Once again, the Christmas season is upon us. The stores are adorned with red and green;
the radio stations fill the airwaves with our holiday favorites and children
everywhere are dropping not-so-subtle hints as to what they might like under
the tree. It is also time for people to
break out their Keep Christ in Christmas pins and car magnets. Driving back from Florida last week I noticed
several vehicles with these magnets strategically placed for others to see. It made me wonder, “Exactly how would one take Christ out of Christmas?”
As “all things have been created through Him and for Him…and
by Him all things hold together (Col 1:16–17) it seems unlikely that we could
ever take Him out of Christmas – or anything else for that matter. I’m sure the point of these car magnets is
that we should (especially during Christmas) acknowledge Christ. Given the rampant secularization of Christmas,
it is an understandable sentiment. If A Charlie Brown Christmas were to be
remade today, Linus’ presentation of the Birth of Jesus from Luke’s Gospel
(2:8-14) would undoubtedly be omitted.
The Nativity has been replaced by reindeer and elves, just as the empty
tomb has been replaced by bunnies and eggs.
Part of our problem might be that we have compartmentalized
Christmas and reduced it to a story about the birth of Jesus. It is so much more than that. It was the moment when the Eternal
interjected Himself into the temporal, when God took on flesh. It is the moment in history when God put in
motion His plan for the salvation of mankind.
The only way we can really understand the Baby in the manger is by
remembering the Man on the cross. It is
in His death, burial and resurrection that His birth is shown in its true
light. This is the real Christmas story.
As Christians lament the current situation, we must face a
hard reality – this decades long trend cannot be reversed with pithy sayings or
bumper sticker theology. If we are
really serious about keeping Christ in Christmas it starts by making sure WE
keep Him in New Year’s Eve, as well as Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day,
Easter, the 4th of July, Labor Day and all of the other days that
don’t have special names. It's
unreasonable for us to expect a secular world to acknowledge Christ in December
if we are not intentional about acknowledging Him the other 11 months of the
year. They are just following our lead.
However, if our lives don’t truly reflect our love of
and submission to Jesus then our attempts to lead others will prove
futile. Face it, the “Jesus is the
Reason for the Season” pin seems a bit insincere when we are obsessing over
the accumulation of more consumer goods just like everyone else. We are supposed to be different. Our faith in Christ cannot be limited to
simple catchphrases, it must be exhibited in the lives we live – every day. We cannot simply tell others to “Keep
Christ in Christmas” we must show them how.
Father,
I pray that I will be
salt and light in a world that desperately needs to know the Savior; that I
will show Your love and forgiveness, not my judgement and wrath. Please help me to glorify You in my actions
and words this Christmas season. Allow others
to see Christ in me that You might be glorified and others come to know how
much You love them. Please forgive me where we have failed You.
In Christ Name, Amen.
May you all have a blessed Christmas.
In His Service,