If you have any Christian friends on Facebook, this holiday season you have no doubt seen your fair share of "Jesus is the reason for the season" posts. My church is performing "The Misplaced Christmas" play for our Christmas pageant this year, and the whole message is about how a church has strayed too far from the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. It got me to wondering, is Jesus really the reason for the season?
Now before you get all up in arms, let me explain a little bit. For the first three centuries of organized Christianity, the birth of Christ was not celebrated at all for fear that the celebration would too closely resemble the celebrations of the Pharoh and King Herod. There was also controversy surrounding the actual day Christ was born, as any original records had been lost. After many years of divided celebrations around different parts of the world, most Christians started celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25th after the creation of the Gregorian calendar.
Many non-Christians argue that Christmas is not a Christian holiday. The traditions of gift giving, Christmas trees, yule logs, and Christmas lights all stem from pagan winter solstice celebrations. On this, I would have to agree. The "season" we all celebrate in modern times is not a reflection of Jesus.
The baby Jesus was born in a cave (caves were often used as stables in that time) after his parents were turned away from the local inn. He was kept in a manger filled with straw and wrapped in swaddling clothes. He did not have a Christmas tree or fancy lights. The gifts he was brought did not come from Santa. There were no cookies and milk and merrymaking. Jesus never celebrated Christmas as we know it, he came as a lowly child with little to nothing to his name.
However, does that mean we should not celebrate Christmas? Should we not show love and kindness to one another in honor of our Lord? He has commanded us to love one another as He has loved us, and pouring out that love in honor of His birth is the perfect way to spend Christmas. So what if Christmas has adopted some new traditions from other walks of life? Loving thy neighbor means seeing things from other points of view. If that means putting up a Christmas tree and baking milk and cookies in order to witness and spread the gospel to more people, so be it.
Instead of arguing about where Christmas came from and who is allowed to celebrate it, we should be using this season to show and share the love of Jesus to all of our friends and family. Open your family dinner in prayer, share the Christmas story, embrace new Christmas traditions to spread the word of God. It's important that we don't get caught up in the right and wrong of Christmas and lose sight of what's really important, loving and obeying our Lord.
So no, Jesus is not the reason for the season, but that doesn't mean we can't use the season in the name of Him. This Christmas season, thank Jesus for the blessings he has provided and celebrate Him with your family doing whatever you do to celebrate, no matter the origins. God has no boundaries or limits, and just because something isn't Christian originated, doesn't mean it can't be used for His glory. In the spirit of Christmas and in the spirit of Christ, spread the love of Jesus to everyone.
