Most people, while attempting to be assertive, have chosen to popularize the phrase 'putting Christ back in Christmas'. While I do not think this is wrong, I believe there is a better saying, which is the subtitle of this post. It is not that Christ has been taken out of Christmas; Capitalism, consumerism, Santa, advertising, December 26th sales, gift-giving, and wanton desires have clouded the true meaning of this beautiful holiday. My next, and probably final post on this topic will deal with all of this--as for now, here are some [sarcastic] explanations of some of our modern (and American) traditions and why we follow them.
-Did you know that the last few months leading up to Jesus' birth Joseph and Mary were out in the desert sprucing up the barn like there was no tomorrow? They decked it out with the fanciest lights imaginable, bordering the entire frame of the stable. They installed a giant mechanical waving snowman on the roof, put an inflatable Santa near the crib and gave Jesus a stuffed reindeer when He was born. Also, Jesus refused to acknowledge Joseph as His father until he ran out to the local Wal-Mart (it was called Wall's Market at the time) and fought his way through the crowds to buy Him an XBox 360 and a Cadillac power wheels truck.
-Since the Bible does tell us to be a light in the world, of course the more lights you install in your house and on the tree the holier you must be. I'm sure the passage is somewhere in the Bible.
-Speaking of which, since the Bible constantly refers to Christ's crucifixion as taking place "on a tree", it must have been a pine because that would have been the only one around during that time strong enough to hold a person. And since there were some Egyptian traditions still around, they decorated His place of death after the fact.
-Also, Jesus was actually born in an electronics store, so that would explain the pressure and excitement of people entering shops of this nature. All people want to do is honor Him by being in a similar place to that of His birth. Hopefully that clears some things up.
I believe Christ has always been in Xmas and it is not a matter of keeping Him in it. Rather, it is about taking secularism out of it. This is the second holiest time of the year, in my opinion, because Jesus didn't come to Earth to be born, He came to die for our sins. This would make Easter the holiest. However, people have completely bastardized the concepts behind this holy holiday and have allowed the Athiests/Agnostics/Mediocre Christians to steal this holiday back from the True Believers [since Christmas is based on Pagan things] and take the traditions with them. They can keep the traditions, but give us back our Jesus.
I do not discourage gift-giving entirely, because that is a sacrament which is also Biblical, but notice what the wise men brought Jesus. It was not a requirement as the American Corporate Marketing Campaign would have us believe, it is something we do out of love and our desire to honor Christ. Gifts should be simple and from the heart, not a contest to see who can spend the most money and get everyone the perfect gift. God gave us His perfect gift and only Son for our benefit, let us live like we believe it.
Don't be the lizard.
Don't be the lizard.
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