Christmas is not taught in scripture nor was it observed by the early Church. Christmas is a celebration which is a combination of paganism and Christianity which God forbids (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32).
That being established the question has been asked; Can I, a Christian, work selling or packaging Christmas candy? (Herein Christmas candy is defined as specific and peculiar candies which are only for and of Christmas)
When I first heard this question I had no idea…but through prayer, thought, and study of scripture I was lead to understand the following things.
First, I believe that the responsibility in this case lies with the Business owner and the individual who buys. I do not believe that the employee working under the authority of the employer (owner) is the one responsible. Let me explain further.
As Christians it is important to chose “Christian occupations” primarily work which does not require us to commit sin or support sin. (And also one by which we make use of our abilities.) So obviously there are some occupations which are not acceptable in the sight of God.
Consider the mailman. Mailmen deliver many things (material, products, publications) which are very evil, albeit they also deliver many good thing. Are we to say that Christians cannot be mail men because they deliver some bad things? I do not believe so. Likewise it appears that the employee who is merely doing as is required by the employer does not partake of the employer’s sin, nor of the customer’s (For employers and customers who buy evil things such as “Christmas candy”). So long as the employee does not work for an employer whose main purposes are evil. For example, we could say the main purpose of the employer in this case is to sell candy. Obviously selling candy in and of itself is not evil.
Now there are a few caveats to this idea and there are a few scriptures to be discussed.
First what this makes me think of is 1 Corinthians Chapter 8. Here Paul talks about meat offered unto idols. Now Christmas is an idol to many, so it appears that the meat offered to idols is somewhat like this Christmas candy which is offered to (used in) the worship of the Christmas idol. So we conclude that if selling Christmas candy (or any thing) leads the weak in faith away from Christ then we should not do it. Now considering the society in which we live here today, I find it a stretch to believe that Christmas candy would lead weak Christians away from Christ. (Considering that Christians who do not celebrate Christmas must be strong in the faith to begin with to go against the common Christian support of Christmas.) But even if I did think Christmas candy could lead others away from Christ I still do not believe it would matter (for the employee) because of the following argument.
In Romans 13:1, it appears to me that the higher power appointed by God over the employee is the employer. And so it is the employer and the customer who will be judged guilty if they choose to provide and use certain candies to worship an idol.
What really makes this clear in my mind is that candy in and of itself can neither be good nor evil, but still the one who ultimately decides (the owner) what candy to sell would be the one responsible. This is the danger of a Christian owning a business. If they love the world and its riches (money) more than Christ they will sell anything regardless of whether it is used for evil or good. I cannot see how a true Christian business owner could sell evil things or even things which have the “appearance of evil”(1 Thessalonians 5:22).
Now we also must consider the lesson of Ezekiel 33:8-9. Here the lesson is that God will hold us accountable for not speaking out against sin. We do not want to have blood on our hands! We must seek the Lord regarding what exactly this means for us, what and when he is calling us to do and say. I believe each of us will be called in a different way regarding what to speak out against; but regardless we must always speak the truth and lie not (1 Timothy 2:7, James 3:14).
The final test as to weather or not an occupation is acceptable is whether or not we can do it in faith. For “whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (see Romans 14:22-23). Therefore if we have faith that we are doing and living in a manner acceptable and pleasing to God then our doing and living is “of faith” and pleasing to God. But if we doubt, then we sin. So from the beginning we must strive to follow after and allow God to use us and all of our life for his glory. We must seek an understanding of him and what he desires of us by studying his word. Now understand that this is not a make believe game. I am not saying that if we “believe” we are following Christ that we necessarily are. We must use the scripture as our judge and learn thereby.
So in summery;
1. If the main purpose of the employer is not evil than it is probably not a sin to work for them. But;
2. We are accountable to speak out against sin.
3. We must do whatever we do in faith.
4. If we are unsure about any of these we need to pray to understand God’s will, seek for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and study the Word of God.
If that thing which the authority over us requires is not necessarily evil (specifically commanded against) then are we not required to do it? Yea, say I we are required to do it, unless our faith is weak and we cannot do it without sinning (because of our doubt).
Now there are two things I want to clarify so that I am not misunderstood.
1. Here I will use a different example. Assume that all gambling is sin (which I believe it is). Now if you work at a gas station that sells lottery tickets, then I do not believe it is a sin for you as an employee to sell lottery tickets. (But I believe it is sin for the owner of the gas station to sell them) This is what I mean when I say that we are required to do it, unless specifically commanded against it. I believe we are specifically commanded against playing the lottery, but we are not commanded against selling lottery tickets when working under the authority of the employer.
2. If this position is not taken (the argument made in the four points above) then there are only two alternatives theories I can think of.
The one alternative would be that any Christian can sell anything, even very evil things as long as they do not directly partake of the evil thing they are selling. In this view Christians could sell anything imaginable. I will leave it at that. Obviously this view is wrong, hypocritical and clearly unbiblical.
The other alternative view is that supporting evil or sin in any way, even very indirectly is wrong, and unallowed. This view would lead us not to pay our taxes because the money taken would in part be used for evil purposes. It would also disallow us from working for much of any employers. We would basically have no choice but to be farmers, hunters, gatherers and vagabonds living in the wilderness. This view is also unbiblical as we are told to “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” (see Matthew 22:21)
So there must be some Biblical view point between these extremes, and I believe it has been identified earlier. I would be interested in hearing of any views besides these three, if there are any.
I will also add that I believe it is better for an individual to be self-employed (or owner or part owner of a truly Christian business) if they have the opportunity. I base this on 1 Corinthians 7:21-23 and Proverbs 22:7, with the understanding that when working under the authority of another, we are in a sense their servant or slave. Therefore, we, ideally would be able to serve the Lord better, and should desire to be free rather than bond, by coming out from under the authority of our employer. This is especially true if our employers are unchristian or run their business in an unbiblical way.
amictus luce quasi vestimento extendens caelos ut pellem - Psalm 103:2
No comments:
Post a Comment