Point
It hit me like a bolt of lightning the other day when the store clerk wished me a “Merry Christmas!” In my lifetime, most retailers have switched to the phrase “Happy Holidays!” in order to be more inclusive of people of other faiths.
The change toward political correctness has been accompanied by others, including calling them “Holiday trees” instead of “Christmas trees.” The end result has heaped more fuel on the culture wars and created one more watchword to distinguish who is on what side.
The “Merry Christmas” debate has reached such heights that two Oklahoma lawmakers have even filed a bill that seeks to protect citizens’ right to say it in all settings. This begs the question, “What does it matter?”
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The Christians attending the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. found out that words matter. The entire proceedings hinged, not on a single word, but on one part of one word. At this Council (which interestingly was attended by St. Nicholas of Myra, around whom the Santa Claus tradition formed) a major debate about the nature of Christ as expressed in a Greek term.
Is Christ of the same nature of God (i.e. “homoousious”) or is He only of similar nature (“homoiousios”)? The theology of the Faith literally hinged on an “iota,” and indeed it mattered more than one “iota.” The Council rightly interpreted that He is of the same nature as God and the Nicene Creed, which Christians around the world still use today, was eventually codified, and the heresy that denied the deity of Christ was defeated.
In Christianity, then and now, words matter. They have meaning for our theology and have affected our everyday lives. The British author George Orwell understood this. In the fictional nightmare vision of a totalitarian society in his book, 1984, the infamous “thought police” could control almost any behavior that would challenge the government. The tyrants in Orwell’s work, which were a foreshadowing of the Soviet Union’s government, had an even more powerful tool than the “thought police.” The Ministry of Truth created all words and created “doublespeak,” a system of made up words to control people’s minds.
Today, our culture is being eroded on a number of fronts, but isn’t it interesting that a major part of the culture war is the war on words? The English language has been changed and trampled upon so dramatically, that we can no longer say “Merry Christmas!” without it being a political statement.
As Christians, we know that Christ cares about what we say. He went so far to say, “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned,” (Matt. 12:27) in the context of our profession of faith in Christ alone.
Words by themselves, however, will not positively change the tide of our culture. We must speak wisely with our words and loudly with our actions. Yes, let’s keep “Merry Christmas” in our vocabulary, even as we care for the poor and widows and orphans, pray for our leaders, and keep ourselves unstained from the world (James 1:27).
In doing so, we will become even more like the One who came upon that first Christmas and brought salvation. He, after all, is the real reason for the season and was perfect in word and deed. He is the One who makes us want to say with all our heart, “Joy to the world!” and yes, “Merry Christmas!”
Counterpoint
It’s the time of year we all love. Twinkling lights adorn festive homes, Christmas hymns fill church sanctuaries and politically-charged posts light up social media like a well-decorated Christmas tree.
In a season when Christmas joy and holiday cheer should be dominant, many Christians continue to celebrate a not-so-jovial holiday tradition: mounting a full-blown, no-holds-barred counterattack against the so-called “war on Christmas.”
As angry members of the “Merry Christmas” police decry Christian persecution, we as believers lose both our credibility and our Christian witness and the plight of the truly persecuted church is diminished.
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Case in point: Recently a group of Oklahoma state representatives filed a bill that would legislate defenses for the Christian holiday season and protect religious expression in public schools. Hearing children use offensive terms such as “holiday decorations” and “holiday trees” sparked one representative’s passion for the legislation.
Within hours, a local news station’s Facebook post about the story garnered hundreds of comments, many from less-than-jolly Christians upset at the increasing level of “persecution” against Christmas in particular and believers in general.
Although political correctness runs amok in American society, we as believers should not drag ourselves down into this argument, which happens to distract from the true object of our faith: Christ Himself.
After all, Christmas isn’t about what you call a certain tree or which seasonal greeting you prefer; instead, it’s about celebrating the birth of Jesus. And at the end of the day, that’s a celebration that can neither be legislated nor forced.
Expecting Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists and any other religious or non-religious group to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ is tantamount to hitting them over the head with a Bible. Even though “Merry Christmas” should always be the starting point of our holiday lexicon, we must not ridicule others when it is not part of theirs. Actions like that just add another log to the culture war fire and do little – if anything – to further the Kingdom of God. In fact, it could do just the opposite, damaging our Christian witness in the process.
“Happy Holidays” is not Christian persecution, especially when compared to the situations of our brothers and sisters around the world. Just recently North Korea executed 80 people, some simply for possessing a Bible. In November, Muslim extremists killed dozens of Christians in Nigeria. And in Nepal, a prayer warrior and church elder was brutally murdered by a man for whom he had been led to pray.
So this Christmas, instead of funneling our energy and attention on that store clerk who wishes us “Happy Holidays,” let’s pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are truly persecuted. And with that, may we be reminded of the Child in Bethlehem who was born to die for us.