"Let's Keep Christ in Christmas'

This is the silliest statement ever.

But we always hear this statement spoken by those who want to remember the real “reason for the season” instead of getting caught up in the materialism and trappings associated with the holidays.

Really though. . . If Christ is our Life (Col. 3: 4), if He is the Lord and Lover of our hearts, if He is everything to us. . . WHY on earth would we need to remind ourselves to keep Him as the center?

The truth is, our minds are not on Christ at all. Our hearts are not His. Our Spirits are not His. We may say they are, that we love Him, that He is our Lord, but the reality of our lives speaks differently. How do we know?

The holiday season serves to reveal to those listening exactly where our hearts truly are.

Where are our hearts? Where are our thoughts? Where are our minds? On the gifts we’re planning to get for our kids so that we can make sure the little ones have an exciting and memorable Christmas. On the little things I’m hoping someone will give me or to treat myself to as a Christmas gift. On trying to remember each family member and friend so that we don’t leave anyone out. We walk through the stores and we see hundreds of red, gold, green, sparkling advertisements, all singing at us to buy, buy, buy, so that we can make either ourselves or our loved ones happy.

It’s easy to blame the shopping, though. It is so easy to say, “yeah, Christmas is way too commercialized” when in fact the presents may not be the true idol of your heart. But there are other idols, more subtle and good-seeming. The happy family times? The traditions? The getting together with family members you haven’t seen for months, laughing over funny stories and hot chocolate, enjoying the warmth of hearty food and conversation, the thrill of seeing your kids experience something new for the first time. These things keep us going, keep us fresh, keep Christmas alive and exciting and something to look forward to. These are the things that capture our hearts about Christmas, not Jesus.

Sure, we squeeze Christ in. We know we should. We read Luke 2 on Christmas Day, set up a crèche in our home, attend a Christmas concert or pageant. We play our kids the old-fashioned “Christian” Christmas music like “Silent Night” and “Hark the Harold Angels Sing” instead of just “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” or “Jingle Bell Rock”. We tell the nativity story. We listen to stirring advent-themed messages during the month of December. We may read the prophecies of Christ’s coming. We may even set up a crèche lawn decoration in addition to our Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty, and elaborate lights. We find ways to convince ourselves that it is Jesus that matters to us, that Christ is truly important.

You know the feeling when you order chicken alfredo at an Italian restaurant, and when your plate arrives, you are greeted by a huge portion of pasta but have to search beneath the fettuccine to locate two or three lonely pieces of chicken? This is how it is with our attempts to squeeze Jesus into our holidays—we include enough to make us feel like we can get away with what we call it—a “Christ-centered Christmas”—while our hearts are filled with empty carbs or fat. With ourselves and what we want to do. The reality is that the “Christ” that we insert into OUR holiday time is NOT who Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth, truly IS.

But be real, who doesn’t want to have a good holiday time? Who doesn’t love these holiday memories? Everyone is like this.

Yes, everyone is like this. And everyone is equally blind to what they are really doing by trying to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” They are attempting to package the King of Kings and Lord of Lords—who both has given and deserves everything—into a tiny gift-wrapped box, just one out of the many glittering and shiny gifts under the tree of our lives.

Jesus cannot be contained like this, though. It’s impossible. He is Everything. . . or He is nothing. To us, I mean. To all of us, we must admit to ourselves that there is no in between. We canNOT serve both God and money / family / tradition / what feels good / myself. If we think we can balance both, I tell you that we do NOT truly know the real Christ.

 “Let’s keep Christ in Christmas this year.”

No. If this is what you are striving to do, He has never truly been there at all.