Why We Do Christmas: Untangling Traditions and Truth

Pastor Daniel Medders says he is encouraged by the growing number of people at ECN who are new to faith or returning to church, and he uses their questions to explain why it matters to ask, “Why do we do church the way we do.” He intentionally shifts the service into a more conversational format to mirror how he believes Jesus taught, then uses Christmas topics to explore how traditions formed, including the real history of Saint Nicholas and how the modern Santa image developed much later. He highlights the hope of Christmas by emphasizing that God worked through an imperfect human in Mary, and he explains why December 25 was chosen based on early Christian reasoning tied to Jesus’ conception and death rather than a recorded birthday. He also challenges common nativity assumptions by arguing that “inn” is better translated as “guest room,” that the birth setting was likely a sheltered space connected to a home, and that some alleged historical contradictions can be understood with better context while others still leave room for “we do not know.” He closes by noting that Joseph disappears from the story after Jesus’ childhood, likely because Joseph died, and he ends with prayer that understanding these details will deepen gratitude and awe for Jesus.