Now I don't want to get off on a rant here...

Merry Holidays....I mean…Happy Christmas…Ummmm

So what’s your poison – Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays? Bah Humbug?! When I was a kid I used to like to switch these known sayings around wishing people a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year or something like that. They were just words and didn’t mean a whole to me one way or another. There seems to be quite a few people getting fairly worked up over their usage now and what does it all mean.

WAS JESUS OF NAZARETH BORN ON DECEMBER 25TH?
Probably not. Philip Schaff writes in the History of the Christian Church (Volume 1), “Christ was born AU 750 (or BC 4), if not earlier. This is evident from the…chronological hints in the Gospels, as compared with and confirmed by Josephus and contemporary writers, and by astronomical calculations… an argument for the truthfulness of the first Gospel.” There have been arguments for His birth to have taken place in pretty much every month, but Schaff believes that January is most likely. So December 25th is not a God ordained or Scripturally ordained holiday celebration; therefore, it is quite difficult to argue that this day has explicitly been set apart for Christians only.

IS SANTA CLAUSE A DEVICE OF SATAN?
Not exactly; at least not historically speaking. The origin of Santa Clause is Nicolas the Bishop of Myra in the fourth century. He was real man, “A priest, a bishop, Nicholas put Jesus Christ at the center of his life, his ministry, his entire existence.” Hardly pagan origins, but “the true center of Christmas—the birth of Jesus” has been corrupted with a focus on Santa Clause and materialism. In that respect, anything that distracts from the focus on the birth of Christ is most certainly a device of Satan.

BIG DEAL?!
So December 25th is a day for Christians and pagans AND Santa isn’t Satan nor a Saint. Why all the fuss then over those words? I believe that pagans are rather more authentic when they say “Happy Holidays” and thus more consistent than one who says “Merry Christmas”, but denies the authority of Scripture, Grace, Faith, Christ and the Glory of God. The problem is not with the words themselves, but that they aren’t treated equally by either side in the “culture war”. The pagan is hostile towards Christianity, and the Christian can put more meaning in the words than the act of compassion found in the incarnate God among us.

“Cultural opposition to Christmas is but one representation of a fundamental shift in American society. This shift has not occurred on its own. A secular elite, fueled by hostility to historic Christianity, now insists that America surrender Christmas as a public celebration” (Anti-Christmas Bias and the Political Correctness Police by Albert Mohler). The mistake here is that “Happy Holidays” is as every bit as biased as “Merry Christmas”, and should be treated as such. By not getting upset when we hear one or other we show grace and understanding that not everyone believes what we believe.

Being consistent with truth coupled with love and grace will do more to win hearts for Christ than back biting and fighting over the significance of a man made date. Of course that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Posted by price at December 16, 2005 04:35 PM | TrackBack