Should churches observe Advent?
Question:
Thought’s on Advent: Christ coming into the world, anticipating his second coming.
Obviously preaching and teaching about Christ coming into the world and preaching and teaching about the fact that Christ will return again can be scheduled anytime during the year but for those who make Advent a November through December tradition, what are your thoughts?
And I’m not asking you to view the question from the Catholic point of view, I am asking because some churches of Christ and Christian churches now observe Advent.
Answer:
To make it a tradition of something not found in the Bible is the key to understanding. We should not bind anything on the church that cannot be found in some way in the Bible and given authorization by God.
To bind churches with the requirement that they must talk about Advent and observe it would be wrong.
But at the same time, one should not neglect the need to talk about these events, as there are a lot of misconceptions and during the end of the year they are asked most often. We need to be ready in season and out of season when such questions are asked (II Timothy 4:1-5). When it is asked Christians should be prepared to answer any question pertaining to the subject of his coming and to rightly divide the truth (II Timothy 2:15). If Christians are well versed in these subjects then it would be fine to preach it any time of the year, even if it happens to fall in the season when denominations focus on the topic. Then when false doctrine rears its head, we can respond by saying, "Let's open up our Bibles and look at what God has said."
I might not celebrate Advent, but I do realize even though it is wrong to make it a mandate for the church to celebrate it, it still has created an opportunity for Christians to tell the gospel because of man's sin in creating a false Holy Days. We should take advantage of the situation if asked or if someone makes a statement. I do the same with Lent. I do not practice it because it is man-made but at the same time, if other people’s practices cause an opportunity to arise to talk about God, I won’t neglect to answer it with God’s truth. Even with man-made practices, God can make things work to His advantage and for us (Romans 8:28). It does not mean He approves of the practice, but can still bring about good results and get His will done no matter what man does, just as Christ dying on the cross resulted in good.
If someone asks you about what Advent means, say we celebrate Christ's: life, death, resurrection all 365 days of the year, remembering His death with the Lord's supper. But Lord's Supper also points to his return and spending eternity with him (Matthew 26:27-29). As Christians, we give thanks every day that he came into the world to save us, and every day we look forward to his coming.
