The Christmas Series: So This is Christmas (to Me)

OKay, okay... So every year this wonderful season comes around, and with it joy and love and laughter and great fun and spirituality. And then the season goes away, and with it joy and love and laughter and great fun and spirituality...

Hollup... I'm scratching my head...

Arright. So every year, we get to this season, and inevitably the subject comes up of the "true meaning of Christmas". Well, lemme start by saying the obvious: Christ (Jesus Christ) + Mas (worship) = Christmas (worship Christ). This is the true meaning of Christmas, hands down.

But this is what gets me... When you worship something, you become more and more like it. So for a person who worships Christ, like myself, you strive to do things more and more like him every day. Now, I want you to take a look around during this holiday season. What are people doing? They're giving. They're loving. They're laughing. They're visiting the sick. They're feeding the needy. They're singing. They're praising. They're full of joy.

Wonderful. So what exactly did you think Christ would be doing this time of year? I ask because oftentimes I hear fellow Christians make a big deal about the "proper" way to celebrate Christmas. And don't get me wrong, I understand, and even agree with most of what they conclude. But...sometimes I wonder if we're splitting hairs.

For instance: I see some Christians shake their heads when someone says, "We give gifts on Christmas because God gave us the gift of His Son and, through him, the gift of salvation"; technically the gift giving came out of a pagan tradition. I see them shake their heads when someone says, "On Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Christ"; technically, it has nothing to do with His birth, and December 25 isn't even His birthday. That's the "proper" way of looking at it.

Okay, now take a step back. So, these definitions may not be 100% accurate or biblical. But here's some Bible for you: there is no biblical order to even celebrate Christmas Day in the first place. None. Christmas Day was created during the rule of Constantine to be a Christianized "patch-over" for the pagan Feast of Saturnalia; basically a compromise. So this is my thing... it boils down minor details. You've got millions of people who find reasons, in the name of Christ, to do the things that Christ would do this time of year. What more could you ask for? In my humble opinion, it's a bit excessive to split hairs over the technicalities; especially when the holy holiday isn't even ordained.

I'm not trying to be troublesome, but I'll tell you why all this bothers me: so often, we get so caught up in the appearances and symbolisms of righteousness and holiness that I think we jettison the actuality of them. I flinch when I hear people give their slightly-off-base reasons for being in the holiday spirit, but sometimes after I flinch I can't even remember what I was flinching for. Because, while they may be misguided, at the same time I'm seeing these people doing what Christ would have us to do right before my eyes. The actuality is there even if the "proper" symbolism isn't.

Lemme throw this atcha too before we go any further. Do you think Christ would be doing this Christmas thing one time a year? Heck no; he'd be doing it every day all year long. And any Christian worth his weight would, and should already be doing the same...

See, this reminds me of something a friend of mine told me last Valentine's Day. He said, and I quote, "F#ck a Valentine's Day. Why would I break my neck looking for a girl just to spend one day with her. That's not real." You never thought about it, I know. But now that you've thought about it, it makes sense, right? I mean, if you can get past the profanity, that's quite a bit of truth to try to swallow in one sitting.

So, Christmas. The "true meaning of Christmas"...

Ya know, this is what kills me about this whole Christmas shabang: if you're a real Christian, you celebrate Christmas EVERY day; you worship Christ EVERY day. So, when Christmas Day comes around, theoretically, nothing is supposed to change for you; not if you celebrate the "true meaning of Christmas".

Well, if nothing changes, then why do you celebrate on December 25th? Why do we make a day and a season to do what we should've been doing every day? So here's where it gets interesting for me... On December 25th, I pretty much do whatever I feel like doing. And it's not to be disrespectful or anything like that, but it's simply this: December 25th happens 365 days a year for me. So, to make it a holiday and a holiday season, I do something different; by something different, I mean I have an "improper" Christmas. Otherwise, it's just another day for me.

People say we shouldn't give gifts because of Saturnalia. Bump that; I didn't know anything about Saturnalia until you told me, and up until that point, I gave gifts because God gave us a precious gift. So I'ma still give gifts. 'Didn't know about the pagan significance of a Christmas tree; I just knew that a star goes on top because, in the Bible, a star lead the wise men to baby Jesus. So I'ma still put up a tree, with angels and crosses and tinsel and bulbs and lights and a bigtime star on it (maybe silver-and-blue). There shouldn't be a nativity scene because Christmas Day is not Jesus' real birthday, plus it was his death, burial, and resurrection that restored us, not his birth. But you know what? I'm glad He was born anyway. The King of Kings was born to a virgin mother in a lowly manger so that he could touch all of us from the poorest of poor to the richest of rich. So I'ma still have a nativity scene.

Forgive me if I'm wrong for any of what I've said, but this is ridiculous to me. I know all of the technicalities of Christmas, but I also know that so much of what we do is so little about the action and so much more about the spirit behind it. I know what the word Christmas represents, but what do YOU represent? What does HE represent? And if you're a Christian, then those two things are really what determine what everything that comes out of you represents. Whatever you do this season, do it in the right Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and when it's all said and done, you'll be able to say "So This is Christmas..."

And this year, how about we don't be fakes, huh? When Christmas is over for the rest of the world, Christians, carry your Christmas on for the next 365 day, arright? Cuz that's what Christ would do.

Merry Christmas B-J