Christmas?

Should we even celebrate Christmas? In my opinion, no. I'll give you my reasons why. Nothing like jumping right into the blog with no warm up or hey, how ya doin,  is there? It's a shock and awe campaign kind of like what Christmas was to the Roman world of paganism. As the Roman empire slowly moved from Paganism to Christianity, traditions seemed to stick with people. Celebrations and seasonal observances that centered around one Roman god or another was concerning to the Christian culture as they spread the good news. In true human fashion, people tended to cling to their traditions more than anything else. They would except Christ but still continue on with current traditions which overlapped the teachings of Jesus's followers. To remedy that, a big mistake on their part in my opinion, they replaced the Pagan traditions with Christian ones, and Christmas was born. Instead of worshiping one of the Roman Gods at winter solstice, they got them to worship the birth of Christ instead. The stories overlap well. Roman gods were celebrated as the solstice marked the time when the sun would reverse its track in the sky and the days would begin to grow longer and warmer. It was a time of birthing from death to life. Like that story, the story of Jesus being born in a time of darkness to bring light and to redeem the world was very similar. So, one tradition was swapped for another. It was all about control and keeping people lined up with the gospil of Christ.

Fast forward to today and Christmas has been morphed into a tradition of shopping and Santa Claus. Christ has been replaced by a fat man in a red suit and giving out gifts is more important than receiving the gift God gave us in Jesus. Now we have an elf terrorising children to keep them in line. Will it never end. 

My wife and I, shortly after coming to Christ, told our son the truth about Christmas. It was a conviction we had right away. We felt lying to our child wasn't a good thing. His reaction was priceless. His only issue with it was, "Who bought my presents?" When we told him it was us, he was just amazed and shocked. Do I think we did the right thing, yes.

If we tell children that there's a Santa, are we not lying to them? When they finally find out the truth , does that not set up questions in their hearts? Doesn't that hurt their trust in their parents? Our world is full of disappointments and let downs and parents are supposed to be the rock on which our kids stand. If we lie to them, what does it do to them when we try to teach them about God? The most disgusting thing I think being done is that elf on the shelf. Now parents are trapped in two lies compounding the anxieties and disappointments of their children. The only benefactor of all this nonsense is the family psychologist as they try and repair the damage. 

There are branches of Christianity out there that don't celebrate Christmas at all. Are they correct in doing so? Like anything we do, extremes seem to be our domain. We either go all in or do nothing. It seems to me that walking the narrow path between those two extremes is the best solution. Christ is meant to be celebrated daily. He's a daily discovery, a daily walk and we should be dying to self daily for Him. Shouldn't we pass on the truth about Him instead of spreading lies about fictional characters. I know Santa is pervasive in our culture today and a child will wonder who he is. Tell them that a real man name St. Nicholas, full of God's love, brought present to the children in his town. He loved them so much that he gave them gifts and as time went on his name changed from country to country then ended up being Santa Claus. 

Another words, tell them the truth. Don't get rid of Christmas, just create a healthy dialogue with your children. Tell the story of Christ and Mary and Joseph. Tell them His influence on the world made people do good things for others. Tell them He still does and the best gift we could ever receive is His gift of redemption and His life. You don't need to go into the whole death on the cross until they are older though. Tell them God sent His Son from heaven to be an helper and guide for all people. Tell them we are lost without His help, tell them the truth. They know as children they rely on you for guidance and help. It's a concept they are very familiar with. 

I'm sure some of you are fuming mad right now. So, who is in the wrong. Me for taking away Santa and greed and commercialism or you for lying to your children. I'll let you decide. 

My harsh words come in a time when the enemy has split the church into argumentative factions that are split over scripture interpretations and carpet color. My passion for truth comes in a time when pastors stand in a pulpit and preach watered down half truths about Jesus. My intensity comes from the fact that we have precious little time to correct our behaviour and follow the truth in Christ before He returns. We can't afford to be celebrating the traditions of men or fictional characters as our world tries to turn our eyes away from God. My zeal for God has consumed me as I fall deeper into His love day after day and I cannot stand idly by and not expose the idol worship going on in Christians households. 

Love the Lord thy God and seek His kingdom. Don't seek anything other than Him. To God be the Glory!