festival, we are not required to, it’s not a Biblical command and nor is Advent a Biblical thing.
So, he argues, to give up too much time to carols and the nativity story is not just unnecessary, it is potentially distracting from the priority of week to week expositional teaching. Further, it is putting too big a portion of our time and attention on one very small part of the Biblical account, one that doesn’t even get covered in all the Gospels.
Well, I have much sympathy with Steve’s argument that Christmas is not compulsory, especially given the freedom and permission he gives for people to opt in or out. In some quarters there is a tendency to insist that anything not explicitly commanded is forbidden.
However, I would like to push back on what Steve is saying and offer you a counter perspective. There is of course no compulsion on either take.
First, yes Christmas is a cultural thing, indeed there are possibly a number of cultural events coming together, New Year, Christmas and Advent, linked together but with their own different focal points. What this means is that Advent and Christmas are cultural, not in the sense that they are secular feasts that we enjoy and find a way of smuggling a bit of Gospel in. Rather, they are part of the culture we have as God’s alternative community. Something we invite out non Christian friends and neighbours in to enjoy. Indeed whilst there may not be a kind of legal compulsion to observe something, there may be a sense that this is something we do, something we enjoy together. In that sense, Christmas is a bit more than bonfire night.
Secondly, I wonder if that idea that we haven’t got time to pause and take time over something isn’t a bit of a modern affliction. We seem to be in a rush, shaped by university church influence to get through our evangelical syllabuses, a three year tour of the key Bible themes. I am in favour of taking everything a bit slower, a signal that we do have time, we are not going anywhere.
Thirdly, whilst the nativity narrative isn’t covered in all four Gospels, the Incarnation is, in different ways covered in at least three out of the four. Further, significant portions of Scripture are given over to it in terms of how it fulfils prophecy and it is a major doctrine in its own right.
Fourthly, Advent doesn’t have to be and indeed shouldn’t be just about retelling the nativity story from Matthew and Luke. Notably, the season has traditionally been associated with looking forward to Christ’s return. Further, my own experience is of using this season to build out onto other themes and considering how the coming and second coming of Christ shape our approach to wider aspects of life
So in conclusion, we are free to ignore Advent and Christmas. However, there may be significant benefit in leaning in to them.
Faithroots 