The day after Halloween the decorations appeared. Like magic they were everywhere. Red bows, silver tinsel, colored lights and, of course, candy canes. Appropriate holiday music quickly followed. Soon we were all dashing through the snow as we all dreamed of a white Christmas and it was only early November.
One would think that with all the early emphasis on Christmas that it would be easy to keep the central figure of Christmas, Christ, central. Regretfully it is not. The pluralists (“There are so many faiths and we don’t want to offend anyone” crowd) and the Secularists (“The idea of God in public life offends me” crowd) have succeeded by there loud objections in taking Christ out of Christmas, leaving us I guess with just “mas”. It sounds silly to say happy “mas” so we say instead “Happy Holidays” or “Have a Merry” meaning and including but never excluding Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, and Festivus (See Seinfeld, 1997).
The end product of all this political correctness is quite sad. We end up attending the office “holiday party” or going to our children’s “winter celebration concert” at school. We find ourselves saying “Have a Happy and a Merry” in the stores as we all dance around the real meaning of the season like it was bottled bubonic plague.
Let’s get some facts straight here. For Orthodox Jews, Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday which was added after the Hebrews Scriptures had been completed. Kwanza is a recent holiday born in the 1960’s to celebrate African heritage. Festivus is fictional. People in this country primarily give gifts this time of year to celebrate the greatest gift of all---the gift of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In reality, merchants make money, schools close, people get together, churches fill
up-- not to celebrate the miracle of the oil in the lamps during the time of the Maccabians, not to rejoice in one’s heritage, but to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Why is His birth celebrated? Listen to what the Bible says in Luke 2:10-11, Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of Davida Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
So here is my choice. I can bow to political correctness and tiptoe around the real meaning of Christmas, or I can be true to my beliefs and proclaim, “Joy to the world, a Savior is born who is Christ the Lord!” The reason Jesus has been uninvited to His birthday is that we have allowed ourselves to be silenced.
As believers we are not called to be obnoxious, but we are also not called to be doormats either. Meekness is not weakness. We are not ashamed of Jesus Christ, He’s our Savior. The Bible tells us that He is the Way the Truth and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except by Him. Respect for the faith of others doesn’t mean I have to shut my mouth about my own. We don’t bow to the wishes of men, we answer to God.
So this year, help our city keep Christ in Christmas. Wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Unashamedly tell others about the Christ of Christmas. Talk about His virgin birth, His claims of deity and His death for our sins. Send overtly Christian Christmas cards, sing poignant Christmas carols and invite people to Christmas services at church. In other words “Go, tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere; Go, tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born.” Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Dave Watson, An Urban Christian
