When Saying “Merry Christmas” Is Sinful
While it is “the most wonderful time of the year,” it is also that time of the year when Christians can become comically indignant, like modern day Phineas’ ready to skewer a couple of idolaters within the camp.
And why all of this consternation and bah humbugery? Because every year we reduce the culture war, and the battle to win the soul of the nation, down to cliche things and forget what obedience looks like.
For instance, watch Starbucks remove “Merry Christmas” from one of their patented trash recycled cups and a legion of Christians protest like Nero just set fire to Rome again. We sit on our holly jolly’s all year long while a million babies are murdered, but when an Somalian coworker smiles and says Happy Holidays, then we are ready to bring the counter Jihad. In the same way, watch what happens when a mattress store puts “HUGE X-mas sale” on their storefront, and half the Christians in that town, unless they go to the Lesbeterian church, begin acting like the faith once for all delivered to the saints is about to be forfeited by our generation. Our outrage flares up like an oversensitive smoke alarm triggered by the slightest browning of the toast.
And while it is more than a little comical, we should stop it. Not because I think being flippant about Christmas is acceptable, or even permissible in Christ’s world. But, we should stop attempting to enact Sharia-Christmas, at least until we have figured out that we also throw the name of Christ around as flippantly as a pop Warner quarterback two gatorades past having to sprint off the field to the port-o-potties. Let me say it a different way… We are very brave when it comes to defending Christ’s name from pagans with paper cups, but when we toss His name around with as much honor as last week’s lint, we really are no better.
If we are honest with ourselves, we say Merry Christmas as our preferred substitute for “see you later” every December. We say it in the same way people say no worries or take care, which means all the name of Christ has become on our lips is rote, mechanical, muscle memory with a pious and self-righteous attitude. We invoke Jesus’ name like a password we haven’t changed in years. We repeat it so often and so lightly that all it has become is background noise in an already over noisy season. And the comical part, is why we are “merry Christmasing” every Tom, Dick, and Harry, we become enraged when the Indian fella serving us our chai latte says “happy Holidays.”
Listen to what I am saying, we get more upset that pagans do not honor the name of Christ than we do at ourselves, those who claim to know Him and are indwelled by His Spirit, when we are functionally doing the exact same thing. And therein lies the hypocrisy we ought to repent of. If we have been bought and paid for by Christ, if God elected you and I before the foundation of the world, and permanently branded our flesh hide with His Son’s name, then shouldn’t we be the ones who treat it as the most precious commodity on earth.
Is it wrong to say “Merry Christmas?” No, of course not… So long as you mean it. So long as every single time the name of Jesus comes off your tongue, you are painstakingly deliberate in honoring Him, and refusing to take HIs name in vain. So long as you are not thoughtlessly defaming His majestic title with a verbal ability to autopilot and parrot back pre-canned responses without a single synapse firing.
And in case you think I am being a little extra, remember, the third commandment forbids taking the name of God in vain, which simply means treating it as common. You know, like how in the month of December you stop grunting at your mailman about the weather and now substitute it for an equally thoughtless “Merry Christmas.” And, in case we forgot the word “Christmas” contains the name of Christ, we ought not throw it around like snowballs in the back yard.
The Westminster Larger Catechism also touches on this, forbidding: “all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God makes Himself known.” Thus, since He makes Himself known by His name, we ought not profane it. Since He makes Himself known by coming to the earth and wrapping Himself in human flesh, we ought not strip that of its glory by buying cheap plastic replicas. We think we are honoring the grandeur of God, when what we are really doing is putting His name on par with “good morrow” and “have a nice day.” And if we thought about it objectively, without the hyper impulse to being offended we have all been discipled in, we would understand the point.
And when we understand the point, may we carry His name with gravitas, joy, and mirth.
Oh yeah, and Merry Christmas!
