Sharing the Joy of Jesus' Birth
Since I was a child I’ve heard people lamenting “the X where Christ used to be” in Xmas.
Once I learned Greek I learned that χ (chi) is the first letter of χριστυς, the Greek word the biblical authors used for “Christ,” or “Messiah.” After a bit of research, I realized that for centuries Christians have been abbreviating words with chi instead of writing out “Christ,” such as in the ixthus (the Greek word for “fish”), which is an acronym that in Greek stands for Jesus Christ God’s Son Our Savior. While it may be a way for people to avoid “Christ” and just focus on the Catholic “Mass” of Christmas, it wasn’t started maliciously. (Coincidentally, none of my evangelical friends are seeking to follow or promote the “Mass” part of “Christmas.”)
What would be a stronger case for Christmas – Evangelicals arguing with non-Christians that they should call a day by the name of the Catholic Mass, or, Christians acting like Christ as we remember his birth?
Christians who say that Christmas should be about Christ yet celebrate Christmas in identical ways as non-Christians are silenced by their actions.
Rather than merely yelling “It’s about JESUS!” at people, perhaps the point would be communicated better by more Christians, who by their name are also supposed to be about Christ, lived out the idea that Christmas is about Jesus – not presents, chocolate, decorations, etc. On Christmas we celebrate the greatest sacrifice in history – God, to testify to the truth, lowering himself to the form of a fragile human baby to grow up and be the sacrifice for the world.
Celebrating this ought to look very different that a winter solstice festival, or a celebration of a fat man who delivers gifts to greedy children.
Shouting a catchy slogan at the world is perhaps not what Jesus had in mind when he told us “as you are going throughout the world make disciples.”
If all we have is words, we are condemned by Christ quoting Isaiah in Matthew 15: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
Live Christmas differently if you want to communicate that it is about Jesus.
