We’re hearing a lot about Mega Churches not meeting on Christmas Day. I believe it is my understanding that it isn’t unusual for churches to meet on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. Most Churches have their big, massive Christmas hoopla productions completed in plenty of time prior to the actual holiday and then will have a very small Christmas Eve service. Most of this is due to the fact that a lot of people travel over Christmas.
So what’s all the fuss about this year? Well, it’s because Christmas falls on a Sunday. I guess this seems controversial to some and I hope I don’t offend my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ with my personal view on all of it. I've hesitated the last few days in posting on this topic because I didn't want to “stir the pot“ so to speak.
A lot of Christians are really bent out of shape at the mere notion of a church, any church, not having their doors open on Christmas Sunday. Is it because it’s Christmas Day? Or is it because it’s Sunday? Since my experience has been that churches are typically open on Christmas Eve and not Christmas Day , it must be a matter of this year’s “day of the week”. If we assume it’s because Christmas falls on Sunday and church just absolutely should always be open on a Sunday gosh darn it, I have a question:
Is this about reaching the lost, spreading the good news and celebrating the birth of Christ or is it about “tradition”?
If it’s about reaching the lost, spreading the good news and celebrating the birth of Christ, I think it’s important to point out that many Mega Churches will be hosting multiple Christmas services prior to Christmas Day. Most Mega Churches typically have an unusually large percentage of unchurched/unsaved in attendance week to week, not just on holidays - so I think it's safe to say they'll be spreading the good news to many who have yet to believe. Also, many of them will be meeting on Christmas Eve like what is so common amongst churches when Christmas falls on other days of the week.
If it’s about breaking “tradition”, I think it’s important to point out that Mega Churches aren’t traditional. Does this make them “anti-Christmas” or sacrilegious? I don’t think so. Look at how the church in Christ’s day viewed his healing people on the Sabbath – wouldn’t you say that some believers are having similar, knee jerk reactions to Mega Churches opting to not hold services on that Sunday?
I completely understand people feeling passionate about being able to attend a service on Christmas Day or even on any given Sunday for that matter. We (Erik and I) don’t “traditionally” attend service on Christmas Day (no matter what day it falls on). Typically we go on Christmas Eve if we’re not traveling. We will be worshipping with fellow believers (as well as volunteering during a service) on Christmas Eve this year at our church.
The general consensus among most traditional churches is that Mega churches are well, wrong. I’ll give you that they are “different” but that’s not always wrong or even a bad thing. Our churches really need to take a long hard look at why we do what we do, even down to why we meet on certain days of the week, month, year. Have we become legalistic in our thinking? Are we clinging too tight to “tradition” (or non-tradition) that we are scoffing at our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ simply because they “do things differently”? This behavior comes from both sides of the camp so I’m not trying to point at traditional churches alone here. I’m talking about all true Bible preaching, Bible believing churches, small, medium, large and mega; traditional and non-traditional alike.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that there are differing styles amongst the churches. Some meet in homes, some meet in elaborate temple-like buildings. Some have no musical instruments and others have base guitars. Some pass the collection plate while others collect offering at the door in offering boxes. Some have choirs while others have praise teams. Some use the King James Version while others use a plethora of versions. Some have Wednesday night service and some don’t. Some have a clapping and standing congregation while others are nodding amen-ers. Some have Children’s church and others have the children in the main worship. Some have Home Groups while others have Sunday School. Some have baptismal pools while others use the lake behind a barn. And some will meet on Christmas Day in their facilities while others will meet with family and friends in homes all across the nation.
Do any of these things alter the basic message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? No.
We are inviting our neighbors to the Christmas services at our church this year (like we did last year). Feel free to come if you’re in the area:
Fellowship Church Christmas Services
To be honest, it catches me off guard when someone refers to Fellowship as a “mega church“. It doesn't “feel“ MEGA to me, it just feels like home :o)
Also, if your church isn’t meeting on Christmas Sunday and you just really feel you should be in service on that day, check out some other churches in your local area. Odds are that most will have some sort of service.