Why Is The "Christmas Spirit" So Different?

[Truthseeker]

Pagan man gets saved, but has a strong enough conscious to continue his pagan ways. make sense?

[Truthseeker]

Amazing Romans 14 can be twisted to justify pagan cutoms, amazing.

[*AQuietPlace*]

Bottom line.... what is wrong with a pagan custom? It's because it is done in worship to a false god. Take away that element, and it's nothing. I can jump up and down 10 times in praise to the god Blakado. What's wrong with what I'm doing? The praise in my heart for the god Blakado. Take that away, and I'm just jumping up and down. Nothing wrong with jumping up and down. People the world over don't have to stop jumping up and down. Only something wrong with worshiping another god.

If I was converted and decided that I was going to start jumping up and down for Jesus..... well, go me. It's the worship in my heart that's right or wrong. Not the activity I associate with it.

It's really that simple.

[*AQuietPlace*]

Originally Posted by Truthseeker

That's because you celebrate it. Bias situational blindness.

I went for six years without celebrating it. Didn't change my opinion one bit.

(and Bro. Blume has stated that he used to be anti-Christmas also)

[*AQuietPlace*]

To carry my thought a little further, if my neighbor sees me jumping up and down for Jesus, and says - 'Hey, I want to worship Jesus like that, too!' So he starts jumping up and down, worshiping Jesus. Another neighbor sees it, and just likes the jumping up and down, so he just starts jumping up and down. Neither of these people are doing anything in worship to a false god, either, even though their first neighbor used to jump up and down for Blakado.

It's the intent of the heart.

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

You started the thread, you're not allowed to bow out.

Well the difficult part of discussing this subject is this. Just because I voice the reasoning behind my thinking people take it as legalistic and judgmental. The reason being is if I am voicing why I live the way I live then they feel I am voicing why they are wrong and going to hell.

But... without voicing my reasoning there is no discussion and I am relegated to sitting here and saying nothing.

As with most subjects it is hard to discuss things with people who disagree with you because they, so often, take one voicing their side of the equation as a condemnation of the other participants.

I found, at one time in my life, a friend who with whom I could discuss things which we vehemently disagreed and we both simply discussed the facts on an intellectual level and sensed no condemnation of one another in our exchange of ideas.

I must admit that the man has been a great blessing in my life but I often forget what a rare jewel he was. I learned much by our discussions. I hope we both learned much.

I miss him sometimes.

[Truthseeker]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

Bottom line.... what is wrong with a pagan custom? It's because it is done in worship to a false god. Take away that element, and it's nothing. I can jump up and down 10 times in praise to the god Blakado. What's wrong with what I'm doing? The praise in my heart for the god Blakado. Take that away, and I'm just jumping up and down. Nothing wrong with jumping up and down. People the world over don't have to stop jumping up and down. Only something wrong with worshiping another god.

If I was converted and decided that I was going to start jumping up and down for Jesus..... well, go me. It's the worship in my heart that's right or wrong. Not the activity I associate with it.

It's really that simple.

poor comparison

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Truthseeker

That's because you celebrate it. Bias situational blindness.

That is not it at all since I came into this realization when I was still refraining from it. The idea Paul related in Romans 14 about meats convinced me I was mistaken.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Truthseeker

Amazing Romans 14 can be twisted to justify pagan cutoms, amazing.

It does not justify pagan customs, but points out that the intention of looking at it as nothing to do with false gods in reality is the key point to be understood, and the key difference. There is no justification for conscious worship of a false god in a pagan activity. The intention to NOT WORSHIP ANYTHING is why 1 Cor 10 says to not do anything in a pagan temple because temple activity is for nothing but worship. There's no condoning false gods at all when we are saying THEY DO NOT EXIST and any activity done in identical manners that are used to honour such non-entities is just activity. If the heart is not honouring a false god, then whatever activity is involved is simply activity as much as eating meat offered to idols is JUST EATING MEAT.

Why can't you see that?

Speaking of twisting, you have not yet represented our view correctly without twisting it and proposing things we are not saying at all. We understand your reasoning, but why can you not understand ours?

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

Bottom line.... what is wrong with a pagan custom? It's because it is done in worship to a false god. Take away that element, and it's nothing. I can jump up and down 10 times in praise to the god Blakado. What's wrong with what I'm doing? The praise in my heart for the god Blakado. Take that away, and I'm just jumping up and down.

EXACTLY! THAT is what Paul was saying about meats offered to idols. IT IS JUST EATING MEAT! Now, if that was done with a person who could not pull himself away from the concept of honouring a false god, thereby killing his conscience, then the guy has to refrain and nobody should do it around him. But that is due to his WEAK CONSCIENCE. He is incorrect, but knwoledge (being correct) is not as important as love for the person, so we cannot shove this down their throats.

So I will refrain from wounding the weak consciences of my good brethren here lest I take my correct knowledge and hurt their weak consciences.