Whelp, we’ve all probably heard about and seen the new red
Starbucks coffee cups. We’ve also heard
certain extremist Christian groups claiming to the world that this is another “war
on Christmas.” However, as a Christian,
I can tell you that there isn’t really a war on Christmas (well there is, but
it is not because of the lack of holiday symbols on coffee cups, or the fact
that it is politically correct to say “Happy Holidays” over “Merry Christmas,”
or even the fact that public places like a county courthouse front lawn can no
longer have a nativity scene, but more on this later; keep reading!). All this “war on Christmas” business has more
to do with power and supremacy than an attack on a certain religion.
When these Christian extremists cry out in outrage over Starbuck’s attack on Christmas by not placing holiday symbols on their cups this year (yes, that’s what is pissing them off; and, by the way, the symbols are of stockings and candy canes of things of that nature, not religious symbols like the nativity or the cross), what they are really saying is, “We think the only religion that anybody should believe is Christianity! Our religion is superior to all others. All other religions are worthless and wrong!” I can tell you that I don’t agree with this, nor do I think it is true.
Firstly, to declare that Christianity is the only “true religion” is to place God in a box. Now don’t get me wrong, as a Christian I strongly believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and is the means that leads me to God, as well as the means that leads me to salvation. However, to say that this is the only way that God can bring people salvation or lead people to God would be very short sided on my part. God is far beyond my understanding or any human understanding. God can’t be placed in a box. We cannot put human limitations on God. This is really part of having faith. The mysteries of God are so beyond us that it leads us to continue to seek out God so that we can more fully understand this God who loves us beyond measure, and (from a Christian point of view) became human in order to reconcile humanity back to God. But to say that God can only save through Christ is to place a limitation on God. For me it’s a both/and understanding. God indeed saves through Christ, but perhaps God saves in other ways (and through other religions) too.
Secondly, and more politically, no one religion can hinder
another religion in this country. To
make everything about Christmas is to infringe on this right of all people in
the United States. And I don’t buy the argument
that not having a Christmas tree in your store or having a lack of holiday
symbols on a coffee cup infringes upon Christianity; just as working with a
LGTBQ person isn’t an infringement upon Christianity. Why do I believe this? Well, because in the Old and New Testaments
there are passages that talk about loving and respecting neighbors and enemies
(Leviticus 19:34; Luke 10:25-37 for example).
To force Christianity on someone or to declare that you cannot work
because of a LGTBQ person is not loving or respecting neighbor and downright
not Christian! JESUS IS ALWAYS ABOUT
LOVE AND RESPECT!!!
Thirdly, there is a war on Christmas, but it has more to do
with the fact that Christmas has become way too commercialized! Santa Claus has become the idol for
Christmas. Black Friday has become the
new worship. Presents have become the
new hope we long for this time of year.
And the worse part about this is that, for most Christians, we buy into
commercialized Christmas! We convince
ourselves that you cannot have a “perfect” Christmas without a tree and lots of
decorations, presents under that tree that stack up to the ceiling, a huge
amount of Christmas cookies and other goodies, and Santa Claus (which, by the
way, the Santa we have come to know in our modern age was actually an invention
of Coca-Cola. Notice his suit looks an
awful lot like a coke can/bottle.).
All of this war on Christmas that has to do with pointless
symbols and idols is, in fact, causing a war on Christmas because it is taking
away from what Christmas is all about.
Christmas is about the amazing gift of God’s grace that penetrates humanity. It is about the incarnation; God taking on
human flesh. It is about our
invulnerable God taking on vulnerability in order to forever and intimately connect
us with God. It is about understanding the
magnitude of that gift and how it transforms us, through its love for us, to
give of ourselves to each other. As I
have seen on Facebook memes, “If you want to put the ‘Christ’ back in
Christmas, feed the hungry, cloth the naked, care for the sick, and visit the
prisoner.” In other words, LOVE EACH
OTHER!!!
So, if you’re going to fight the war on Christmas, do what
Starbucks did. Starbucks, in response to
the red cups, donated $350,000 to Lutheran World Relief. In other words, if you really want to fight
the war on Christmas, give of yourself, out of love, in some way this holiday
season. For in doing that, you are
proclaiming the hope and love that we find in Christ’s birth.
See you in the conversation,
Pastor Zach
Very well said!
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