Christmas Challenge for Jesus' Followers

How does a follower of Jesus celebrate the birth of Christ amidst the onslaught of a cultural Christmas?

This time of year offers the greatest challenge for followers of Jesus to remain or become more faithful. As our culture kicks into Christmas high gear, Jesus followers are challenged to step back and slow it down.

Over the years an unease with Christmas has grown in me. As our society places greater and greater emphasis on buying, giving gifts and getting gifts, we’ve moved farther away from anything to do with the birth of Jesus. The pressure to support the economy, purchase more, do more seemingly escalates each year.

So this year I am trying to approach the cultural Christmas as an outside observer. My primary observation is that we approach Santa as a god. Listen to the language used around Santa. It is religious language. In November, Macy’s Department Store took out a two page advertisement in the Boston Globe exhorting us to “believe” in Santa. Stories and movies about Santa hinge on people believing. Belief is even encouraged by adults. Santa has taken on mythical and mystical characteristics.

In a culture that centers around consumerism Santa is a perfect god. What do you do with Santa? You ask for gifts. What does Santa do for us? Santa brings us things. If you do not believe Santa is a god, try saying that Santa is not real in church. Then step back and prepare for the backlash.

I do not begrudge our culture it’s holiday. I think there are many good things about it. But I do not wish to confuse the cultural celebration with the birth of Jesus.

I invite you to step back from Santa and our cultural Christmas. Ask yourself what is a suitable way to celebrate and remember the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior. Feel free to share your ideas. Find those who will join you.

Perhaps these words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer will help:

Who will celebrate Christmas correctly?

Whoever finally lays down

all power, all honor,

all reputation, all vanity,

all arrogance, all individualism

beside the manger.

Grace & peace,

Mike

Cultural Christmas or Christian Celebration

Yesterday while traveling along coastal Maine I passed what looked like a church building with a big sign outside proclaiming “pictures with Santa”. I was moving along and didn’t see if it was an active church or just a church like building turned into something else.

What struck me was the juxtaposition of a religious building and Santa. This symbolic joining crystallized in my mind what I’ve know for a long time; Santa and Christmas are perfect representatives of our cultural religion. If we step aside and pay attention we can see it plainly. The Holiday celebration now fully represents our cultural values and beliefs. These include the necessity to buy things, the spiritual satisfaction of gift giving and getting, the appropriateness of over-spending to name a few.

A colleague of mine shared the news story at the end of this blog. Briefly, the Hillsboro, NH, Christmas Tea was cancelled after the pastor of the church hosting the event asked to read the Christmas story from the gospels along with “The Night Before Christmas.” The quote below comes from an article published by the Concord Monitor (see the link below):

"Andrea Kaubris, administrative assistant to the Chamber of Commerce, said sponsoring a religious event would violate the Chamber's bylaws, which require it to remain nonsectarian. Even though the holiday is Christian, Kaubris said the celebration is "a commercialized treatment of Christmas just because that's what the whole Christmas season has come to. It's about the kids, and it's about the merchants in town."

Rather than bemoan the loss of Christmas to the culture, I suggest we reclaim it in our homes and churches. Let the culture have its Holiday celebration, but let us offer something different. Let us offer Christ, Emmanuel. Leave Santa and all his trappings to the culture and offer the real Hope of the World to our communities.

Let us use this time as an opening to share the good news. For many know the secular holiday does not satisfy their spiritual need. Buying lots of things does not fill the hole in our soul. Christmas parties does not quench our longing for true community. Mistletoe does not meet our needs for intimate relationships.

We are bearers of the light of Christ, heralds of Hope, voices crying out in the wilderness for the people of our community and world. There is still time in this season to find ways to share the coming of Christ to others. How will you celebrate Emanuel? Will others see the difference?

Grace & Peace,

Mike

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061130/REPOSITORY/611300334/1025/LIVING04