Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays? Xmas vs. Christmas?

No wonder comedians have so much material to work with. I've heard folks suggest that those have a problem with "Merry Christmas" and who make a stink about it should just get over it or move someplace where freedom of speech doesn't exist. The political correctness seems way to sensitive on one hand and inauthentic on the other. After a while you realize that many who often touting political correctness do so for pragmatic reasons rather than from actual love and care for people.

When it comes to issues of faith, Christians fear that our country is going the way of Europe. A common complaint is that we are losing our roots as a Christian nation and becoming secular and so we have become adversarial and engaged in a cultural war. Folks are passionately arguing for “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” or “Christmas over Xmas”. “How dare we cut Christ out of Christmas?”

Truth be told, Christmas is not a Biblical Holy day or an ordinance or sacrament or command to be observed. Jesus wasn’t born on December 25^th. The term Xmas has been used by Christians for hundreds of years as a shorthand way of referring to Christ through the Greek letter Chai that looks like the letter X.

Even if all of the above wasn’t true, the approach of trying to change the culture through a public war on it is not at all unlike how the world does it. The way the New Testament speaks of the world being changed is through our own transformation, testimony, humble love for others, sacrificial giving… and work of the Holy Spirit touching lives. No wonder we are having little effect. We are using worldly weapons to fight a spiritual war.

It seems to me that those of us complaining and proclaiming the loss of Christ in Christmas are going about this backwards; trying to get Jesus back in culture instead of focusing on getting Jesus back into our own lives. 

Here are some questions I’m asking myself this season: “Am I spending time with Jesus?” “Am I becoming inspired by his life once again?” “Am I following him in the act of daily loving God and neighbor as self?” “How is my relationship with my family, with my wife, with my friends?” “Is my reputation that I treat others well?”

It's a bit cliché but “be the change”. Anyone can speak about what is broken but very few actually do anything about it. So, put Christ back in your Christmas, in your everyday life. Are you humble, loving, hopeful, faithful, generous? Do your words bring life to others? Do you seek to encourage others? Do you praise more than complain?

At our church’s candlelit service, we have this tradition at the end of our service. The lights are turned down and everyone takes out a candle. We light one person’s candle and that person lights the candle of next person and so on until the whole room is bright. I imagine that, if instead of shouting at the darkness demanding it to become bright, we become the change we seek in culture, others will catch our fire and the once darkened world will become bright.