PK’s Ponderings

November 28, 2005

Why I Don’t Get Angry With Those Who Take Christ out of Christmas

[I am fully aware that we will not all have the same mind on this issue. But I trust that you know my love for the Lord. If I am wrong in any way, I trust the Lord to show me, and even to use some of you to do so lovingly, and tenderly.]

Much has been publicized about what seems to be a continuing trend among businesses and groups to take Christ out of Christmas. Lowe’s now sells holiday trees. Other businesses simply say Happy Holidays. Schools no longer have Christmas Concerts with “Silent Night”, but Winter Concerts with “Frosty the Snowman.”

But this isn’t new. I remember living in WV about nine to ten years ago and the local Pittsburg TV station no longer used the term “Christmas Season”, instead routinely referred to the wonderful “Sparkle Season” we were in. Please, of all names to use – “Sparkle Season”? It almost made me sick.

Yet, some in American evangelical circles are now saying that we should boycott stores and businesses that don’t use the word “Christmas” or that we should write and take stands for the reinsertion of Christ into this season. Many are hopping mad, but I am not one of them.

Why should we expect every business to honor Christ? I should think that a Christian-owned business would, but should I expect all businesses to hold up Christ during this season? No. Let’s be honest, the god for most businesses during this season is not Christ, but rather Mammon. Indeed, I should be more upset to think that a business that in no other way honors Christ throughout the year, should suddenly play up the birth of our Savior only for the sake of making a buck off Him!

Do we demand that Lowe’s, or Target, or Sears, or (insert name of a company here) honor Christ as the Sovereign of the Universe throughout the year? We do not. Then why should we get upset when they show their true colors during Christmas?

No, the tragedy is that we are suddenly confronted with the fact that for many years and many decades, Christmas-time has long been more commercial and cultural than Christ-centered. As Christians, we have been lulled into a sense of sentimental numbness thinking that everyone was celebrating Christmas all these years, when instead, there was the using of the celebration of Christ’s birth for the fattening of the bottom line and for the nurturing of materialistic gluttony in our midst. Christmas in America has long been a measure of economic health rather than spiritual reflection. Only now, we are upset at companies because they are being honest about it.

Who can blame them? They are unaware that the Light of the World has come, (John 1:5) and their minds are darkened, ignorant, and calloused (Ephesians 4:17-19). They are desperately lost, and are slaves to the ways of this world. This is not cause for our anger and retribution; this is cause for our prayers for their conversion. Instead of railing against Lowe’s, why not begin to seek a relationship with the manager of Lowe’s and introduce him to Christ! Instead of boycotting a company, show the love of Christ to the employees, who usually aren’t the ones making the big decisions, but who suffer the biggest harm in a boycott.

Besides, can you show me one instance in Scripture where Jesus boycotted lunch at a sinner’s home simply because the sinner did not share the same world view as Christ? No! But I can show you where Jesus was regularly criticized for going and interacting with a sinner in his home, (Matthew 9:11; Luke 15:2). Did Paul advocate the boycotting of butchers who sold meat that had been sacrificed to idols? No! But he did recommend not eating meat sacrificed to idols for the sake of weaker brothers.

Did Christ ever expect Rome to observe Passover, or Yom Kippur? No! But He himself did observe these feasts, regardless of what the culture around Him did. And this is the point: It matters not if businesses run by worldly unbelievers do not observe Christmas. The main point is “Will I and my family, who purport to be believers, honor Christmas appropriately? Will I and my family keep Christ in Christmas, or will we get caught up in the mad dash for gifts, forgetting or at least minimizing the One who is the greatest Gift?” As someone reminded me recently, the major concern is not the world taking Christ out of Christmas, what is more worrisome is the number of Christians who do! I ask you to consider the following: How many Christians will take Christ out of Christmas this year because instead of coming to Sunday morning worship on December 25, they will instead choose to stay home to open gifts and spend time with family or out of town guests?

“But this is a Christian nation, and we should fight to keep it that way!” someone will offer. Is our nation Christian? Is it really? Slow down and think about this. Less than half our population even attends church, and not all those who even attend are truly born again. So, are we really a Christian nation? I could go on, but I will say simply, that I believe the ability to say that we are, in the present tense, a Christian nation is non-existent. With that in mind, how should we fight? Not by petitions or boycotts or hate-filled letters to CEO’s. Rather, I fight my own flesh to keep Christ central in my heart, and mind and actions, day by day, all year long. I help my family fight the fight of faith, and encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to keep Christ central in their lives. Along the way, I reach out with gospel hope to others who are lost, with the desire that Christ will become central in all aspects of their lives. This I believe is the more Scriptural way.

Let us remember something and keep things in perspective. We are crying out as American Christians because a for-profit business takes out the name of Christ for Christmas. Yet no one is coming to our house to prevent us from celebrating Christmas. No one is threatening a pastor for holding Christmas Eve or Christmas Day services. No church in this nation has to worry about doors being knocked down on Sunday, December 25 during the midst of the service and congregation members being shot. No church in America is considering a secret meeting place to be able to worship Christ on Christmas Day. But in many places around the world this is happening and will be happening. Let us be thankful for the freedoms that we do have, when many of our brothers and sisters are persecuted.

“But PK, if we don’t stop the slide now, we may just end up like those other countries.” That may be, but we are not promised in Scripture freedom from persecution, indeed just the opposite (Matthew 5:11-12; John 15:19-20; 2 Timothy 3:12). Our eyes and heart are not to be set upon this land, but we “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” (Hebrews 11:16a) Yet, while we do live in this land, let us not be surprised and disturbed that the world acts like the world, or unbelievers ignore our Lord. Instead, may we remember that our hope is in the Lord Himself, not in getting the world to playact as if they love and honor Him Whom they know not. Let us who do know and honor the Lord be humble and worship Him, for the promise is not that healing will come to our land through activism, but by God’s very own people being humble, praying, repenting, and waiting on God. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

This Christmas Season, let’s not tally which business or group is or is not keeping Christ. Rather, let us make sure that we ourselves are keeping Christ central in all our ways.

This Christmas Season, let’s not get caught up with who gave us what, and bemoan what we did not receive. Rather let us look for opportunities to give to missionaries and ministries, to strangers, to those in need of a shirt for warmth, and a simple meal for survival.

No, I will not get mad at those who take Christ out of Christmas, who simply have been blinded by the god of this world and know no better.

But may I grieve bitterly if I, or if dear brothers and sisters in Christ around me who do know better, should be guilty of such a crime against Christ.