There is an all-out assault on Christmas. It is being attacked in a manner that perhaps we have not witnessed prior to now. To make matters worse, it appears it is only getting worse. If something is not done soon, I fear for the future generations that will follow us.
Maybe I’m more keenly aware of it now. Maybe it has been escalating for a while and it is just being reported more lately. Every time I turn on the television this season there is some news report about how a manger scene is being forcibly removed from the public square or community area. The remaining nativity scenes are now surrounded by displays from atheist type groups. There are the stories of the silencing of the poor little children who want to sing Christmas carols at their schools and in their programs. Yet, because the songs contain Christian imagery, they can’t be sung. It is all out war against God, Christians, and Christmas!
Well, at least that is what some want you to believe. However, I’m convinced there is a much more ominous, stealth like attack being waged against Christmas, and it has little to do with the world’s attack on nativity scenes or Christmas carols. It is far more dangerous, far more damaging. It has infiltrated homes of people who love Jesus, fine upstanding citizenry, and gasp, even the church!
No one should be surprised when the world attacks Christmas and the “reason for the season.” After all, why should a world that doesn’t love Christ be expected to honor His birthday? If the world is in opposition to God, wouldn’t it be reasonable to think that they would want to exclude Him from every celebration, especially Christmas? They have no allegiance to Him, why think they would be interested in singing songs about Him, regardless of the season? They may be attacking Christmas, but that fact is neither new nor unusual.
Like all illusions, the real attack on Christmas requires some sleight of hand and misdirection. Those launching the assault decry all the injustice done to Christians this season. Look over there! Look what that group did! Oh look! They made those children stop singing the carols! Distraction! Sound and fury! These culprits point attention elsewhere while silently dismantling Christmas in their homes, churches, and lives. It is the perfect plan of attack, and it is working.
Who are these vile villains? Who are these silent assassins of the season? Who is then is the grave threat? Beware, they are closer than you think! In fact, they could be sitting in your seat right now reading this. That is right, the true enemies of Christmas are us.
How can this be? We love Christmas, sweet little baby Jesus, the nativity, all of it. Yet, in so many of our lives it is the season we love, not what the season means. We have developed a strange fondness for all the trappings of the season; the lights, the decorations, the sounds, the fellowships, and the food. We elevate those parts of the season to a level surpassing the One to which the season points. Why decorate? Why put up trees? Why do all those traditional Christmasy things? It sure isn’t because we want to worship Christ. We shouldn’t lament when our society devalues Christmas when the very ones who carry the name of Christ do the exact same thing. We deify the objects over our very Lord. No? Then look at the uproar over nativity scenes being taken down. Forget that the traditional nativity scene doesn’t even come from scripture. Shepherds and the magi together there in Bethlehem? Not according to Luke. The beautiful stable? More than likely it was a cave. All the animals laying quietly around the baby? Again, not from the text. Yet we fight tooth and nail to keep up those scenes. Kind of crazy isn’t it? We are fighting to keep Christmas carols in schools that aren’t even biblically sound! Sing and king may rhyme in Angels We Have Heard on High, but the angels don’t sing in Luke. Little Drummer Boy? Um, no. “The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, the little Lord Jesus no crying He makes.” Really? Where is that found? Yet please don’t let kids stop singing that in school. We are very invested in the traditions of Christmas. I have to wonder though, where Jesus is in all this?
Christmas has become like Dollywood. You know Dollywood. Dolly put the thing together, it bears her name, but you aren’t likely to see her walking around in it. And even more, no one expects to see her there. They just enjoy the show. Christmas may bear Christ’s name, it is about Him, but so seldom do we see Him in any of the stuff we are doing. We don’t even expect to see Him in it. We just enjoy the show.
Not you? Well tell me, how much time did you spend in decorating as compared to time spent in personal devotion? Or what about the time spent shopping for gifts compared to time spent sharing about Him? We are worshiping the season, not our Savior! What the world needs is us to carry the message of the Messiah not put up some nativity scene. What the lost need is the word about hope given only through Jesus, not some Christmas carol. A nativity scene won’t save anyone, neither will a carol. Jesus will though. That should be Christmas’s theme.
The worship of Christmas over Christ cheapens our witness in the world. If ever there was a time that we could and should share the gospel, the season named for Him should be it! The battle is waging, but it is being fought in our homes and lives. Stand up and put the focus back where it should be, on Jesus! He is the Messiah! He is Christ the Lord! He is the Savior! He is the Light of the World! Your home is counting on your declaration of Christ in Christmas, not the decoration of a tree for Christmas. Your church needs you to be the voice shouting past the lights to The Light. Your community needs you to be move from “tis the season to be jolly,” to tis the season to see Jesus.
We can take a cue from the shepherds in the second chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Those simple shepherds were focused on finding Jesus and once they did, they told everybody what they had seen and heard. They saw and they shared. That’s a solid example. Find Jesus again this season. Tell everyone about it. This is your chance, this is His season. Our nativity scenes are not evangelistic displays, Christmas carols are not going to give validity to the true meaning of Christmas. Stop assaulting Christmas. Point to Jesus and tell His story!
You can keep your lights, but start being a light.