By Karen Barnhart
I have been in a quandary about this whole Christmas thing. Whether people believe in Christ or not, there are a lot of people who celebrate Christmas. For those who do not believe in Jesus (and even some of us that do), Christmas is a time to show you love someone by purchasing a gift. My dad often said how commercial Christmas is, and you know what? He is completely right. In the last 50 years, celebrating Jesus and having a season of goodwill and charity slowly eroded to this gift giving kind of love-test.
I have been in a quandary about this whole Christmas thing. Whether people believe in Christ or not, there are a lot of people who celebrate Christmas. For those who do not believe in Jesus (and even some of us that do), Christmas is a time to show you love someone by purchasing a gift. My dad often said how commercial Christmas is, and you know what? He is completely right. In the last 50 years, celebrating Jesus and having a season of goodwill and charity slowly eroded to this gift giving kind of love-test.
What do I mean by that? Ever remember getting a lame thoughtless gift, and wondering what the giver was thinking and why they didn’t seem to like you anymore? Or worse, getting a wonderful gift from someone and feeling guilty because all you gave them was some cheap thing you purchased at the last second. Is that the spirit of Christmas?
I remember thinking after I became a Christian that Christmas would become even more beautiful and meaningful. Instead, it confused me. A traditional American Christmas really has little to do with Christ. It’s about getting and receiving presents, festive decorations, eating way too much, and putting up with shopping crowds. I have worked retail, and let me tell you, Christmas shopping does not generally bring out the best in people. But tragically, in hopes of making others feel loved or special, most people are willing to go into debt. The love they give comes with a hefty personal price.
What I’ve grown to understand is Christmas is really about showing the heart of Jesus to others. It is giving charity to those in need, showing kindness to strangers, giving a helping hand to a neighbor or two or even three. It is about opening your eyes to the needs around you and addressing them with love. It is also about spending a day honoring Jesus who now lives in us when we open our hearts to Him.
So this year when Christians around the US started becoming offended by the retailers calling Christmas trees “holiday trees” and such, well to be honest I was offended, too. But then it made me think: First generation Christians did not celebrate Christmas. In fact, we know that Christ was not even born this time of year. The first Christians basically celebrated the good news of Christ and kept that spirit of giving all year long. As Christians today, maybe we have failed Christ by allowing ourselves to get caught up in the gift giving, decorations, and craziness of the “Holiday Season”. Maybe we should turn it into a time of charity for those around us, and not spend the money on ourselves and our loved ones.
Just think of the sheer amount of wasted money that comes from unwanted Christmas gifts. It makes me want to cry. And why are adults giving adults gifts anyway? Aren’t we old enough to know we are loved without a gift? And if we really wanted something, aren’t we capable of earning the money to get it ourselves? Instead, we could take that money and give an anonymous helping hand. It would require we keep our eyes and ears open to see the need around us. But then we could actually make a permanent difference if we give where it is truly needed! It sure beats spending money on someone who thanked us for our gift and then turned around and used it for a white elephant exchange.
Christmas is for children, and I still believe that is true. But are we creating selfish and spoiled children by giving too much, spending money on them that we don’t have, and being shocked when they aren’t grateful enough (even though we are the ones who trained them)? What if children only got one special gift for the day? Something they really wanted, but no more than that. Would it ruin their Christmas or would it return the focus on Christ, our Savior?
I’m beginning to think Christians should let retailers call it “Happy Holidays” and allow others to continue their purchases for the holiday season. But I believe that Christians need to take this as a wake up call and return Christmas to a simple, charitable time without shopping and debt. Let it truly be a celebration of giving to those in need that the whole world can admire.
