I am getting to that point as we strip away any significance of the Christian celebration. Forget trying to convince the world to keep Christ in Christmas. Why should it? They don't believe. For them Christmas is about family traditions, having fun with the kids with the figure of Santa Claus, and having a great party at the beginning of winter. No, the real fight is to get the Christian to keep Christ in Christmas.
Society is a powerful machine shaped and molded by the media. Most people accept as truth whatever they watch on television, especially the news. Christians submit themselves to this same mind-shaping machine every day. Ask the average Christian how much they will spend on gifts this year and it will be no different than the person who does not believe. Ask them what Christmas is about and the two will give similar answers: the family.
As nice as it is to have the family together for Christmas, it is not about the family. Christmas is not about the food. Christmas is not about family traditions. Christmas is not about the magical time for the children. Christmas is about one thing:
In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
The Word was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1-2)
The Word became flesh
and made his home among us.
We have seen his glory,
glory like that of a father’s only son,
full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
That's it. That is our celebration that we have allowed to become something it was never intended to be. Now it is more a celebration of the family, which Christians who worship the family are happy for, but it is not the true celebration. Now we don't even open our churches on Christmas day to worship God for this incredible start to his great act of mercy and grace. No, we would not want to disturb family time.
"Keep Christ in Christmas" we say as we stress out over Christmas shopping and running up our credit cards with stuff we can't afford. We are caught up in the machine just like our non-believing neighbour and we don't have the guts to admit it.
The Christmas message is still a message of the Cross. The Christmas message is about the Light that entered this dark world to die for mankind who did not deserve it. The Christmas message is about God's love, mercy, grace and forgiveness. The Christmas message is about God's reconciliation with man. The Christmas message is nothing without Easter. I do not worship a baby in a manger. I worship the risen King; the Alpha and Omega; the first born of us all.
Re-think Christmas this year and don't be a lump of clay for this society to mold.
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