It’s time for me to revisit “Christmas Past,” to borrow or misuse a phrase from Charles Dickens, and update some comments I made about the Christmas holiday season.
When I wrote that original post, I was trying to point out some of the absurdities overly zealous Christians were making about the simple choice of wishing people “Happy Holiday(s)” instead of “Merry Christmas.” I pointed out (go ahead, click and read the original post; I’ll wait for you to come back here) that the original meaning and nature of the word “holiday” came from “holy day” and could be a perfectly harmless, legitimate greeting along with “Merry Christmas.” I also pointed out that our Puritan “founding fathers,” so often pseudo-worshipped by many fundamentalist Christians and conservatives these days, actually had some pretty severe anti-Christmas laws.
Well, if I did anything in that post, I probably became too sarcastic in expressing my irritation at Christians who seem compelled to start cultural battles or spiritual warfare, or something, about such matters. I confess I have a weakness that shows itself too often on this and other blogs — I tend to be too sarcastic when I should perhaps be more tactful.
The reality of “Christmas warfare” in America, I strongly believe, is that THERE IS NO WAR AGAINST CHRISTMAS, at least not in the sort of conspiracy theory way many conservative Christians perceive it. The biggest “war” on Christmas has nothing to do with political correctness, or “Happy Holidays” or “Merry X-Mas,” or any of that sort of silliness.
If there’s a real war on Christmas, it’s a matter of rampant commercialism pitted against Christian misunderstandings. We spend way too much money and too much effort on shopping, Christmas gifts, etc., and not enough time focusing on the birth of Christ. And by “Christian misunderstandings,” I mean this: Nothing biblical tells us or even suggests to us that we must observe or celebrate Christmas. Celebrating the birth of Christ in any formal season or date of the year didn’t even start until centuries after the Bible was written. (That’s true also with Easter and other Christian holiday celebrations.)
So, Christians, here’s my best advice on Christmas: Forget about doing battle in some mythical “war on Christmas” and spend your time honoring Christ in your daily life of faith. If you want to do “spiritual warfare” in a scriptural fashion, read Luke 4:16-19. Then get busy today, tomorrow, and every day after that, and make Jesus’ business in those verses the business of your life.