I don't know if you've seen facebook lately. If not there are two constants: 1. all the griping about the latest facebook format changes (brace yourselves because there is another one rolling out today - December 15th); and 2. around this season many of my Christian friends get really upset because they aren't being greeted with a "Merry Christmas" in the places they shop. Some of them are genuinely angry.
I get it - I really do. Jesus is the reason for the season and all that.
I don't want to throw the proverbial wet blanket on anyone's personal Keep Christ in Christmas Campaign however I would like to offer up a different perspective or seven...
1. The reason Stuffmart and Shooters (that's what my great-granddad called Target) and every other retail chain don't care about the whole "Merry Christmas" thing is because they dont care about Christ. They care about making a profit - period. It is not Walmart's job to point people to Jesus. It doesn't make sense to me to be angry when lost people act like lost people or when businesses do and say things to make money. You're not ever going to get a Merry Christmas, a holy kiss, or any other traditional Christian greeting from your friendly Walmart greeter - deal with it. By the way, not everyone who is buying a bunch of crap during the Christmas season is a Christian.
2. The word "Holiday" is a contraction of "Holy Day." What's wrong with that?
3. Jesus never asked His followers to celebrate His birthday. He asked us to celebrate His death. We celebrate His "birthday" on December 25th because back in the day we tried to keep everyone happy in the Roman Empire by combining the supposed birthday of Christ with the annual pagan winter festival. I don't know how merry Jesus was with that little compromise.
4. Maybe we're angry about the wrong things. If we want to keep Christ in Christmas maybe those of us who follow Christ should start caring about the things Christ cares about. I dont know if Christ cares about the fact that K-Mart doesn't have "Merry Christmas" posted next to the blue light specials. Maybe He does - I don't know.
- I do know that Jesus cares about the fact that more people are held captive in slavery today than at any other point in human history. Most of them are enslaved in the sex-trade industry. Anyone angry about thousands of little girls being used and abused as sex toys this Christmas season?
- I do know that Jesus cares about the 25,000 people who will die today, and everyday around the world because they are hungry.
- I do know that Jesus cares about the 143 million orphans who will go to sleep tonight without the love and care of a parent.
- I do know that Jesus cares about the crazy guy who lives under the bridge two blocks from my warm office where I am typing this.
- I do know that Jesus cares about the 884 million people who have no access to clean drinking water. Every twenty seconds a child dies from a water related illness. 3.6 million people die every year because they have no access to clean water, Clean water!!! Did you know that it would cost 20 billion dollars a year to give every man, woman, and child in the world access to clean drinking water. Sound expensive? Did you know that for the past seven years, Americans have spent over 450 billion dollars a year celebrating Christmas?
I got an email this week from a lady who is angry with me and the church because we aren't teaching about Christmas, the Nativity, and the Christmas story during the Christmas season and as a result she just can't get in the "Christmas spirit" - whatever that is.
My not-so-humble response was to remind her that it is not my job to get her in the "Christmas Spirit" nor is it her job to tell me what to teach the church. It is my job to teach the truth in and out of season.
The truth about Christmas? As I see it, we are angry about the wrong things.
For the follower of Jesus, Christmas should be all about The Christ - and so should Thanksgiving Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day, President's Day, Ground Hog Day, St. Patrick's Day, Earth Day, and every other day on the calendar!
Jesus told us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. That means we go where He goes, do what He does, say what He says, love what He loves, and get angry about the things He gets angry about.
As for me, I just donated to Charity Water (www.charitywater.org) and I'm going to go learn the name of the crazy guy under the bridge, find out what he needs, and wish him a Very Merry Christmas!
