I always get a kick this time of the year watching “the Christmas conflict” unfold. You have your well-meaning Christians fighting to keep the “Christ” in “Christmas” and your secularists or atheists (xmas people) fighting to do the opposite. Get ready to rumble—it’s Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays!
In Madison, Wisconsin an atheist group last Wednesday got the nod to counter the traditional nativity scene with one made up of Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein. Who knows, maybe they were part of the original Wise Men who traveled via the star to the manger?
And then there’s the tussle over what to call the tree that we hang lights and ornaments on. In many communities it’s now called a “holiday tree” instead of a Christmas tree.
Many Christians are flat-out fuming over the tree fracas.
Am I? No. Do I call my tree a Christmas tree? Yes. Do I think this whole battle’s a bit silly? Absolutely.
As I read the Bible I don’t find Christmas (or holiday) trees anywhere. I’m pretty sure there weren’t any trees (real or fake) with lights and ornaments at the place of Jesus’ birth. Therefore, I have no dog in this fight. Call the tree anything you want to call it. The tree thing is just another layer we’ve added to “Christmas” (speaking of layers…there are too many to count).
Some year I’m going to propose that we move “Christmas” (celebrating Jesus’ birth) to another time of the year. During December we can have a “Winter Holiday.” We can do all the typical holiday things that we all love—bake, shop, decorate, give gifts to those we love, etc.
And then, months later (after all, Biblical scholars agree that Jesus was born sometime in the spring), we who are followers of Jesus can have a season to remember our Savior’s birth and what it means to us.
I’ll get working on all this. For now, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday.
Pastor Phil
Posted on
Sat, December 17, 2011
by Phil Print
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