I started writing this in response to Sean's latest blog, then I realized it would be too long for a comment so I'm putting it here.
Sean, I totally agree with you. I have been a total Scrooge for years. I hate Christmas carols; I hate 98% of the church services that happen on the weekend of; I hate almost all decorations, especially nativity scenes; I hate capitalism; and the list goes on.
This year, however, I'm going to forget all of the negativity and try my best to be cheerful and be in the "Christmas Spirit". To do this I have a few issues to get past.
One issue is that I've always questioned why we give gifts. Here's what I've come up with this year. It may be an obvious statement, but we give gifts because of the gift God gave us. However, I started thinking about this in more depth. "Yay God, thanks for Jesus, I'll give some gifts now too so you're proud of me". How absurd is that quote!? It's kinda how it feels to me though. So now I have to walk through it from the beginning. I was dead in sin and deserving of nothing but hell. God, however, sent His one and only son... Ok, stop there. Let's use Bobby and Kristin as an example, and their beautiful daughter, Aliyah. This is a NON-real scenario...just making a point... Kristin's days are numbered. Yes, Bobby loves her a ton and would do anything to save her from her imminent death. However, the only way to save Kristin is to give up Aliyah. Aliyah has to die to save Kristin. Now, many of you might think this is doable, but you haven't experienced what it's like to have a child, and I assure you in this situation Bobby would NEVER kill his child...even to save his wife. So that one was tough, let's make it easier to come up with the answer. Bobby has an enemy named Billy. Billy hates Bobby, wishes he never existed. Billy is going to die in a week. Bobby, in order to save Billy, has to kill Aliyah. What's he gonna do? DUH! See ya Billy, it was not so nice knowing you! Reality: I hated God, yet he sent his only son to die for me. So, given that the GIFT that God has given us, free of charge, even though we are undeserving, even though we had rejected him, even though the cost was HIS SON; I now have the opportunity to give gifts to others. Forget the ceremony of a tree and singing around the piano, I'm talking about a selfless, humble, for no reason other than Christ type of giving. I need to have an attitude of giving that portrays something other than the typical Christmas season mindset. If I can accomplish this and people wonder why what I'm doing looks different than the rest of the world, I've opened a door to share truth.
Ok, issue #2. Jesus's birthday. It sounds so cheesy to me but I can't really put a finger on why. Perhaps it's the fear that people view this as the day that Jesus came into existence. John 1:1-2 "1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning." Jesus always was and always will be fully God...long before 33BC. Even as a baby in a manger (which was perhaps a cave not a manger though that doesn't matter) he was fully God. Fully human and fully God for 33 years...it's a trip but it's true. I don't have a conclusion to this, just thoughts on the matter and a bit of unsettledness.
Issue #3. Christmas carols. If the lyrics serve as a reminder of what you're celebrating, good stuff. However, even given that, don't expect any from me on Sunday mornings. I have yet to hear or sing a Christmas song that really leads me into connecting with my savior. No song yet that has helped me encounter God. The theme, IF there's actually a spiritual one, is Christ coming to earth. Yet the songs are more cheerful than anything else. They don't deal with the characteristics of God that initiate worship, they're not from the right point of view (1st person vs. 3rd, etc.), and they don't deal with the reason I actually needed a savior. Some are good lyrically, don't get me wrong, but the "some" are few and far in between and those "some" still don't seem to meet my criteria for a worship song. I don't know, I'm probably just ranting and being Scroogish, and a lot of you probably disagree. If so, please let me know about it.
The bottom line. Christmas makes most people happy. My wife loves seeing the lights and trees, children love getting gifts, people like hearing the music. While none of these things have anything to do with the meaning of Christmas, and some of these things make my cringe, these things bring joy to people's hearts. If I can have a cheerful attitude, yet carry myself differently in the way I communicate about Christmas, it might just make an impact on my peers. If I sulk and talk trash about all the cheesiness and such, I will only turn people off. For Sean and Brian, and me, it's OK to be cynical, but we need to keep ourselves in check with how we are communicating our savior. For those of you who put up nativity scenes and crank up the Christmas songs recorded in the 80's, more power to you. Just make sure you understand why you are doing the things you are doing. For the capitalist who puts on the big sales and cleans up from all the silly shoppers, good job. Way to seize a good opportunity. Just know that your reward is paid in full. The money you've earned is all you'll ever have to show for your hard work and creativity. To the atheist, you are likely as cynical as I am to which I give you props. I think you may understand that the whole hype is bogus. However, I encourage you to step back and think "what if?" What if God actually did love you and actually did act on that love. It might change your life. To all, be happy and enjoy the season. Enjoy the time that brings everyone together. Give gifts and enjoy receiving gifts, but do it all in remembrance of the gift you were given. The gift that you never deserved and that cost more than you may realize.
