So, right now I work retail at a "Christian book store" in a big city. We sell a lot of questionable things, including Santa here, kneeling before the manger. Some even have a little prayer, in which Santa acknowledges to Jesus that He is the source of all gifts and that His gift on the cross is Santa's inspiration for giving.
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So, when the store is empty, I get to stand up front and think about things like this. Naturally, I have a few thoughts and questions to pass on for your imput.
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1. Why, in the WORLD, would you want to put Santa and Jesus together? You're putting the God of all creation, in His amazing act of accomodating us in His incarnation, right there next to a fictional old man. You might as well paint a picture of Harry Potter and Edward Cullen coming to Elijah's rescue as the three of them duke it out with the prophets of Baal. What happens to the child who sees this atrocity, once he realizes the truth about Jolly Ole Saint Nick? Does he throw our Lord Jesus out as fiction as well? This article has a revealing exceprt of a dialogue in such a case. It makes me sick that these things exist, and even sicker when a customer brings one to my line, knowing that I must ring it out.
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2. This is the more important one. This one has been bugging me for a couple days now. The word "Christmas" comes from "Christ's mass." "Christ's mass" became "Christ mass," which became "Christmas." There is also a "Michaelmas," in case you were wondering.
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Is it ok to say the word "Christmas?" Think about it for a minute. Think about where the word came from, and whose name it still contains. Christ is the Greek form of the title Messiah-a title of our Lord Jesus Himself ("Messiah" comes from the Hebrew word that means "to smear" or "to annoint.") Do we need a mass for the Annointed One of God-the God-man?
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Moreover, when we throw around the word "Christmas," are we taking the Lord's name in vain? To be sure, it isn't intentional, but it is still Jesus' title. In fact, it is the only title so closely associated with a name that it is often confused with the name itself. (I recall when I was younger asking my grandmother what Jesus' middle name was, since I was sure His last name was Christ.)
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In saying "Merry Christmas," have I thrown around my savior's divine title as a simple greeting? Do I treat that name with reverance when I sing "We Wish you a Merry Christmas?" I don't think I do. Most people agree that using the word "Christ" as an expletive is taking the Lord's name in vain. But is it any different how we treat it during the holidays? I guess a helpful thought would be to ask if the word "Christmas is far-enough removed from "Christ" to make a difference.
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Maybe "Happy Holidays" isn't so bad after all.
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Just some thoughts, I'd love to hear your opinions,
-Elijah
6 comments:
Excellent and very timely thoughts. In regard to Santa, it is something we have decided that we did not want to do with our children. So often we hear and talk about remembering the reason for the season, but we don't make it easy when we cloud the truth with fiction.
Very interesting thoughts on the use of the word 'Christmas'. It is definitely a word that I have not kept that direct association with the name of Christ, but I will certainly be more mindful of it now!
Good post.
Toward your point number 1, it is sad to see such a display such as the one pictured. While the developer (or marketer) who created this piece may believe that it is showing the "worldly" beliefs actually bowing down to the truth, it does lead to confusion and plays on stereotypes that could lead misguided people into misguided paths.
Sad to say, but at the Kingston Christmas parade recently, I saw a church float that had Santa on it. There was no mention of Christ or anything that had to do with His incarnation. Only a blow-up Santa with people around him throwing out candy to those standing beside the parade. That church is "SOR" and Baptist if anyone was wondering.
The aforementioned church was not one that we as a group have been associated with in recent memory.
Although, since our departure, these two churches have be named in close association with things such as 5th Quarters and the like.
Thoughtful post, Elijah. I've always admired your attempt not to take the issue of blasphemy lightly, particularly in regard to areas many of us are not aware.
Such items as the Santa-Infant Jesus statute are just symptoms of the overall shallowness of contemporary American evangelicalism. The issue follows us year-round, so it's nothing inherent to the Christmas season. For some reason, the opportunities presented for companies to cash in on the Christian market at this time of year happen to be more particularly annoying (e.g. Christmas candy--"Jesus: Sweetest Name I Know").
