Now that it is January and Christmas is over until next year, I can risk sounding like Scrooge or maybe even the Grinch.\u00a0 I have to confess that I labored through the Christmas season moaning and groaning at Christmas store commercials, Christmas television movies (the new ones anyway), Christmas network specials, Christmas online ads, Christmas news, Christmas concerts,\u00a0 Christmas decorations, and even Christmas church specials.\u00a0 And when it was finally December 26, I asked myself in amazement, whatever happened to Christmas?<\/p>\n
The one bright spot of the whole season was brought to us by a left-over, sorry-looking, crudely spoken but evidently born-again hippie named Phil Robertson.\u00a0 When America, the greatest country in the age of grace, was brought so morally low and bankrupt to the point of cowering to the shameful sin of our day, Robertson was interviewed by liberal hate-baiters at GQ magazine and old Phil said it plainly and truthfully:\u00a0 homosexuality is a sin and an unnatural perversion for any of God\u2019s creatures.\u00a0 He even made an attempt at quoting 1 Cor. 6:9-10, \u201cDo you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d\u00a0 What Phil didn\u2019t have a chance to explain is why these verses so plainly show that no human being is born a homosexual.\u00a0 God does not exclude any person from His kingdom because of how they were born, but only for how they practice, which this list of sins makes abundantly clear.<\/p>\n
However, I want to go back to my grinching.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t anyone any longer know what Christmas is all about?\u00a0 Is it really all this complicated?\u00a0 Sure, there has been a war on Christmas in this free country.\u00a0 Any public figure, politician, businessman, athlete, news pundit, talk show host, et al, is scared to death to mention anything concretely having to do with Christianity for fear of repercussion.\u00a0 Akin to this phobia is the fear of speaking morally, as Phil Robertson did.\u00a0 No doubt the bottom line is fear.\u00a0 You will be hurt in one way or another if you dare cross these lines in our society.\u00a0 If we continue to let Islam take over America as it has done in our motherland, England, the repercussion will indeed be physical.\u00a0 But for now the penalty for speaking plainly is loss of job or position, defamed character, name-calling, ridicule, and slander.<\/p>\n
But I don\u2019t think that even these fears are the problem with Christmas.\u00a0 The problem with Christmas is humanism.\u00a0 That\u2019s right, that old liberal nemesis that used to be so bold as to have its own manifesto and creed, has now morphed into Christianity through the convenient season we call Christmas.\u00a0 In the public square, humanism has won the old battle over sin and redemption.\u00a0 We are no longer sinners. We no longer need a Savior to save us from anything but a bad attitude.\u00a0 All that stuff about a pre-existent Christ Child, a virgin birth, a natal star, etc., (and especially a sinless life, a substitutionary death, and a bodily resurrection) are not only old-fashioned but entirely unnecessary.\u00a0 The Grinch offers you three proofs.<\/p>\n
Proof #1.\u00a0 I will start with the easiest and most obvious loss of the Christmas message as seen in television programs and made-for-television movies.\u00a0 I will call these Nick-flicks.\u00a0 The real person of the new-meaning Christmas is St. Nick.\u00a0 And before I lose all my cool on this re-made, historical, yet make-believe elf, let me confess my own sin of watching too much of all of this anyway.\u00a0 These \u201cshows\u201d offer the viewer predictable plots, typical characters, and annoying emotions which is all easily figured out in the first ten minutes.\u00a0 The only worthwhile lesson to be learned is the answer to the question, \u201cwhy did I ever watch this?\u201d\u00a0 The real meaning of Christmas, according to these sage productions, is the existence of Santa Claus.<\/p>\n
The plot will fall somewhere in the realm of some poor slob who is mad at the world or tied up in his job and needs a real emotional adjustment.\u00a0 Then there is the typical Tiny-Tim character who has everything against him\/her and is about to lose hope in the goodness of humanity, friendship, the joy of giving, or some-such humanistic attribute.\u00a0 You might add a picturesque setting like a fir tree farm or a mountain lodge, and then mix in a conflict between the fair but despondent maiden and the grumpy but handsome unbeliever.\u00a0 Now all you need for this story to be a Christmas story is the recovered belief in St. Nick so that the positive feelings of the season can be brought out of the infidel and he can show all kinds of human kindness and good works at the end.\u00a0 But this is all too easy.\u00a0 I only offer it as proof because of the ubiquitous nature of television in everyone\u2019s life.\u00a0 If you must watch movies, never watch anything made later than, say, 1979, when John Wayne died.<\/p>\n
