Dear Sir,
Matthew Baalham, in his challenging article ‘Cancel Christmas?’ (November en) writes eloquently of the difficulty many Christians experience during the Christmas period when the image presented of our Saviour, along with the customs and traditions, are so different from what we read in Scripture. We expect pressure to conform to this world, but when it comes from the church itself we are faced, as Matthew Baalham said, with ‘a time of feeling very compromised’.
If we are going to ask questions over one day, or another day, the challenge is of facing a possible division within the church and no sincere Christian wants to be seen or considered as responsible for creating division among fellow believers. Of course, what is divisive in one fellowship is an article of faith in another. In regards to Christmas, one can move to a church that does not observe the festival, but then find that you have to deal with even more teachings that you disagree with than you had in your previous fellowship. There are no easy and comfortable answers. Perhaps we all know the answer but we do not apply it. Paul spoke directly to Peter in addressing the action of Peter and others in going against the truth of the gospel (Galatians 2:11–14). He did not think that he must not speak out against one of the leading apostles, or that it would harm the unity of the young church to bring a contentious matter up publicly. He knew that he had to speak out against that hypocrisy before it spread any further.
