I have been reading many posts from friends this December talking about Christmas. Some bemoan the disappearance of Christ in Christmas either because we replace “Christ” with an “X” or are too focused on Santa or wish people “Happy Holidays”. Others talk about how Christians took the pagan holiday of Saturnalia and hijacked it by making it about Jesus. These conversations come up every year and I find them distractions and unfortunate. When we focus on things that divide or distract we become ineffectual witnesses.

Yes, Christians do celebrate Christmas during the pagan holiday of Saturnalia. Pagans had created celebrations around the winter solstice when the dark period of the day is at its longest and now the light will return. Christians have always tried to find traditions in a culture, which they believe reflect Jesus Christ and his coming. We, too, observe darkness and the coming of light into the world. We live in the darkness of sin. Jesus Christ, the light of the world, came into this darkness to bring light. This light reveals our sin and brings the hope of redemption, restoration and reconciliation. It was a concept that pagan society could understand and hopefully embrace.

Yes, Christmas takes place at the same time as many other holidays. It always has and for Christians to get huffy and fussy about acknowledging that others might be celebrating other holidays is the epitome of hubris. If I am wanting to share a faith that speaks of love and acceptance with others, the last thing I should do is offend those folks. Perhaps we should take our cue from the early Christians and share the similarities of our celebration with other faiths and open ourselves up for pleasant conversation instead of putting them off by insisting that everyone say Merry Christmas to us.

Yes, our secular culture focuses on Santa and presents. Isn’t it wonderful that even in society the concepts of generosity and giving are emphasized. Certainly we can embrace the fact that our Santa is based upon a real person Saint Nicholas of Myra whose faith moved him to be generous to others. It is difficult to talk to children about giving when they are surrounded by what they are going to get. We as parents and grandparents can help our children understand the concept of generosity by talking about it at home. We can talk about Jesus, who is the best gift we have ever received. We can talk about how Jesus taught us that it is better to give than receive and come up with ideas of how they can give to others (i.e. giving away their old toys to the poor or taking a portion of the money that you were going to spend on them and having them pick out a gift for Toys for Tots or another group, making cookies or gifts for an elderly person in their life or at church and taking it to them, having them put some of their piggy bank money in the kettle for the Salvation Army). This will help put things in perspective a little bit more. If we start this when they are small, our children will live lives of generosity from our example.

Yes, “Xmas” is alright as a substitute for “Christmas”. The first Christians knew that it was dangerous for them to acknowledge that they followed Christ. Often they used the first letters of “Christos” as a kind of code to identify one another. The first letter is chi, which looks like and X, and the second letter is rho, which looks like a P. Perhaps you have seen P and X combined together as a symbol. It stands for Christ. It is true that many will not know what the X stands for. Perhaps, instead of being crotchety and complaining, a pleasant explanation will help others understand.

Yes, Christmas is about Christ. Christmas is about the coming of God in the flesh (incarnation), becoming  one of us to show us how much God loves us. It is a time when everyone should be told that they are loved and accepted. It is a time when our hearts and doors should be open to welcome others in. It is a time to share faith as well as gifts, to bring good news to a world that often only hears bad, to offer our best for our Lord.

Let’s stop bickering about things that really don’t matter in the grand scheme. As we open our hearts for Christ, let us remember that he opened his heart for the lost, the poor, the disenfranchised, the sinner, and the unbeliever. He gently explained why he had come and welcomed all to become not only his friends but his brothers and sisters. Let’s not be the cranky relative complaining that others aren’t doing things right, instead let us be Christ to others this Christmas spread Christ’s peace and love to a lost, broken and hurting world.