If you don't celebrate christmas...

[Kevin]

I have a question for those of you who do not celebrate christmas. I have noticed that most seem to rely on the opinion of older puritains & reformers who taught against the observance of "holy days" because of "popish associations.

My question is this; Do you also obstain from other practices condemned by the puritains and reformers because of "popish associations"? I am thinking of funerals and wedding rings esp. but are there other practices that you avoid?

 

[ADKing]

I have a question for those of you who do not celebrate christmas. I have noticed that most seem to rely on the opinion of older puritains & reformers who taught against the observance of "holy days" because of "popish associations.

My question is this; Do you also obstain from other practices condemned by the puritains and reformers because of "popish associations"? I am thinking of funerals and wedding rings esp. but are there other practices that you avoid?

With regard to funerals and weddings, our churches would follow the instructions of the Westminster directory of public worship.

Concerning Burial of the Dead.

WHEN any person departeth this life, let the dead body, upon the day of burial, be decently attended from the house to the place appointed for publick burial, and there immediately interred, without any ceremony.

And because the custom of kneeling down, and praying by or towards the dead corpse, and other such usages, in the place where it lies before it be carried to burial, are superstitious; and for that praying, reading, and singing, both in going to and at the grave, have been grossly abused, are no way beneficial to the dead, and have proved many ways hurtful to the living; therefore let all such things be laid aside.

Howbeit, we judge it very convenient, that the Christian friends, which accompany the dead body to the place appointed for publick burial, do apply themselves to meditations and conferences suitable to the occasion and that the minister, as upon other occasions, so at this time, if he be present, may put them in remembrance of their duty.

That this shall not extend to deny any civil respects or deferences at the burial, suitable to the rank and condition of the party deceased, while he was living.



The instructions on marriage are slightly longer so I won't quote them here.

 

[LadyFlynt]

My wedding set was sold years ago. Howe'er I do currently have a simple $10 band which I have debated the usefulness of. Around here many women do not wear them (out of religions conviction) and even my husband does not wear one. The only reason I got this one from Walmart was due to some issues I was having in customer service (when I worked a temp job while pg with my third)...I had men hitting on me and trying to follow me home. The ring simply steered a few of them off (not enough unfortunately). Hmmm...something to reconsider. (didn't expect that answer did you? Oh, and my inlaws don't wear them either) BTW, what is pagan about a simple funeral?

 

[LadyFlynt]

What is "rememberance of their duty"? (btw, I like how that was worded...the simplicity and no grandstanding)

 

[ADKing]

What is "rememberance of their duty"? (btw, I like how that was worded...the simplicity and no grandstanding)

It could include mnay aspects of biblical instruction I would imagine. Particularly they could be put in mind of their duty not to grieve as the world grieves, to look forward to the hope of the resurection, to prepare themselves for the day of their death as well. I am sure there are others.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Thank you. That's about all I'm used to at funerals. (okay, I have occasionally seen a piano played...but generally we gather, we hear about preparing for death, we bury, we chat, we eat)

 

[Casey]

My wedding set was sold years ago. Howe'er I do currently have a simple $10 band which I have debated the usefulness of. Around here many women do not wear them (out of religions conviction) and even my husband does not wear one. The only reason I got this one from Walmart was due to some issues I was having in customer service (when I worked a temp job while pg with my third)...I had men hitting on me and trying to follow me home. The ring simply steered a few of them off (not enough unfortunately). Hmmm...something to reconsider. (didn't expect that answer did you? Oh, and my inlaws don't wear them either) BTW, what is pagan about a simple funeral?

Does this mean you don't wear one "out of religious conviction" like the other women that you know? What religious conviction is that? That Rome uses them so you won't (as Kevin mentioned in the OP)?

 

[Arch2k]

See this thread on the wearing of wedding rings.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Does this mean you don't wear one "out of religious conviction" like the other women that you know? What religious conviction is that? That Rome uses them so you won't (as Kevin mentioned in the OP)?

