Christmas vs. Christianity: This Week In God's Word
The question perplexing me at the moment: why do people want to seem religious while rejecting God? This "Christmas Spirit" behavior is mainly about self: its number one goal is to make the person committing the behavior feel good. There’s this flash of sentimental and nostalgic endorphins they feel which is not biologically different from smoking crack. Joy To The World. God? God Who? In place of the endorphin rush that so many confuse with spirituality, we could experience the peace of God, knowing He lives within us and that we are living a life that truly honors Him, as opposed to the Vegas light show that pretends to.
Hammer Time
And now comes the hammering. Out-of-shape suburbanites climbing
ladders hammering nails into their house to string multi-colored
Christmas lights across rooftops, setting inflatable Santas near
chimneys and assembling Nativity scenes in their front yards,
along with Frosty The Snowman and Rudolph. Why? What’s the point
of all of this?
These people are presuming to celebrate the birth of God’s Son
while denying Him at the same time. I am seeing folks working
hard, spending lots of money, decorating their house for
Christmas without understanding the true nature of the
tradition. And if you stop and ask any of these folks, “Do you
know Jesus?” they are likely to cuss at you and order you off
their property. I doubt more than a few percent of people going
to neon extremes with their holiday décor have any clue
whatsoever Who Jesus is, and don’t care. For these folks, it’s
The Christmas Season and they are demonstrating their Christmas
Spirit.
The question perplexing me at the moment: why do people want to
seem religious while rejecting God? These folks doing all that
hammering seem to take comfort in appearing religious without
actually wanting to know or serve God. They seem to take great
pride in a display of The “Christmas” Spirit while being closed
off from even a discussion of The Holy Spirit, or, for that
matter, Jesus Christ, Whom all of this hoopla allegedly
celebrates. Some hang lights and put up trees because these
things make them feel good, which leads me to conclude it is the
Feel Good that motivates them, not the birth of Christ. It’s Me
Season, and the effort and expense is more about getting a hit
of nostalgia than anything to do with spiritual matters.
It is likely because all of this nonsense reminds them of their
childhood, a simpler time when they were less stressed as
hopeful children, anticipating Santa Claus on the Big Galactic
Payday. The behavior is a kind of narcissism. Sure, there’s
likely some intent to share good feelings with their friends and
neighbors and to pass traditions on to their children, but the
behavior is mainly about self: it’s number one goal is to make
the person committing the behavior feel good. There’s this flash
of sentimental and nostalgic endorphins that they feel that is
not biologically different from smoking crack. Joy To The World.
God? God Who?
Joy To The World: God Who?
Historical Facts about our Traditions
The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible says:
Gradually a number of prevailing practices of the nations into
which Christianity came were assimilated and were combined with
the religious ceremonies surrounding Christmas. The assimilation
of such practices generally represented efforts by Christians to
transform or absorb otherwise pagan practices.
The Feast of Saturnalia in early Rome, for example, was
celebrated for 7 days from the 17th to the 24th of December and
was marked by a spirit of merriment, gift giving to children and
other forms of entertainment. Gradually, early Christians
replaced the pagan feast with the celebration of Christmas; but
many of the traditions of this observance were assimilated and
remain to this day a part of the observance of Christmas. Other
nations, the Scandinavians, Germans, French, English and others,
have left their mark . . . as well (pp. 804, 805).
Concerning these ancient elements, The Christian Encyclopedia
says:
Various symbolic elements of the pagan celebration, such as the
lighting of candles, evergreen decorations, and the giving of
gifts, were adapted to Christian signification. Later as
Christianity spread into northern Europe, the Celtic, Teutonic,
and Slavic winter festivals contributed holly, mistletoe, the
Christmas tree, bonfires, and similar items.
Finally, Unger's Bible Dictionary adds:
The giving of presents was a Roman custom; while the yule tree
and yule log are remnants of old Teutonic nature worship.
Gradually the festival sank into mere revelry . . . . The custom
was forbidden by an act of parliament in 1555; And the
reformation brought in a refinement in the celebration of
Christmas by emphasizing it Christian elements.
In Celebration of The Birth of Christ: Black Friday, 2012.
Viva Las Xmas
This is what Christmas means to many if not most Americans:
greed. The “Christmas” spirit is an unclean spirit. Oh, sure,
there’s some sense of generosity, but it exists largely in the
context of reciprocity. Even if all you are doing is giving
a gift, you are, in fact, getting something out of it.
Giving creates a generous endorphin hit, a little buzz. Look how
happy I made her / him / them. Everybody likes a gift. Everybody
likes a surprise. Brainwashed by Christmas music blaring from
every shopping mall, we are kept in a heightened state of
awareness as the clock ticks down to December 25th. Rush, rush,
buy, buy. Buy because you’ll feel guilty if you can’t provide
“Christmas” for your children. Because you told your kids that
lie—that Foolishness With Santa. Which misses the point that you
are, in fact, depriving your kids of Christmas, just as my mom
deprived me of Christmas, by giving us the Lie instead of God’s
Truth. Even if you didn’t have a dime to spend, your kids will
always have Christmas if they know Christ. No one can
take Christmas away from you if you know Christ, if you
understand that Jesus is, in fact, our present—the only gift
we’ll ever need, and the most amazing and transformative gift
the world has ever known. But, instead, we stress out, obsess,
wallow in guilt, as we try and maintain this utter nonsense for
our families and ourselves.
Moreover, why are we bringing this nonsense into the church
house? Why are Christmas trees—so vividly described and
explicitly condemned in Jeremiah 10—dragged in and set up in the
church? Why are Christmas lights, which emulate pagan ritual,
strung up in churches? To me, it’s just gross. I won’t set foot
inside a church sanctuary that has Christmas trees in it. Or,
maybe one of you pastors can email and explain to me how this is
right, how this works with our faith, and where the biblical
foundation for this nonsense exists.
I find myself preaching the same sermon over and over: Stop
Being A Robot. Stop doing things because we’ve always done these
things. Stop having your lives ruled by your childhood
experiences. Stop rushing and ask yourself *why am I really
doing this?* How does this honor God? How does this tell people
about Jesus? And then find the encourage of those convictions,
in the face of family and friends, to stop going along. Yes,
this will make you the outcast. The weirdo. But, in place of the
endorphin rush that so many confuse with spirituality, you will
experience the peace of God, knowing He lives within you and
that you are living a life that truly honors Him, as opposed to
the Vegas light show that pretends to.
Christopher J. Priest
30 November 2012
editor@praisenet.org
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