Friends...I have an unpopular opinion I would like to share because this is the internet, and that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Listen. I love Jesus a lot. I read my Bible; I write and publish devotions; I lead a weekly Bible study; I have stacks and stacks of journals full of notes that I’ve written on sermons; if you call me right now and ask me to pray for you, I’ll pray for you right out loud (and not just tell you I’m gonna do it…like, I do it for real). I do not just go to church because, culturally speaking, it’s the “right” thing to do, I go to church to learn, to grow, and to be an active part of the body of Christ. I’m telling you all of this because it worked for Paul when he told the Philippians that he was “a Hebrew of Hebrews” so that they would hear the rest of his message. If it worked for Paul, maybe it’ll work for me. So here is the rest of my message, delivered from what I hope you will perceive as a Christian perspective:
I think the “Happy Holidays” vs. “Merry Christmas” debate is manufactured. (!!) It is not a real thing. I know, I know - this sounds completely subversive…but hear me out. I have put together ten long-winded bullet points (with many scripture references) to support my assertion:
- “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17). We are not free when we are bound up in technicalities and religiosity. There has been a resurgence of people who say “it’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship,” yet we're still terribly religious about the way we require people to say "Merry Christmas." If we genuinely don't want to be "religious" about our faith, then we need to drop the ‘Merry Christmas stones’ we keep throwing at people. It makes us feel very Christian to take a stance on this, but that’s not real faith...it's dressed-up legalism. Soap boxes like this keep us bound up and irritated, and it’s not doing Christianity any favors at all. Get free.
- While it seems like people have only been saying “Happy Holidays” since the heathens took over in the 1970s (I jest, of course), the phrase has actually been in use for more than 150 years. It did not just come about to promote inclusion (Although, the Bible has lots of positive things to say about making others feel welcome and not shunned/shamed...see: Hebrews 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9, Leviticus 19:34, etc.).
- The word “holiday” is, fairly obviously, a word that derived from the two words “holy” and “day.” Many religions have "holy" days during the Christmas season. I realize that appealing to empathy is not a valid argument for many people, so if that's not compelling to you, then consider this: Christianity has several "holy" days during the Christmas season as well...not just Christmas day. I approve of people calling the Advent season, the birth of Jesus, and the days leading up to (and including) Epiphany “holy” days. Those days (and every other day on the calendar if we wanna get picky about it) are, indeed, holy days, or holidays. Even if people don’t intend to acknowledge my “holy” days, I can interpret their greeting however I like. “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.” (Romans 14:5).
- Similarly, I have a Jewish friend and an atheist friend who have both wished me a “Merry Christmas” this year! Are they wishing me a Merry Christmas because they love Jesus and want to acknowledge and celebrate His birth? Heavens no. They are wishing me a Merry Christmas because they’re being nice – they don’t feel anything sacred at all about that phrase. I do not give them accolades for acknowledging my faith when they say “Merry Christmas." Neither do I get angry with them for not treating “Merry Christmas” with appropriate Christian reverence. I am delighted that they care enough about me to greet me at all.
- Earlier this year, I happened to be chatting with a local Muslim woman at the end of Ramadan. Being familiar with the end of the fasting period, I wished her “Eid Mubarak” (Happy Eid). She is an acquaintance of mine, so she knows that I believe in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, she knows that I believe He is the Christ, and she knows that I have very gratefully accepted His gift of atonement for my sins. She did not think I was converting to Islam…she thought a Christian woman had shown love to her. What if I’m the only Christian she knows who loves her simply because she is a child of God, created by God…no strings attached? If I (being super annoying about how much I love Jesus) can wish a Muslim woman Happy Eid, and a Jewish friend can wish me Merry Christmas, and the world didn’t immediately implode, then maybe it’s ok to show love to people no matter what they celebrate.
- People didn’t start saying “Merry Christmas” until the 1500’s…fully 1,500 years after the birth of Christ! What did they say before that? I don’t know! It doesn’t matter! Christians still found a way to celebrate Jesus without saying the words “Merry Christmas.” We are very resourceful. The words “Merry Christmas” have recently turned into a slogan for Christ, but He will be just fine if we don’t use those particular words. Jesus is not fragile.