I used to not wear it because it was not permitted when we were in a mennonite church. All jewelry was forbidden...had nothing to do with Rome (for them). I disagreed with them on the jewelry issue. I am however aware of the Pagan connection. Hmmm. Howe'er I'm also aware that the Israelites held to a similar practice (jewelry as a betrothal gift) and a wedding ring was placed on the 1st finger (I believe of the right hand though)...representing their belief in ONE God.

 

[Kevin]

With regard to funerals and weddings, our churches would follow the instructions of the Westminster directory of public worship.

Concerning Burial of the Dead.

WHEN any person departeth this life, let the dead body, upon the day of burial, be decently attended from the house to the place appointed for publick burial, and there immediately interred, without any ceremony.

And because the custom of kneeling down, and praying by or towards the dead corpse, and other such usages, in the place where it lies before it be carried to burial, are superstitious; and for that praying, reading, and singing, both in going to and at the grave, have been grossly abused, are no way beneficial to the dead, and have proved many ways hurtful to the living; therefore let all such things be laid aside.

Howbeit, we judge it very convenient, that the Christian friends, which accompany the dead body to the place appointed for publick burial, do apply themselves to meditations and conferences suitable to the occasion and that the minister, as upon other occasions, so at this time, if he be present, may put them in remembrance of their duty.

That this shall not extend to deny any civil respects or deferences at the burial, suitable to the rank and condition of the party deceased, while he was living.



The instructions on marriage are slightly longer so I won't quote them here.

Thanks, that is what i was wondering.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Jeff, thank you for that link.

 

[Richard King]

We don't do Christmas.
It is not because I am particularly devout or trying to be the perfect puritan.
It is just practical and relaxing to avoid the stressfest that we used to do.

There is so much confusion and hypocrisy about this in the church anyway.
Many a church ties up mommy and daddy's time from their children just to put on a live nativity or a Dickens play for several nights in a row.
I know Christian people who despise Christmas but have really just switched over into doing some sort of Chanukka deal to replace it.

Frankly at first it was to get away from all the pagan and gross commercial stuff and after we weaned ourself away from it I don't think we could go back even if we thought it was dandy and we had visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads...
I think if you ever opt out one year you will never return.
We are hooked now on the actual low stress and peaceful days we have with family. Ofcourse our future daughter in law doesn't get it but I suspect she will in time. She will see how nice it is not to have to search for gifts and wrap them just so and on and on and on.
In the old days we put up lights. (that vandals messed with three years in a row) we put up a tree (that frankly was a tiring hassle as the years dragged on) and we were always trying to get gifts that would be appropriately appreciated.
Now we are free of all of that and unless Christ actually comes in and demands we return I don't see us doing it.
I guess we celebrate having a saviour every day.
We don't feel better than the neighbors down the street who start decorating before Helloween. We sort of just feel sorry for them because of all the work we see them doing.

After you get away from it you do see things you didn't notice before...like how ridiculous it is to hear the celeb of the week singing Silent Night or Oh Little Town of Bethlehem on yet another
TV Christmas special. It will sicken you to hear pop singers and country singers jazzing up a song about the Saviour.


so to the actual question:

I don't wear a wedding band because it isn't practical. I lose things and they are dangerous if you work out doors and get your hands dirty all day.

I think one could win a debate against the big whoopdedoo funerals on practical grounds as well.

The older I get the more life is about doing what makes practical sense for the family. I didn't even know the thing about nixing funerals but I like it. I always thought that was one of the master rip offs of people at their most vulnerable emotional time.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Richard, I like your common sense as well. We feel so much less stress than we experienced as kids (and saw from our parents stressing...nothing like mom yelling that the tree isn't just so, dad going into debt and we got to hear about it all year long as he tried to pay it off, running to and fro...and even when we didn't celebrate but felt obligated to be with family try running to 3 or 4 different houses lest some parent gets mad at you with kids in tow)

I should add that hubby never replace his wedding ring because it is dangerous in the work places he's been in. Factories, warehouses, road crew, and now a cabinet shop...rings are no-nos!