We should not be surprised to see companies led by unregenerate people take the reality of the incarnation so lightly. Our lack of shock, however, should not make for a lack of tearful prayers for such people.
Rather than providing an authoritative voice announcing the arrival of King Jesus, the church has become complacent in its witness to the incarnation, which in turn is really a symptom for its complacency toward the gospel. If we truly recognized the majestic nature of Jesus as put forth in the New Testament, we would not be so susceptible to the culture's influence.
This is not just in regard to our witness during the holidays where we've been arbitrarily told to call others to remember the "reason for the season." Instead, our lives should be so Christ-centered that we constantly realize the reason for anything. "All things were created through him and for him," the apostle Paul writes (Col 1:16, emphasis mine). Yes, God created the heavens and the earth for his glory, but he did it to display his glory in Christ (Phil 2:10-11). God created in order to give Jesus a kingdom. In other words, reality's heart beats for the glory of Jesus.
It is therefore our mission to proclaim Christ's absolute authority to all creation as we invade enemy territory (Matt 28:18-20; Eph 3:10). Let us not merely bemoan the mindset secular retailers assume during the Christmas season. Rather, let us be so caught up with the task of making Christ's glory known to the nations that we already expect the world to act like--well--the world (1 John 5:19).
There is no biblical exhortation to celebrate Christmas per se. We are to be mindful of the incarnation at all times since it is essential to the biblical gospel. However, it can be helpful to have a season of advent to make a special effort to focus and meditate upon this wonderous reality. Furthermore, with the concept being more at the forefront of the unbelieving world's mind this time of year, we should take the initiative to probe people's thoughts in effort to share that the Son of God became incarnate for us and for our salvation.
As for using the word Christmas reverently, I think it too is a symptom of our not honoring Christ consistently with our entire being, something that by God's providence will never occur this side of the eschaton. In fact, for those who remain under the just condemation of God apart from saving faith in Christ, every thought remains pervasively sinful. To elaborate, all actions performed by unbelivers are not inherently sinful in that such actions are wrong in themselves. Yet, all actions not done conscientiously to God's glory are pervasively sinful. The unregenerate man cannot offer anything pleasing to God since he is spiritually dead. To quote another Pauline epistle, "whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Rom 14:23).
Henceforth, for someone not to offer proper reverence to the word Christmas is no different than someone flippantly referring to God, even as a concept, in a philosophical discussion. All of our thoughts, words, and deeds count as acts of worship. The crux of the matter is what or whom we are worshiping through them.
Thus, saying "Merry Christmas" is not a sin because we are obligated to celebrate the holiday, but it is a sin if not used in goal to ultimately honor Christ. And we all stand guilty here, whether it's "Merry Christmas" or "Good Morning."
The preceding statement has hopefully been submitted to the glory of Jesus.
For the record, I asked a friend of mine today (he's a Methodist pastor) what he thought. He raised a good point. I am elaborating on his argument, so this is really my interpretation of what he was saying.
It's not a sin, because there is a difference between using God's name in vain and simply not honoring it to a great extent. We can, in the act of giving honor to the name of God, forget that God does use his name, Yahweh, with us, all throughout the Old Testament. However, the Jews were so afraid of it, they went through cleansing rituals just to write it out, much less pronounce it.
That is going too far, since God has revealed his name to us, and uses it regularly in the Scriptures. We don't have to "honor" his name to this degree, in fact we shouldn't, because in doing so we would be acting outside of the norms of Scripture. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't treat it it utmost respect.
I think his exact words were "There's a difference between not being irreverant and using the Lord's name in vain."
I'm not sure I agree to the letter with what my friend said, but I do think it was a great point that the Jews "honored" God's name to that extent, and yet we see that as an improper response. (Hey, they understood holiness though.)
sorry, i misspoke.
"There's a difference between not being reverant and taking God's name in vain."
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