The Reason for the Season

That phrase tends to annoy me, because I've heard it tossed about rather flippantly. But it is a sad commentary on our society that a holiday (holy day!) celebrating the birth of my Savior has not only been commercialized (I NEED more things from the store! More candy! More nog! More, more, more MORE!) but also sanitized. Christmas has been hijacked, plain and simple. "Christmas break" has become "Winter break," and for some odd reason, a Christian holiday has been turned into a social event. What would other religions do if we took over their holidays? Could we please no longer have Ramadan? It offends me. And Hannukah? Scratch it. The Satanist down the street might feel marginalized. For that matter, let's turn Halloween into a "Harvest Festival" and leave out any mention of spooky things altogether.

Oh, wait. That IS what we've done. Hm. Christian hypocrisy. I'm sure good at that. So what's the difference? Is the difference in choosing to just do a sanitzed "Harvest" theme personally (not that I do, because I love Halloween and all the silliness that goes with it...) but not limit others who would like to have a ghosty and goblin-y themed celebration? Where do we draw the line? If the Satanists down the street want to have their solstice celebration (everybody watch your cats!), where should we as Christians stand on that? Today at Bible study we discussed Ephesians 4:29: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen," and Ephesians 5:4: "Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."

I guess the question is, how do we live in the world, but not of it? How do we take a stand for our beliefs but not offend non-believers due to our pride and separatism? Please note here, that I am NOT advocating watering down the gospel... but rather that if someone is going to be offended, it should be between them and God--due to Jesus' claims, not due to the hypocrisy they see in me. The cross is offensive to those who don't believe, and my task (I feel) is to facilitate a non-believer in their search for God, to be real with them in the midst of their frustration and disgust at something they don't understand. But that's another discussion entirely.

These "sanitizing of Christmas" thoughts come from a Washington Post article that I read today about the President's Christmas--err--HOLIDAY cards. I'm still digesting the ideas presented on the overall topic, but I'll tell you one thing that I do know exactly what I think about: Jerry Falwell's comment. He said (in response to the outcry that Pres. & Mrs. Bush only put a generic holiday greeting, as well as an Old Testament verse from the Psalms, into their cards), "There's a verse from scripture in it. I don't mind that at all, as long as we don't try to pretend we're not a nation under God."

Ooh! It's that kind of comment that gets me all fired up. A nation under God? Please. The United States general population hasn't honored God's place of sovereignty in many years, if ever. Yes, we are indeed all under God's sovereignty, but I don't think that's what he meant. The real danger comes from deluding ourselves into thinking that America is a Christ-centered culture. I disagree. I think that the predominant religion is secular humanism, and the major gods worshiped are money, sex and self. Only when we truly realize what we are up against can we find ways to connect with our dominant culture and love them in a way that honors God.

That being said, I have to go Christmas present shopping! Sheesh.