First of all, Jesus is most certainly not the reason for the orgiastic spending spree modern Christmas has become. I certainly think anyone should be able to say “Merry Christmas” if he or she wants to. But given what this holiday has become, there’s a part of me—a big part of me—that wants to keep the Jesus I worship as far away from this commercial debauchery as possible.
Secondly, there are the words themselves. “Christmas” is derived from “Christ’s Mass,” an expression first recorded in the 11th century. “Holiday” is a word derived from “holy day,” an expression that likely has an even more ancient, and no less religious, derivation. Indeed, the phrase “Merry Christmas” was unknown until the 16th century, and it connoted the idea of a Christmas that was—shall we say—festive. In other words, “Merry Christmas” may have been a medieval euphemism for “bottoms-up.”
These historical associations may have been why the Puritans banned Christmas. In fact, it is ironic that many of the defenders of Christmas, who often venerate our Founding Fathers, forget that one of the deciding battles of the Revolutionary War took place when George Washington forced his troops across the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776. He attacked Hessian troops at Trenton, routing them in a battle that lasted only an hour. The myth spread that the Hessian troops were unprepared for the battle because they were drunk from their celebration of Christmas. It’s likely that this story is not strictly true, but it caught on because of the American and Puritan disdain for the celebration of Christmas.
My third reason for sitting out the Christmas wars is simply the overall shrillness of the conversation. Several years ago, Tampa pastor Paula White—who has since found herself under investigation by Sen. Charles Grassley and the Senate Finance Committee—initiated the “To Hell With Happy Holidays” campaign, an attempt to stamp out the phrase “Happy Holidays.” It seems ironic in the extreme that anyone would think it shows the love of Christ by saying “To hell with Happy Holidays.” But these are the depths to which many have fallen.
I'd add another reason. This really isn't about keeping Christ in Christmas, because the most that can be accomplished through these boycotts and bad attitudes is keeping political correctness at bay. That's not worth a fight, especially when we'd rather win people to Christ than save them from being unnecessarily PC. For example, here's text from Focus on the Family's Stand for Christmas site:
Millions upon millions in our nation deeply value the great truths of Christmas and the holiday's inspiring place in American life and culture. We hope you will take a moment to "Stand for Christmas" by sharing feedback about your Christmas shopping experiences.
We're asking YOU to decide which retailers are "Christmas-friendly." They want your patronage and your gift-shopping dollars, but do they openly recognize Christmas?
Did you hear that? Jesus doesn't appear anywhere in there. There's no "Emmanuel, God with us." No "Unto you is born... a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." This website is concerned with things Americans "deeply value," not about Christian faith. This campaign is about "great truths of Christmas" but doesn't say what they are. It seeks to preserve "the holiday's inspiring place in American life and culture," making sure stores "openly recognize Christmas," but that really doesn't go all that far, does it?
That's because there's no way we could expect most stores to celebrate Jesus Christ's birth in the way that a genuine believer would. That's also why we should not expect all stores to greet their customers with a "Merry Christmas"-- because not all their customers are true believers.
Let's give retailers a reason to like Christians, not loathe them.
No comments:
Post a Comment