Taking the CHRIST out of Christmas

Yet another Christmas has come and gone. It's funny to think about all the changes I'm made from this time last year to the present day; from all the personal challenges that I've faced this year concerning my faith, to the issues surrounding love life, to the changes I've made in my attempts at growth. But some parts of me have remained the same. Namely, I'm still boycotting the concept of Christmas.

I must make it clear that I'm not, in any way, in opposition to the birth of Jesus Christ (although He wasn't born anywhere near December 25th). Rather, I'm boycotting the commercialization of Christmas. I'm really getting annoyed by it all. I'm annoyed by all the people racing to the stores, looking for the best sale, making out lists of what to get and what they want, and supporting the lies about a magical jolly fat man who travels around the world to bring gifts (who seems to forget the poor and starving children of the world every year. But, I digress..).

I went to Miami for Christmas this year (I'll talk about this later on). While I was walking through downtown, I saw an interesting headline for an article from a progressive newspaper with the title “Merry Giftmas”. Though I only saw the headline, I could infer what the article was about. It gave me a pretty good chuckle.

When I think about Christmas, I think about the Magi who went to see Jesus. It’s not so much that they gave Jesus gifts (although their gifts were hot!). It’s that they did acts that honored Him. They traveled miles and miles with the idea of worshipping Jesus in spite of the orders of King Herod. They risked their lives by not reporting back to Herod about the baby Jesus. They made a brave and honorable sacrifice for what they believed in. It was their act, not the gifts, that mattered. But what about us? What do we do today? Instead of honoring God, we get caught up on what to buy or what we want to receive from others. We fail to put actions behind our beliefs (James 2:17) .

I often hear people say “we need to put Christ back in Christmas”. I disagree. Instead, we should take Christ out of Christmas and place Him in our hearts where He belongs. As for the holiday that we celebrate on December 25th, let’s call it for what it really is: “Giftmas”. I mean, that's what it's been reduced to, right? For all of you who may think that my ideas are too sacrilegious or blasphemous, answer me this: Have you ever found the word “Christmas” in the Bible? Have you read anywhere in the Bible where Jesus' birth was ever celebrated during His life, through His death or after His resurrection? Hmmm...?

- ACL