JOSEPH W. TKACH
December 1988
Dear Friend:
Thank you for your question concerning birthdays.
Only two birthday celebrations are referred to in the Bible.
Interestingly, each one is associated with a tragic event (see
Genesis 40:20-22 and Mark 6:21-27). Equally interesting is the
fact that there are no examples in the Bible of any man or woman
of God having participated in a celebration of his or her own
birthday. Not once do we find that Jesus marked the anniversary
of His birth in any fashion.
The Bible reveals that celebrating our physical birth is not
an issue of primary importance to God. He is far more concerned
with the development of spiritual character within us and our
being born into His Kingdom (Eccl. 7:1; Rev. 21:7; Rom. 2:7; John
12:24-25). It is evident that God does not want His people to
mimic the world in a self-serving and greedy approach. This
certainly includes what one thinks about and how one treats the
anniversary of one's birth.
It is good to consider, however, that there is a vast
difference between a simple acknowledgment that someone is a year
older and observing the fact with a celebration. The date of
one's birth is not pagan. The fact that someone is a year older
is not pagan. The giving of gifts is not of pagan origin.
Certainly, there are a number of milestones in life which are
significant. A person's reaching teenage or becoming old enough
to drive or becoming of age or becoming seventy or eighty are all
events which are perfectly proper for family members and friends
to acknowledge. Simple recognition of an achievement is not
wrong.
On the other hand, a birthday celebration with its usual
trappings, inviting guests, giving elaborate gifts, baking and
decorating a cake, lighting candles, and so forth, is an entirely
different matter. This kind of festivity tends to accentuate
flattery and vanity -- the I-me-my attitude -- and the GET rather
than the GIVE way of life. Vanity and glorifying the self, of
course, are condemned in God's Word (please see Galatians 5:26;
II Peter 2:18; Colossians 2:18; I Corinthians 5:6; and Psalm
24:3-4).
Whenever we can be of additional service, please let us
know.
PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT
PASTOR GENERAL