Hi Bruce, It's so good to hear from you again! I think you have made a good point about Christmas trees. Rom 14 shows us clearly that, although some things are not innately sinful in themselves, if one does not have a clear conscience about it, you just should not do it. And we shouldn't go around judging each other in areas that are not absolutely clear in scripture.
On the other hand, there are certainly some things that are totally forbidden by the Lord (such as idolatry, or joining in pagan rituals. Mardi Gras comes to mind as I type this.) In such instances we dare not think we should go by our "feelings", but should sincerely search out God's word and obey it, no matter how we "feel" about it. I am sure that most of us who are Protestants have inherited certain polluted practices from the fallen Roman Catholic church that we came out of. (Imagine that concept!) So when someone as sincere as Marlin is so convicted about something, I like to at least take him seriously enough to investigate the issue myself, having an open mind and a willing-to-be-corrected spirit. I know this drives many folks a bit fruity, but I'm more willing to be convicted of being wrong than I am willing to be convicted of being callous to the Holy Spirit's correction. And you never know where that might come from. Sometimes it just comes directly from the Holy Spirit, and sometimes He uses an intermediary. So, while I am not convinced that Christmas trees, or celebrating Christmas on Dec 25th for that matter, are pagan/sinful practices, I'm willing to hear Marlin out as often as he wants to discuss it. To me, it's one of those scripturally not-specifically-spelled-out situations. Does that drive you nuts, or what? Izzy -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bruce Woodford Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 10:59 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [TruthTalk] Christmas trees Hi Izzy, You wrote:"Do you really think that "what is pagan for some may not be pagan for others??? Isn't this a classic example of humanistic moral relativism? The main question is not what someone "feels" is pagan. (God doesn't really care about our feelings when judgment day arrives, does He?) The question should be, I think, what does the Lord say is pagan? Can we discuss it from that angle? Ideas, anyone? How do we discover whether or not the Lord considers having a Christmas tree is an ungodly practice from the Lord's point of view? Marlin has brought up this issue several times, and I think it would be a good thing to discuss as a group." Could I suggest that consideration of scripture is always wise when seeking to deal with such questions? One example that comes to mind is I Cor.8. From that background, one could ask the question: "Does God consider eating meat offered to idols as idolatry/pagan?" Can eating meat offered to idols be sinful for one person and absolutely righteous for another? I believe that it can! Is it then possible that the same sort of principle could be applied to having a Christmas tree? If one Christian views it as sinful or is stumbled by it, is it sin for him to have one? But for another who knows that an evergreen tree is nothing but an evergreen tree, can it be perfectly righteous for him to have one and decorate it? Another example is the observance of days in Romans 14. Can it be sinful for one man to esteem one day above another? On the other hand, can it be sinful for another man to observe every day alike? In other words, if the Holy Spirit has convicted me that it would be sinful for me to do a certain thing (which scripture does not specificly say is sinful) can I rightfully teach others that it is sinful for everyone to do that thing which scripture does not specificly say is sinful? Do these passages shed any light on the issue of Christian's and their views of Christmas trees? Your brother in Christ, Bruce _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