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6 comments:
How dare you hate capitalism. (I know I said the same thing on Sunday, but I misspoke) I'll get to that in a few weeks though, I'm not dishing out a Christmas post like everyone else. We still on for the Hanukkah Song on Sunday?
My overall perspective, is there's nothing wrong with a lot of the festivity of the season. Just as long as the people understand why there's festivity, and you said this, but I don't think Box understood this wast he point I was driving at in my blog. But well said, kudos to you.
I am going to comment on each of your issues:
#1 I agree 100%
#2 I don't think its really about his "birthday". I think it is really about celebrating his becoming a man, a human. Thats why I thought we celebrated, any way.
#3 Jason, do you know why they call them 'christmas carols'? Because they couldn't call them worship songs (ok, that was bad, but you get my point). In my opinion, they were never supposed to be or meant to be. Most of them are talking about either Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, or else the weather of the holiday. Any thing talking about God I wouldn't consider a "christmas carol", because I don't think that that was the songwriter's point. Their point was to sing about God, or, more specifically, Christ, and his becoming human. Their motivation was not 'chirstmas spirit', but rather a longing to sing about the God who loved us enough to come and be born, live, die and live again for us. Even then, I wouldn't call all of them worship songs either, bur rather Christmas Songs (did ya notice the capatilization there? did ya, did ya?)
I hate christmas carols.
I love the lights, the smells, the joy, the presents, and most importantly, God. Its all about perspective and motivation. In case you havn't noticed, I am a cynic living with a bunch of emotional and (whats the opposite of cynical?) optomistic family members, so there has been much controversy and good conversation, two things that are good for deep thinking. I try my best every year to keep the right perspective. But I'm right there with you in the whole scroogy buisness.
And please, no carols on Sunday mornings =P
How ironic is it that Jason's last name is 'Carol'. God really does have a sense of humor.
I don't know what to say. Not only was your blog the most depressing thing I've ever heard of around Christmas, you really sound like the Grinch and it breaks my heart that you don't get the same joy out of Christmas that I do! I can't even begin to understand why you all hate Christmas carols! That is making my eyes well with tears, and I'm not kidding. I'll give you that it's 10pm, and I am emotional at night, but I really am crying for all of you that you can't understand like a little child does, like I've understood since I can remember. Presents we don't deserve remind us of God's ultimate gift we couldn't ever deserve. Songs that are joyful and that everyone can sing together, of the night that Jesus Christ was born, remind us of the joy we absolutely can and should have because the Son of God chose to come to earth and save us! Other songs that are not about Christ's birth, are in a different place, but they are still joyful and celebrate a different feeling, the feeling of the Joy that surrounds the Christmas season. Songs that are just about winter have their place, but I don't think there is anything at all wrong with them. My brother made a good point, Jason: they are called "Christmas carols" not "worship songs". But it, again, makes me very sad that you say you hate them. Maybe I will have to write a blog too. If I can get over my tears.
All this said, you are entitled to have your own oppionions and feelings. All of you are, and its ok if you feel different than me. But it is your choice to enjoy Christmas or not; to see to the heart of the "holiday" and let everything else flow from that. Its always been an easy choice for me. Harumph!
Faith, the whole point of my blog was to do exactly what you said: CHOOSE to enjoy Christmas. I'm sorry that my feelings on the matter brought you to tears, but truthfully (sadly), the issues I presented are only a few, the rest of them are more personal and deal with family and my past, etc., and these issues would likely bring more than just you to tears. In the end of all of my ranting, my final conclusion is that I need to look past the world's view and look past my frustrations so that I can celebrate with joy and convey the true meaning to those around me. I may still carry my cynicisms, but I will convey them in a new way because I choose to.
About some of your other thoughts...childlike faith is good in many aspects. A child hasn't learned yet to be cynical, which is definitely a good thing. A child is 100% dependent on that which he places his faith in as he has no other choice. I agree with you here...the issue isn't the faith behind it all, its the execution of it. While YOU may realize what it is you're celebrating and WHY, 99% of the world does NOT. A child's (going back to the example) form of celebrating Christmas typically has more to do with "self" than with anything else. It has to do with getting presents and singing fun songs. While all these things make the child happy, none convey TRUTH. A lesson can be taught to the child if the parent is a good teacher, but we have to go back to the 99% rule above. It's hours past my bedtime so I can't think straight and I certainly can't finish my thoughts here, but hopefully you see a bit more what I'm trying to say. If you go back and re-read my post given a new perspective, you might see that my blog was a rebuttal to Sean's and Brian's. I used the word "hate" which is probably what set you off, but skip that paragraph and read what else I had to say.
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