Christmas Skepticism, Be Gone!

It’s that time of year again. It is time to deck the halls, find the freshly stocked eggnog, and sing the same three songs over and over and over and over again.

Likely the only time such repetition is accepted begins around Thanksgiving (sometimes sooner) and ends around the new year! As Americans, it seems we have little patience for any one thing, for any amount of time.

But every year, we seem to see conversations repeat as well, sometimes from Christian’s themselves!

You have the Grinch who prods:

• “Why would you celebrate Christmas? It’s a pagan holiday!”
• “Jesus wasn’t even born in December!”
• “You don’t find a Christmas celebration in the Bible!”
• “We are free of the law, why add more religious holidays to tie us again?!”

Admittingly, the last one I am a bit guilty of thinking if not occasionally suggesting. Nonetheless, for the sake of unity I would like to see the man/woman of God stray away from such “straw man” arguments and genetic fallacies. These scrooges, once again as Paul said, “I am chief,” take the origin of something and minimize what it is currently. Although isn’t always quite such a fair assessment I admit.

This is done elsewhere in other religious fields too. It often results in a stereotype, not a valid conclusion.

Calvinism is a very popular theological framework internationally now, but if Christians held the same vehement arguments as they do Christmas, we would hear questions such as:

• “Why would you believe Calvin, he was murderer/serial killer who offed those who disagreed with him!” (For more information, look up the history of Calvin and Servetus)
• “John Calvin believed babies who died went to Hell, you must believe the same thing!”

Or perhaps this is too much of an illustration. I’ll lighten it a bit. Perhaps we discuss food? Would there be a sound argument in the following logic:

• “Milk has lactose and some people are intolerant to it, so you shouldn’t drink milk! It’s evil, it hurts people!”

Unlikely.

But for Christmas’s sake, this is heard around tables and in conversation all season. Nonetheless, evangelicals have no problem admitting this truth-

“Christ came to Earth, conceived of a virgin, was born, lived, and died for all transgressions of humanity.”

Have a day. Have a month. Have a full year. Reflect on Christ’s glory that began one holy night. A night that made holy not because of a chronological calendar, date, or Christmas Spirit. It may be deemed holy because of who arrived-

His name is Emmanuel, God with Us.

Jesus the Christ.

Reflect on that. Not lofty ideas or uber commercial traditions (2 Corinthians 10:5). Because the origins of Christmas, did not come from a pagan holiday or a Catholic mass. It began one night in Bethlehem long before and “God with Us” has no end (Luke 1-2). He is eternally ours and we are eternally His.

Merry Christmas friends.