Annually I hear calls to “Keep Christ in Christmas.” Sometimes this means to refrain from using Xmas in place of Christmas (not realizing that X is the first letter of the Greek word forChrist, and is therefore completely acceptable), other times it means to expect WalMart and Target employees to say “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays.” The fine people of a megachurch in Texas have even created a website where users can rate businesses as naughty or nice based on whether greeters offer season’s greetings or Christmas greeters (perhaps the silliest idea of the year). Personally, I see little value in people who are not Christians using the name of Christ. In fact, it may very well be at the heart of “using the Lord’s name in vain.”
Christians, on the other hand, have the responsibility (if there is one) to “Keep Christ in Christmas,” not by what we say but by how we live. There are (at least) three ways Christians remove Christ from Christmas.
1. When we over-emphasize the manger
I love to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special (this year broadcast in November!), but even Lynus’ famous recitation of Luke’s account of the shepherds’ announcement of Jesus’ birth does not tell the entire story. There are two parts of the Jesus story that our typical Christmas celebrations may miss.
First, the conception of Christ. When did the Word become flesh (Jn 1:14)? In Bethlehem? No, when the Virgin conceives. For those of us who are pro-life, believing that life begins at conception, a reminder that the Son of God became a human being when conceived in the womb of Mary will help us think Christianly about human life.
Second, the ultimate purpose of the Incarnation of the Son — God at work to reconcile the world to himself. Christmas is Christian only when it is the means to God’s intended end of making a people for himself from all nations. So this year, look beyond the manger to the Incarnation of God who would suffer, die, and be raised from the dead to reign as the risen Lord.
2. When we live selfishly
At the heart of the Christian message is considering the interest of others above your own interests (Philippians 2). Jesus is the ultimate example of selflessness for the progress of God’s mission: despite being God, he subjected himself to a human life (just like ours) so that we could be reconciled to God. Selflessness for the Christian is not just to sacrifice for others, it is to abandon selfish interests for the progress of the Gospel in others. When Christmas is about our own warm feelings and happy moments, we take the real Christ out of our Christmas celebrations, and the season becomes simply about a happy holiday rather than a merry Christmas. We’ll keep Christ in Christmas when Christmas is about the Prince of Peace and his Good News exhibited in our selfless living.
3. When we capitulate to cultural Christianity
Christianity’s most potent enemy is not a secular culture, but a religious one. Authentic Christianity and secularism have little, if anything, in common. Observers can easily distinguish between the two. Religion, on the other hand, can masquerade as true faith. Meaningless offerings of “Merry Christmas” by unbelievers and mindless attacks on non-Christians are just two examples of a cultural Christianity gone mad. Christians should be offended by the unbelievers who claim the name of Christ — like Fred Phelps and the other morons at Westboro Baptist Church — rather than the unbelievers who don’t. The latter group is just honest, the former take the name of my Lord in vain and are an embarrassment to those who genuinely know Christ.
The Christmas season is, and should be, a wonderful time of celebrating family, friends, gift-giving, and helping out the less-fortunate. But Christians understand that those practices are cultural, not necessarily Christian. If we really want to make sure that we keep Christ in Christmas, we’ll do so when we practice and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God conceived of a Virgin, crucified for our sins, and resurrected to give life to all who believe. Enjoy the season. Enjoy the Gospel. Just don’t confuse the two.
Merry Christmas!
Great post!
If Christmas and Easter are the “bookends” of the Christian calendar, why would we expect “Advent” to to tell the whole story? We never hear folks complaining about Easter not telling the “whole” story in that it contains no inherent message of the virgin birth and humanity of Jesus.
I think if we sing the classic Christmas hymn, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, we have no problem finding the reason for the season:
God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Rick,
A fine point to make. I would contend that Easter does tell the “whole story” in that is presupposes that Jesus was born and lived a life. Obviously, Easter messages wouldn’t begin with Jesus simply appearing out of nowhere. In any event, the Easter message is not complete if it doesn’t explain both the way of the death and resurrection, and its ultimate effects.
Were I to tell you the story of my marriage, I might skimp on the part where my wife and I met, dated, and were engaged, then focus a considerable amount of time on the 16 years since my wedding. But my wife would get short-shrift if I only celebrated our first date.
The songs you mention make my point, I think, that the “Christian” celebration of Christmas must include more than just the birth of Jesus. “Let earth receive her King.” The risen King, Christ the Lord.
I wonder if “bookends of the Christian calendar” is the most appropriate way to describe how we see these two holidays. Are they not instead both eschatalogical, pointing us on to another reality in the future?
Would love your thoughts.
Hi Steve,
I think this post is thoughtful, and I’m willing to overlook the glaring inaccuracies because I like your message, but it misses the point. At the heart of this Christmas nonsense are Christian conservatives who have been trying to steal the culture for themselves; to, as they say, “take it back” from secularism, whatever that means. A shared culture with non-Christians, and especially atheists, is unacceptable to them, and Christmas is but one example of these Christians screaming, “MINE! MINE!” for all to hear. It’s rather like an ill behaved child who needs to be disciplined.
Again, I like the overall message, I’m just adding my two cents. Merry Solstice! -ln
I love the manager ‘russian doll’ set above – is there ANY way we could purchase something like this. (I know it has a specific name; I just can’t think of it right now.)
Any help would be appreciated.