I wanted to write something positive but in order to do that I need your permission to digress a bit before arriving at my main point. I have three key things I want to say: 1. We can't force the true meaning of Christmas on people. 2. We need to see it as a family day that may open opportunities to share Christ. 3. We need to ask ourselves if we're losing the joy of Christmas by overdoing it.
So here we go:
It's the time of year where we hear phrases such as "Jesus is the reason for the season," or "Let's keep Christ in Christmas." I hate to tell you but Jesus is supposed to be the reason for everything, not just a season. And to be honest, was Christ supposed to ever be "in Christmas"? So let's talk about that latter phrase, "Let's keep Christ in Christmas."
In some ways I think that Christ was never truly in Christmas. Why? Because:
- Since childhood, the first thing most of us have been conditioned to think of on Christmas morning (even Christians) is not "who was in the manger?" but "what's under the tree for me?" Sure we all know that Christmas is Christ -mas but if we're honest there's a vast gulf between what we know and what occupies our thoughts at this time of year.
- The amount of money we spend on gifts this year is probably far greater than most of us have personally given to missions (sharing the love of Christ around the world) this year.
- We get so overwhelmed at Christmas that we no longer think "joy to the world" or "peace on earth."
- Whenever December 25 falls on a Sunday we actually see a decrease in our desire to corporately worship Christ on "His day."
The biggest point to ponder is that until the past few centuries Christ was never really in Christmas to begin with. Christmas is not even a biblical idea. The trees, the lights, the big spending, even the day we celebrate Christmas. None of this is commanded or practiced in our bibles. It all began in the 4th century as an attempt to counter the lawlessness and carnality of the week long celebration of the Roman holiday Saturnalia. From that point on the main goal was not to keep Christ in Christmas but to keep the pagans from drinking, pillaging and offering human sacrifices. This was done with little success. Stephen Nissenbaum in "The Battle for Christmas" (1997) discusses the pagan origin of Saturnalia (held December 17-25) and the failed 4th century attempt to Christianize it by celebrating the nativity of Christ on the last day of it's celebration. What many of us don't know is that because of its pagan origins Christmas was banned by the Puritans and its observance was illegal in Massachusetts from 1659-1681.
And if we can add one more point to ponder, let me say this: biblical Christianity has nothing to do with worshiping a baby but everything to do with worshiping a risen Lord. It seems that we have created a feel good, sentimentalized form of religion that is nothing more than moralistic, therapeutic deism. We feel good, we try to be nice to others and we get to ooh and aw the baby in the manger scene. And serving a Happy Birthday Jesus cake is not enough to fix it.
Let's face it, for most of us Christmas is not about Christ; it's about gifts and family. And now I want to give you the hook. That's okay.
While there is no way in the world you are going to convince me that credit card debt, panicky shopping, stressed out calendars and anxiety over what to give everyone on your gift list is an acceptable part of this time of year, I will say this: I don't think Christmas was ever meant to "Keep Christ in Christmas." I think that it was meant to "Give Christ Away."
Huh? What do you mean by that? First of all, the early church added Christmas to a time of year when darkness, moral darkness, was at its peak. They weren't trying to put Christ "in" Christmas, they were trying to bring the masses "out of" their sinfulness. Second, if there is one time of year when people even take a small step, the tiniest itsy-bitsy littlest step, toward being open to hearing about Christ it's this time of year.
I think we need to reshape our thinking. Rather than keeping Christ in Christmas we need to recommit ourselves to getting Christ into the lives of those we love, those we live next door to, those we have any kind of relationship with.
You want to buy a tree? Go for it. You want to walk around crowded malls looking like something out of a zombie apocalypse holiday special? Go for it. But in the midst of that, what's your plan? What's your strategy to make sure that you share Christ with someone? Invite them to a Christmas service. The reason that many churches do a Christmas sermon theme is with the hope of reaching those who don't normally think about Christ but want to learn. There are Christmas musicals and dramas and then there's the always popular Christmas Eve service. Have coffee with someone and when they grumble about this time of year steer the conversation from Christmas as a season to Christ as the savior. Have a leftovers party after December 25 and use it to encourage and share Christ.
There's nothing wrong with December 25 being a family day. Too many Christians have burned bridges in their families by trying to impose their convictions on people who simply want to spend time with each other. But do indeed think through how you can talk about your faith one on one with the always popular, "It's been so good to see you after all these years. Why don't we get together after Christmas for coffee or dinner?"
My point is this. The phrase "Keep Christ in Christmas" has become nothing more than a Christian mob induced attempt to force Christ back into a culture that is no longer willing to be told what to do and how to behave. But the idea of giving Christ away is an attempt to regain your personal responsibility to do something with someone you know, someone you work with, someone in your circles of influence and acquaintances.
If Jesus is the reason for everything and not just a season, if the original intent of Christmas was to give Christ away and not keep him to ourselves, then what's your plan? How are you going to use the trappings of Christmas to tell someone about Jesus?
