On Saying Merry Christmas

We must come to realize the importance of "insignificant" faithfulness.

~Doug Wilson

What's the big deal about saying merry Christmas? Yes, I'm the shopper who heartily and cheerfully replies, "Merry Christmas," when wished a happy holiday. There are many who think this is something insignificant, but it's never rested well with me to surrender the celebration of the Incarnation to the world by calling it something generic that removes Christ from the center of it all. (Because we know their "happy holiday" doesn't mean "happy holy day." It means, "Happy generic celebration of something, as long as it isn't Jesus.)

But even this isn't agreed upon by Christians, and it's common to be told that we need not assume the culture is at war with Christmas. I find it interesting that we'll dismiss those who insist on merry Christmas as overreacting and missing the point while assuming that advertisers and stores have no evil motives and are simply playing a marketing game when when they remove Him from the celebration and the conversation.

It's all so innocent, we say.

But it's not.

Doug Wilson observes:

The message of Christmas is politically incendiary, when you think about it, and it is not for nothing that secularists are trying to get us to forget Jesus with their C.E. (Common Era) and B.C.E. (Before Common Era), and seasonal conifers instead of Christmas trees. Nice try, but we aren’t buying any.

He later describes saying merry Christmas as an act of insurrection.

And the Anti-Christian Liberties Union (ACLU) knows that getting Christmas trees off public property is well worth fighting for. This is why we as Christians have to learn that saying "merry Christmas" is an act of insurrection. How do we define our lives? More than this, how do we define our lives as a people? Far from retreating into a minimalist celebration, or no celebration at all, we as Christians must take far greater advantage of the opportunity we have in all of this. Now the Lord Jesus is on His throne. And His government will continue to increase. But He works through instruments, and one of His central instruments for establishing His kingdom on earth is the faith of His people. Why is it that Christians shopping at WalMart are being reminded over the loudspeakers that "He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found." Why are they telling us this? It's our religion. Why don't we believe it? But if you believe it, then say merry Christmas to somebody.

Merry Christmas!

With love,
Trisha


***If you don't agree that Christians should even celebrate Christmas, this isn't the place to debate. 

O Sweet Exchange!

"O sweet exchange!  O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single Righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors."
Epistle to Diognetus