 

[providenceboard]

Good post, Rev. King. And it is noticable that you didn't even sound like the Grinch! I think that people who celebrate Christmas just don't understand that the end of December can actually be better and more enjoyable WITHOUT Christmas.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Hey, I like being a grinch! It can be fun! You get to be all green and fuzzy!

 

[providenceboard]

I didn't realize you were the Grinch. I just thought that Santa was feeling kinda sick from so much milk and cookies.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Naw, the Grinch just makes cookies. Have some in the oven right now....yummm. Torturing my kids...these are for the neighbours, boss, and in laws.

 

[Romans922]

I do not celebrate christmas, but I do this not because of Puritans but because of the distraction it causes away from the gospel as a whole.

As it has to do with worship, I believe the only holy day we are to celebrate is the Sabbath (see WCF).

 

[jaybird0827]

Good post, Rev. King. And it is noticable that you didn't even sound like the Grinch! I think that people who celebrate Christmas just don't understand that the end of December can actually be better and more enjoyable WITHOUT Christmas.

Our own experience was similar. It was hard in the beginning because it was like swimming upstream and we were in churches that went almost all-out. No one, and I mean NO ONE shared our views. On the positive side, we couldn't get over the FREEDOM we suddenly had!

As for the 25th (other than when it falls on the Sabbath) we've done all kinds of things just like we'd do on other days off from work. We've fellowshipped with others, gone hiking, done projects around the house, played board games, watched movies from our collection. And enjoyed ordinary dinner times without pigging out!

 

[lv1nothr]

We don't do Christmas.
It is not because I am particularly devout or trying to be the perfect puritan.
It is just practical and relaxing to avoid the stressfest that we used to do.

There is so much confusion and hypocrisy about this in the church anyway.
Many a church ties up mommy and daddy's time from their children just to put on a live nativity or a Dickens play for several nights in a row.
I know Christian people who despise Christmas but have really just switched over into doing some sort of Chanukka deal to replace it.

Frankly at first it was to get away from all the pagan and gross commercial stuff and after we weaned ourself away from it I don't think we could go back even if we thought it was dandy and we had visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads...
I think if you ever opt out one year you will never return.
We are hooked now on the actual low stress and peaceful days we have with family. Ofcourse our future daughter in law doesn't get it but I suspect she will in time. She will see how nice it is not to have to search for gifts and wrap them just so and on and on and on.
In the old days we put up lights. (that vandals messed with three years in a row) we put up a tree (that frankly was a tiring hassle as the years dragged on) and we were always trying to get gifts that would be appropriately appreciated.
Now we are free of all of that and unless Christ actually comes in and demands we return I don't see us doing it.
I guess we celebrate having a saviour every day.
We don't feel better than the neighbors down the street who start decorating before Helloween. We sort of just feel sorry for them because of all the work we see them doing.

After you get away from it you do see things you didn't notice before...like how ridiculous it is to hear the celeb of the week singing Silent Night or Oh Little Town of Bethlehem on yet another
TV Christmas special. It will sicken you to hear pop singers and country singers jazzing up a song about the Saviour.


so to the actual question:

I don't wear a wedding band because it isn't practical. I lose things and they are dangerous if you work out doors and get your hands dirty all day.

I think one could win a debate against the big whoopdedoo funerals on practical grounds as well.

The older I get the more life is about doing what makes practical sense for the family. I didn't even know the thing about nixing funerals but I like it. I always thought that was one of the master rip offs of people at their most vulnerable emotional time.

I so appreciate all that you said. We too feel such freedom in not being caught up in the whole stressful thing!! We see such bondage and we too wouldn't go back to be into it...unless the Lord were to command it of us!
Thanks be to God who sets us free!!!

Remembering man's chief end,

 

[lv1nothr]

On the positive side, we couldn't get over the FREEDOM we suddenly had!