American Christmas

As we say goodbye to November today and welcome December tomorrow, we put back the last turkey sandwich and throw away the leftover green bean casserole nobody ate. We start the annual unannounced competition against our neighbors by putting up more lights, more inflatable snowmen and prettier wreaths. Circulars get thicker and highlight the lastest gadget, the must-have toy of the year, or the sparkling diamond that in itself defines love.

I hate it.

Call me Scrooge, unAmerican, or just stupid, I have not enjoyed American Christmas for the past four or five years. Allow me to explain... Christmas began when the early church authorities made an effort to replace the popularity of pagan decadence with Christian celebrations. They chose a date that coincided with many pagan rituals in order to replace the celebrations of other gods with the celebration of the birth of Christ, December 25th. It spread through Europe that the reason for the jubilee in the beginning of winter was now the birth of the incarnate Son of God. Great job guys! Not really...

By the Middle Ages, Christianity had replaced the pagan religions of Europe and the reason for Christmas was well known. Accordingly, people would start the holiday with a service at church to remember the birth of the Savior of the world. But then what followed can best be compared to the modern Mardi Gras of New Orleans. Parties full of gluttony and drunkenness, licentiousness and debauchery, thievery and greed. This happened for centuries until some attempts at reform entered the scene. Puritans banned the usual Christmas celebrations in England in the 16th century, churches born of the Reformation preached against the sinful practices of a day that was supposed to celebrate the Savior. In fact, for twenty years in the 17th century, Boston fined anyone five schillings who was caught exhibiting any signs of the Christmas spirit (I like that). These reformers tried their best to get rid of the pagan celebrations still clinging to the Christmas holiday once and for all. However, their best efforts were not enough.

Enter the American Christmas. In the year 1870, Christmas was officially declared a federal holiday by Congress. In the past 140 years, it has evolved into what we will be celebrating in twenty-six short days. The stories, the sermons, the ads, the tv shows, and the parents will all be calling for a remembrance of the  "true meaning of Christmas," of the "reason for the season." What has happened in America is what happened in the origen of Christmas. We have simply put a religious reason to a pagan tradition. I would even go so far to say that the term "Christ-mas" in America is the most prevalent form of taking our Lord's name in vain, and yet most of the church not only allows it but takes part in it.

The incredibly high attendance of Christmas Eve services across America and the acceptance of songs and shows and cards depicting Jesus shows that we all remember the reason for Christmas. But is remembering the reason enough when we celebrate the traditions. We hold on to Christ as the reason, but we venerate and worship the pagan traditions by celebrating them with obsession and passion unmatched in any church tradition.

So what? What's the reason for this incredibly long and depressing post? How can I trash family traditions and come down so harshly on people that just long to spread the joy of the season? Firstly, I would like everybody to know where I'm coming from when I give the quick reply of "I hate Christmas."

Secondly, I would like to encourage Christians everywhere to rethink the Christmas holiday. Maybe for you that means less time shopping and more time studying the Word of God. Maybe for you it means less money spent on Christmas lights and more time helping your neighbor put up his. Maybe for you it means visiting family around the holidays is a time for prayer and Spiritual fellowship than a time for gluttony or drunkenness. Maybe it means throwing out old traditions that worship our new American pagan gods of Materialism and Pluralism and embracing new traditions that seek to understand and promote the meaning of Christ's birth within the Gospel. Maybe for you it means passing on traditions to your children that move Christ from simply the reason for the season to the worship of the season. Please consider how you can remember and enjoy the Gospel this month by reinventing Christmas in your home. Make this season an important part of your mission to glorify Christ, instead of another year of simply using Him as a reason for worldly living. I pray that Christ can be honored and glorified in the way we celebrate Christmas this year and that the world may have their "Happy Holidays" while we have our "Merry Christmas."