It's the most wonderful time of the year! Or is it? I'll be totally honest from the get-go, Christmas is not my favorite holiday of the year. The consumerist chaos that ensues once Thanksgiving is near has left me a little bit jaded I suppose. But perhaps more than that, thanks to the internet and anyone who has an opinion (myself included), Christmas has become an entirely different animal that what I remember it being as a child. One phenomenon that occurs among many fellow Christians this time or year often has me scratching my head.
There is a running campaign by many to "Keep Christ in CHRISTmas." I understand the desire for followers of Christ to want to honor the "reason for the season", but I'm not sure how demanding that the world affiliate Christ with Christmas is really helping things. So what if people celebrate Christmas without acknowledging Christ? Christmas has long been hijacked by commercialism and we celebrate it on December 25 because early Christians adopted that date to counteract a pagan holiday celebrated on the same day. Yes, it is important that we recognize and celebrate Jesus' coming to the earth, God in the flesh, but shouldn't we celebrate His life every day?
Closely associated with this is another phenomenon that occurs in shopping malls and deparment stores around the country. It seems that the phrase "Merry Christmas" has been replaced with "Happy Holidays" in many establishments and it has made many people outrageously furious. Stores are being boycotted by red-faced church goers who have pledged to keep their money in their wallets until cashiers and sales clerks start wishing them a Merry Christmas. That will show them!
Yeah, that will show them. But what are we showing the world with all of this? All of this puzzles me because for some reason we believe that the world is responsible for proclaiming the name of Jesus. Why else would we demand that they "keep Christ in CHRISTMAS" or bid us a Merry Christmas when we walk through the door?
Why do we expect lost people to want to make the name of Jesus famous?
Here's the point. Jesus is Lord whether or not the world acknowledges Him as such. If someone who could care less about Jesus and His redemption wants to celebrate in his own way, let him. My role is not to attack him because he's doing it wrong. No, as a follower of Christ I am to celebrate my King everyday. I want lost people to know who Jesus is more than just around Christmas time. Yes, Christmas does offer us a unique window in which to proclaim the gospel to ears that are probably more open than at other times during the year, but we will fail miserably in doing so if we spend all of our energy lambasting people who refuse to celebrate Christmas "our way."
There is a running campaign by many to "Keep Christ in CHRISTmas." I understand the desire for followers of Christ to want to honor the "reason for the season", but I'm not sure how demanding that the world affiliate Christ with Christmas is really helping things. So what if people celebrate Christmas without acknowledging Christ? Christmas has long been hijacked by commercialism and we celebrate it on December 25 because early Christians adopted that date to counteract a pagan holiday celebrated on the same day. Yes, it is important that we recognize and celebrate Jesus' coming to the earth, God in the flesh, but shouldn't we celebrate His life every day?
Closely associated with this is another phenomenon that occurs in shopping malls and deparment stores around the country. It seems that the phrase "Merry Christmas" has been replaced with "Happy Holidays" in many establishments and it has made many people outrageously furious. Stores are being boycotted by red-faced church goers who have pledged to keep their money in their wallets until cashiers and sales clerks start wishing them a Merry Christmas. That will show them!
Yeah, that will show them. But what are we showing the world with all of this? All of this puzzles me because for some reason we believe that the world is responsible for proclaiming the name of Jesus. Why else would we demand that they "keep Christ in CHRISTMAS" or bid us a Merry Christmas when we walk through the door?
Why do we expect lost people to want to make the name of Jesus famous?
Here's the point. Jesus is Lord whether or not the world acknowledges Him as such. If someone who could care less about Jesus and His redemption wants to celebrate in his own way, let him. My role is not to attack him because he's doing it wrong. No, as a follower of Christ I am to celebrate my King everyday. I want lost people to know who Jesus is more than just around Christmas time. Yes, Christmas does offer us a unique window in which to proclaim the gospel to ears that are probably more open than at other times during the year, but we will fail miserably in doing so if we spend all of our energy lambasting people who refuse to celebrate Christmas "our way."
1 comment:
nice.
i like this post.
if christians cared as much wanting unbelievers to hear the gospel as they do about wanting unbelievers to say merry christmas instead of happy holidays, we'd be in good shape...
:)
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