Dumbing Down Christmas in America
· Pastor Art – Bible Teacher
In our world population of almost seven billion people in 2010, the Christian faith is the largest religion (33%), followed by Muslims (21%), Hindus (13%) and Buddhists (6%). There are 2.1 billion people in the world who claim the Christian faith.
The two Christian celebrations most recognized in our world are Christmas (the birth of Jesus) and Easter (the resurrection of Jesus). Christmas is celebrated in the winter and Easter in the spring. Probably Christmas is the celebration with the greatest impact on the world as a whole.
The reason Christmas is more highly visible is due to the commercialization of Christmas by the Western World. This is a lamentable fact. The giving of gifts, which is buying and selling, is the primary motivation of the business world. Their greatest profits are made in the last few months of the calendar year.
For sure there are some noble motives in the Christmas observance, namely family and friends. It is indeed fantastic to be together with those you love and appreciate. Conversely, it is sad when due to distance or health this is impossible. But what bothers me deeply is how even this noble practice is high-jacked by parties, the use of alcohol, and materialism.
In the United States, becoming more diverse by the day with multiculturalism predominant, we have growing segments of our population coming from Moslem and Hindu countries. We welcome them and defend our history of freedom of religion. We want to live together with respect for one another and in peace - as we have for decades with the Jewish population. Yes, these are minority population groups, who want the freedom to worship as their mind and conscience dictate.
Obviously the Moslem, Hindu and Buddhist faiths do not have the same roots in American society and culture that the Christian faith does - and the closely related Jewish faith. I think these non-Christian faiths should recognize this and accept it. They have their celebrations - some of them quite large. No problem. They should, and I think largely do accept without problems the Christian celebrations such as Christmas and Easter.
The difficulty isn't so much with the minority faiths in America. It is definitely with the majority of those who hold the Christian faith. Two things have happened over the years. We have commercialized and secularized Christmas with gifts ever bigger and better and Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, ect., etc. In other words, we have dumbed down the essence of Christmas and morphed it into this commercial and secularized holiday.
The second thing that has happened in America is that we have bent over backwards not to make minority faiths in America feel un-included. So we say, "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". We ban manger scenes from schools public squares. We are trying to exclude any Christmas carols that mention the name of Jesus. I find this ludicrous.
This is a nation that was founded on the Judeo-Christian faith. Jesus Christ is right at the center of our history. We do no violence to the U.S. Constitution to recognize and allow the majority Christians of the United States to celebrate Christmas by putting Jesus at the heart of the observance. This does no violence to freedom of religion. In fact to hamper and deny Christians from keeping Christ at the center of the Christian celebration is to deny Christian believers their freedom of religion.
I recently heard a song that had the words of a little child asking his parents in the middle of a large Christmas mall, where is the line to see Jesus. He saw the line to visit Santa Claus, but coming from a Christian home and knowing that "Jesus is the reason for the season," he wanted to see the main attraction - some reenactment of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
I sometimes hear the Charles Wesley Christmas carol being sung over the loud speakers of large department stores. People recognize the tune and even are able to sing along. But I think they do not understand the meaning of the words. There has been too much dumbing down of Christmas and that ever prevalent commercialization of the celebration.
Think of these words:
Hark! The herald angels sing, "Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled;"
Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies;
With th'angelic host proclaim, "Christ is born in Bethlehem.Christ, by highest heav'n adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold him come. Offspring of the Virgin's womb;
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail th' incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus. Our Emmanuel.Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings, Ris'n with healing in His wings.
Mild he lays his glory by, Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.
The birth of the God-Man Jesus is the meaning of Christmas. He came to this earth out of love to save us from our sins and punishment and to give us eternal life. All we have to do is turn from our sins, ask God's forgiveness, and become a child of God. The Jesus of Christmas made it possible.
I think the American society will continue to dumb down the meaning of Christmas. The concentration will be on commercial enterprise and not offending non-Christians. For me the response of Christians is clear. We need to boldly step up and clearly confess that our Christmas, while it will include family and gifts, will concentrate primarily on worship of the God who loved us so much that he gave his Son to enter this world and point us to salvation through the death of Jesus on the cross.
When I say, "Merry Christmas" to you, I mean, may you escape the traps of commercialism and dumbing down the meaning of Christmas. May you enjoy Christmas as God meant for you to do by worshiping Jesus, the Savior and Lord of the universe.
Will you join me in this celebration of Jesus?
Photo Credit: George Bosela, Wellington, Ohio, USA