The Xmas wars

I just can't resist getting myself in trouble. So why stop now.

I'm confessing that I'm tired of the Christmas wars. Or Xmas wars. Or happy holidays wars. You pick whichever you want.

There's a great article from Crosswalk on this here. I won't repeat most of what Warren Cole Smith said, but it's worth reading.

I just want to say that the Bible does not ask or command us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It does not preclude having happy holidays (Smith analyzes this well in the article--happy holidays is much more biblical than merry Christmas). Santa did not bring gifts along with the magi. December 25 is not a date in the Bible. And most likely not even that close to the date of Jesus' actual birth.

I say that there are really 2 Christmases--the American Christmas of "commercial debauchery" that has virtually no connection to Scripture (other than perhaps the coveting passages) and a commemoration of the Advent of Emanuel--God come to earth as a man. As believers, we cannot get the 2 confused. They are not the same. So I would encourage you to not be offended by Xmas ("X", the first letter in "Christ" in Greek, has been used to represent Jesus since early church history), or Happy Holidays (God knows we could use some holy-days), or that people from other religious traditions do not want to celebrate Christmas.

Jesus cannot be removed from any day, unless those who bear his mark and his Spirit cease to live out incarnational lives.