- Most of us (us: Christians) celebrate the birth of Jesus in a very secular way. We are not being intentionally secular about it, but as you know, a lot of our Christmas traditions are mentioned exactly nowhere in our Bibles. In the Bible, there is no Christmas tree, there are no ornaments, there are no traditional carols (many of which do not mention Jesus at all!), no snow men, no wreaths, no yule logs, no holly, no sleighs, no Santa, no garland, no stockings, no mistletoe, no string lights, no elves, no bells (silver or otherwise)…and I’ve very recently learned that there was no angel mentioned at the birth of Christ in the accounts in the Bible (other than the ones at the fields), nor were the wise men there (they came later), nor is there any mention of the donkey (or camel?) Mary rode to Bethlehem. Oh…and I also learned that while it’s true that Mary placed the baby Jesus in a manger, you will not see anything about Mary giving birth to Jesus all alone in a stable full of animals (go ahead…look it up…I’ll wait). Even our nativity scenes aren't accurate - eek! According to the Bible, there is only: a girl who would become the mother of Emmanuel, her fiancé who trusted God, a journey to Bethlehem, and shepherds who rushed to meet the infant Savior when a host of angels brought them “good tidings of great joy.” Do I still have a tree? Yes. Do my children still get a visit from Santa? Yes. Did I make the worst decision of my life and allow one of those stupid elves into my house? {sigh} Yes. Do I still put up a nativity with all the wrong people in all the wrong places, just like most Christian families? Yes. We celebrate the birth of Christ, but we do it with a little…added flair. So…if I celebrate the birth of Christ by adding secular and/or historically inaccurate elements, it stands to reason that I can say “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” (or whatever) and still be genuinely celebrating the birth of Christ. I’m not gonna take my tree down…but that doesn’t make me a Pagan.
- If someone is greeting me cordially, no matter what they’re saying, I should not look for a reason to be offended. The Bible says that “it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.” (Proverbs 19:11). If I get offended every time someone who isn’t a Christian tries to be nice to me, they are gonna stop trying to be nice to me. And here’s a guarantee: They will not ask to be signed up for baptisms next week if I yell at them about using the wrong words to celebrate my religion's holy day. Overlook an offense…we aren’t very good at that, but scripture tells us we should practice it.
- “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24). I believe that! But I also tell my colleagues “Happy Thursday!” and not one of them thinks I am Pagan. Did you know that every single day of the week is named after a different Norse god? It’s true. Wednesday is “Woden’s Day” and Thursday is “Thor’s Day” (and so on and so forth). None of us are clamoring to get that changed, though…because it really doesn’t matter. We can call it Thursday because we still believe that it is the day that the Lord has made. We can call Christmas the holiday season…that doesn’t make it any less about the birth of Christ for those of us who believe. If you are a Christian, then you believe that every day belongs to the Lord, regardless of what we call it.
- Many Christians have abandoned the traditional liturgical calendar. In many churches, the only “Christmas” day that many of us celebrate is December 25th. Historically, there were MANY holy days (see point #3) around Christmastime for Christians. Many churches still operate using the "Christian Calendar." Do those who adhere to a strict liturgical calendar call the rest of us fake Christians? I hope not. What I do know is that 100 years ago, if someone had said, "Happy Holidays!," any Christian who observed the traditional liturgical calendar would likely have interpreted the greeting as quite appropriate because of all of the holy days they were observing in December and January.
- BONUS: I have never, ever seen anyone act offended when I have told them Merry Christmas. Not even once. I have sent Christmas cards with scripture on them to people who are not at all interested in Jesus; I have said "Merry Christmas" to grocery clerks, and I have wished people a Merry Christmas in the street, and not one time did any of them turn into fire-breathing dragons...they said, "thank you."
The birth of Christ is much bigger than a greeting card, or a well-intended salutation from a cashier. The birth of Christ is much more powerful than any words we can assign to it. Perhaps this year, we can go tell it on the mountain...and be truly merry this Christmas.
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