Don't Weaponize Christmas

“Keep Christ in Christmas? How about we see some Christ in Christians?”

I am paraphrasing a tweet I saw the other day, one that has stuck with me. Every Christmas season, we are reminded by the media of the “War on Christmas,” replete with stories of competing displays in public spaces placed to counter the message of the Nativity scene. This year we have the heart-warming Satanist display in Illinois and, here in Connecticut, the holiday greetings banner from our atheist neighbors. (Happy holidays too, my neighbors!)  Some see this as a threat, taking to social media to remind us they will be wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and will sing along with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” And yes, Baby, it’s cold outside.  

Let’s be real for a moment about this approach. People who say they don’t like Christians and Christianity are repulsed by what they see as hypocritical, obnoxious behavior. And they have a point. When the things one enjoys about Christmas are used to bludgeon others, the negative judgement is deserved.

Those outside the faith see and experience the attitudes of people who appear to look down on those who don’t share their beliefs, those who don’t make the effort to keep Christ in Christmas, and think, “I don’t want to have any part of that.” Who can blame them?

I don’t want to have any part of that. Who can blame them?

This combativeness, this impulse to highlight our differences, is not the lesson we should take from the Christmas story, nor is it the way Christians are taught to live by following Christ’s example. Instead, if we are to be Christ-like, putting Christ in Christianity and Christians as the tweeter suggests, we should be taking a different approach. Consider Christ’s entry into the world.

Jesus was born the usual way, to a young mother in the most-humble setting possible. Tradition tells us that Mary gave birth in a cattle stall, in a place that was not her home, after traveling with Joseph to Bethlehem to be registered and taxed. After his birth, Jesus was laid in an animal feeding trough, a manger. This was not the birthplace of a king, at least not by human standards.

This birth was not announced with fanfare. There were no news broadcasts or tweet storms, no Instagram or Facebook photos of a beautiful baby and his tired but glowing mother. None of that. Instead, a group of shepherds on a hillside outside the village were told of it by God’s messengers. To put this into cultural context, these guys were not the cream of the societal crop. They were smelly, uneducated caretakers of their flocks. If today’s PR people and social media influencers were deciding how to generate buzz, it surely wouldn’t have included them. But that’s how it happened.

The point of this should be clear. Christ was given to us as a gift for all people. The angel did not go to King Herod or the religious elite to share the news. The angel told the shepherds on a dark hillside.

When we as imperfect Christians try to exclude and judge others, finding ways to make others feel unwelcome, using the Christmas story as a weapon rather than an opportunity to share the Good News of our Savior and as a way of explaining why we try to live in a Christ-like way, we are making a mistake. We just affirm for the repulsed why they feel as they do.  

We just affirm for the repulsed why they feel as they do. 

In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he describes the life we should lead as Jesus Christ’s followers. He describes something that could not be more different than what happens when people use faith like a weapon, stirring up fear of and hostility toward the other.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. – Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)

If you are a Christian, I join you in celebrating the birth of our Savior. If not, I wish you all the best for a safe holiday season and a new year of good health and personal fulfilment. For all, a wish and a prayer for a tolerant, respectful, Christ-like approach toward each other, one defined by compassion and kindness. Merry Christmas and God’s peace to you.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” – Luke 2:8-12 (NIV)

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