If you believe that Jesus is the Reason for the Season,:”(I personally don’t think Jesus had anything to do with the winter holiday until Christians retconned Him into it.)”: why is the overarching theme of Christmas, “All I want for Christmas is…”
The concepts of giving — which we ought to do sacrificially rather than obligatorily — as well as family togetherness are secondary to Santa Claus and the Want. Honestly, I don’t have a problem with wanting things. I make a list with stuff on it just like everyone else,:”(Though I am thankful that this list is becoming more and more difficult to make, for two reasons: Even though my income is just a bit above the poverty line for a two person family, we’ve still plenty for the occasional indulgence. Secondly, I’m simply more and more content with those things that I do have already and see most things as simply frivolous distractions. I’m very much ignoring my strong desire to get a hold of Final Fantasy VII to play through it again…)”: but I certainly don’t do it in the name of Christmas; I recognize a winter festival that families can get together and have fun for.:”(And I’m very much not brave enough to append Jesus’ name to this festival when He didn’t care to tell us to do so in His Word.)”: I durst not make this a religious thing, lest I add tradition to the sufficiency of Scripture!
But if you believe Jesus is the Reason for the Season, why aren’t Jesus’ overarching themes the same as Christmas’? Where are the proclamations to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”?:”(Matthew 4:17, NASB)”:
If giving is such a strong theme already, perhaps we would do well to remember this passage: “And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you,and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”:”(Matthew 5:40-42, NASB)”: How different would America be if America’s professed Christian population:”Religion in the United States(Ignoring denominational differences and pseudo-Christian cults, 75% of America’s population claims some kind of Christian affiliation.)”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States#Popular_affiliation practiced without hesitation just those few commands of Christ?
And regardless of how much one wants to focus on the positive aspects of a giving, loving, self-sacrificing Christianity firmly rooted in the words of Christ, it is difficult to ignore other passages, such as, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”:”(Matthew 10:34-38, NASB)”:
If Jesus is the Reason for the Season, then why aren’t families polarized because of Him during this time? When the lost & saved can all gather ’round and enjoy glorious (albeit overtly materialistic:”(This is of course debatable, but I’m willing to hypothesize that if you had a very Christmas-oriented family and you showed up with no gifts to bring saying that the reason you didn’t was because you don’t recognize the holiday but still wanted to spend time with your family, if you received any gifts at all, they would come with at least a small measure of ill-will or grudge-bearing.)”: :(“I mentioned earlier that I devise lists of things I want; well, I also give ’em too. Amazing, I know!)”: ) fellowship somehow “in the name of Jesus,” something is wrong. To put it bluntly, Jesus is hated by the lost for the simple reason that they love their evil deeds and do not want them exposed by He who is able to righteously judge.:”(John 3:19,20)”: Even as a baby in a manger, He was still that Judge, still He who the world hated. Why else would Herod have ordered the execution of all males two-years-old and younger in and around Bethlehem?:”(Matthew 2:16-18)”: He who is a Righteous King is a threat to a world in love with darkness.
If Jesus is the Reason for the Season, perhaps some time could be spent remembering what He actually spoke. Plenty of myths and legends have been retconned into the history of the Incarnation. Let’s shove all of it aside and worship the Lord in spirit and in truth!:”(John 4:23,24)”:
I was reading this. Just wanted to share.
A woman was Christmas shopping with her two children.
After many hours of walking down row after row
of toys and after hours of hearing both her children
asking for everything they saw on those many shelves,
she finally made it to the store elevator with her
two children in hand.
She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season time of the year, getting that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list, overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming, taste all the holiday food and treats, making sure we don’t forget anyone on our card list, and the pressure of
making sure we respond to everyone who sent us a card.
Finally the elevator doors opened revealing a crowd in the car. She pushed her way in and dragged her two kids and all her bags of stuff in with her .
As the doors closed she couldn’t take it anymore and blurted out,
“Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung
up, and shot.”
From the back of the car, a quiet calm voice responded,
“Don’t worry, we’ve already crucified Him.”
The rest of the trip down was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
Don’t forget this year to keep the One who started this whole Christmas thing in your every thought, deed, purchase, and word.
If we all would, just think how much better this world would be.
Jesus is the reason for the season.
Wise men still seek Him.
Sorry if it is out of place, I copied and pasted.
Not out of place, but I’m not entirely sure I agree. What if “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” is completely inaccurate? Certainly, it isn’t biblical, and in all honesty, if anyone at that time was going to remember anything about the time surrounding Jesus’ birth and infancy, it would have been the slaughter of every male child two years of age and under in the area in which Jesus’ lived. The birth, while immensely and prophetically important, yielded celebration for a short period, made up of angels in the air, shepherds on the ground, and magi from the East.
As Jesus grew older, though, there is no such record of anyone celebrating His birth annually — not Him, not Mary, not the apostles, and not the early church. There was no reason to emphasize His birth because the Holy Spirit made it crystal clear that Jesus Christ is Everlasting God. His birth was significant, but He was God Almighty long before ever Mary gave birth to His body.
If “Christmas” is truly a celebration of Christ, and if Christians want to continue to keep Him in it, then I say, “Jesus is the Reason for Life!” We limit Him when we limit cheer, giving, love, and family to one season of the year.
:) Yay, a new perspective on things!
True, Christmas has become way too commercialized and secularized. I think, however, that when people say, “Jesus is the reason for the season”, it’s a given that He’s the reason for life, but they are just reminding people why we do and should always celebrate Christmas: Because it was the night that Jesus came to earth that He might live the obediant life and die the innocent death.
Anyways, that’s just what I think. :)
Jesus is the reason for the season. It’s a pity the world has lost the sight of why this day was set aside. I guess it’s the same in some ways with “easter” time. It’s replaced with a big bunny and easter eggs. It would be nice if Christmas was rememebered for the reason it was intended, but hey that’s what happens when you live in a world where we are born in sin, and have no desire of our own to please God.
glen
It is one of history’s biggest ironies that Christians would retcon Christ into the pagan festivals and then when the pagans want the holidays back, we claim they are the ones stealing them or getting them wrong.
Unless “Christmas” or “Easter” as the Church knows them as annual celebrations (and not one-time events such as a birth or a resurrection…) can be established solely from Scriptural texts, they are but traditions established by the wisdom (or lack thereof, in the case of using pagan festivals as a foundation) of man.
If we want to decry about man’s forgetting the “real meaning” behind things, I think most Christians would do well to re-evaluate what baptism and the Lord’s supper are; those things we are commanded to do, and they are things which have indescribably deep scriptural meaning. That is something the winter and spring festivals cannot claim in any way, shape, or form.
Hello everyone! Merry Christmas Eve! :)