The players: Pastors, civil leaders, politicians, actors, and your every day Joes.
The issue: Christmas
Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas. Take your pick and put up your dukes cause your turn to swing might be next. Everyone is in the Christmas spirit!
The ACLU vs. the "Christian Right". Each has his own take and each is stirring the pot of Holiday discontent. Cities, schools, companies and retailers are getting blasted by Christians. Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly is on a rampage against corporations. Even President Bush can't avoid getting involved as he has taken his shots over the wording of his Christmas...excuse me....Holiday card.
People are now attacking the first vocal Christian President we have had in decades for not using "Christmas" in his card. I guess they failed to read this, which was written on the inside. "The Lord is my strength and my sheild; in Him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him." Psalm 28:7" I know. I got one from him.
Funny thing is, have we stopped to ask ourselves, "Where would Jesus be in all of this?" As a matter of fact, as we throw our verbal punches back and forth, let me ask you, "Where is Jesus in the punches you throw?". Would He be arguing through the media? Yelling at the "left" or attacking corporate leaders for failing to make Christmas more prominent in their printings or policies? Would He really?
If He wouldn't speak a word in defense of Himself as He was falsely accused, I highly doubt He would say much about this issue of Christmas. Don't get me wrong. He put an end to the argument by what He did. He knew there was nothing He could say.
Keeping Christ in Christmas is simple. It has nothing to do with passing laws that say it remains. It has nothing to do with public displays of faith such as nativity scenes or fighting via lawsuits to force our beliefs upon others.
Don't get me wrong. I am a firm believer of standing up for what we believe. But isn't it about time our "standing up for what we believe" is less about words and more about actions? We can argue about everything, or we can start working on making the world a better and more Godly place. It starts with you and me.
Keeping Christ in Christmas is about what we do, not what we say or demand. I bet we'd find Jesus doing one of these:
* giving to your local church in order to reach out to someone
* tipping your waiter an extra $20 bucks on a cold winter night
* spending some time at your local shelter or Salvation Army depot
* buying that needy family some clothes, giving them shelter
* providing toys to those kids who are left without any
* giving someone at the local mall an encouraging word
* inviting a friend to your church for Christmas Eve services
* using your own yard to display signs and decorations of your beliefs and values
If we'd spend half as much energy doing some or all of these as we did in fighting with others, who will never see it our way, Christ would always be in Christmas no matter what the tree was called and the season was labeled by the world. No one can keep us from saying "Merry Christmas", or giving to the needy, reaching out to a friend, helping a stranger, or walking around with a smile on our face while whistling "It's the most wonderful time of the year".
Instead, what we see are Christians using their words more than their actions and the sad truth, is that this has become a trend. We argue against abortions, homosexuality, sex, profanity, and greed. Yet, what do many Christians do? They fail to vote, they spew hate toward homosexuals, they get hooked on porn, they divorce their wives, they have sex outside of marriages, they mouth off at people and many cheat on their taxes. We scream at companies for using "holiday" than "Christmas", all the while "Joy to the World" is playing in the background over the music system in the same place we're screaming at. "Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let Earth receive Her King". We just can't be happy can we?
People, "Happy Holidays" has been used for years to encompass both Christmas and New Years. Everyone knows that. It's not a big deal.
We can't legislate Christianity. It has to be who we are, not what we force people to think we are.
We need to stop ruining Christmas. It's making everyone around us sick.
As my wife put it so eloquently, why would anyone want to be a Christian when all they see us do is complain about everything?
Now that is a punch that hurts.
Happy Christmas (there....does that work?)
"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievious words stir up anger." Proverbs 15:1
© 2005, J. Brady
"I say it how I see it and I make no bones about it."
1 comment:
VERY WELL SAID !!!
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