Proof #2.\u00a0 The Fox News Christmas Special.\u00a0 I must also first confess that I am a Fox News junkie.\u00a0 In fact, if it weren\u2019t for Fox News I\u2019d have to settle for fix-ups, food, or pickers.\u00a0 Good Grief! I can\u2019t stand reality shows and I\u2019m about done with the antics of professional athletes (right after the Super Bowl and March Madness).\u00a0 So I know the good guys and the bad guys on Fox and which hours are worthwhile.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019re all glad when Fox News champions equal time for Christmas and answers the attacks on religion and morality.<\/p>\n
Yet according to Fox News the real meaning of Christmas is patriotism, conservatism, morality, and the bravado it takes to say Merry Christmas on the air.\u00a0 I enjoy hearing carols sung but I must confess I am really tired of the interpretive style of singing that makes me watch the vocal cords of the singer (even a nice looking serviceman) to wonder how in the world he could fluctuate between all those notes in a single stanza.\u00a0 The wise men never traveled so far in such a short amount of time.\u00a0 But then the wise men and their Objective were never really the point.\u00a0 There were the stories of our war heroes for which I am a great sympathizer, the little children with presents, even Cardinal Dolan giving the evening devotional thought.\u00a0 Yet I don\u2019t think the name \u201cJesus\u201d was even heard.\u00a0 The real meaning of Christmas to a television station seemed to be the guts it took to put on a production with the name \u201cChristmas\u201d in it.\u00a0 I guess that\u2019s a real victory in our PC culture, but it left me still searching for a message of salvation and hope.<\/p>\n
Proof #3.\u00a0 The three wise men.\u00a0 I think that these men may all have been on the Fox News special but I can\u2019t remember, I was so enthralled by it all.\u00a0 But in this season I have seen interviews from each of them.\u00a0 Let me say first of all, that I do not doubt the born again nature of these men (with the definite exception of the second).\u00a0 I also can sympathize with the difficult task of talking specific Biblical doctrine on the air on any program.\u00a0 (But I remember that old prophet Adrian Rogers scolding the young Bill Hybels after the latter schmoozed his way through a Presidential Prayer Breakfast without confronting a sinning president.\u00a0 \u201cPerhaps thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this,\u201d said the older preacher.\u00a0 So we cannot excuse the lack of clarity in a preacher at such a critical time as this Christmas).<\/p>\n
From the west came Rick Warren.\u00a0 And what is he offering the waiting public at this needy time of year?\u00a0 A book on dieting.\u00a0 This may actually be a great benefit now that the time of Christmas partying is over, but I missed any straightforward message of incarnation and redemption from \u201cAmerica\u2019s pastor.\u201d\u00a0 From the Mid-West came Joel Osteen.\u00a0 And what is he offering us at this Christmas season?\u00a0 I can confidently say I have no idea except a lesson on how to smile or do your hair.\u00a0 Frankly, I have never heard this man give an explanation of the gospel.\u00a0 No Christmas message here.\u00a0 From the east came Andy Stanley, an unusual appearance for him (now that his father is lesser known to this generation).\u00a0 A born-again man I am sure, yet what was his new book about?\u00a0 How to use your money as a Christian.\u00a0 Good enough I suppose for a pastor to his people, but I was listening for the real meaning of Christmas and didn\u2019t hear it from this preacher either.<\/p>\n
The wiser man I usually appreciate when he is interviewed is Franklin Graham.\u00a0 He at least tries to interject the gospel.\u00a0 But he is busy with his gifts to the needy and no chance was given him for the gospel on the air either.\u00a0 So much for my last hope of hearing the real meaning of Christmas from the men who are supposed to be wise and speak God\u2019s truth.\u00a0 Where have all of us been in this regard?\u00a0 I may have fared no better in a public setting either.\u00a0 Would you?\u00a0 Have we as God\u2019s people lost our boldness when it comes to the message of the most important time in the world\u2019s history?\u00a0 Maybe.<\/p>\n
There is a final irony to my quest for the historical Christmas.\u00a0 I mean, the real meaning of Christmas.\u00a0 On the Sunday before Christmas day, half the nation was kept from coming to church due to the worst ice storm in years.\u00a0 Many of us had to stay home like pagans and search in vain for a message somewhere else.\u00a0 But maybe this is a good reminder of something good and precious at the Christmas season\u2014the local church of Jesus Christ is still proclaiming the real meaning of Christmas.\u00a0 Outside of God\u2019s born again people there is no hope of hearing that message.<\/p>\n
The churches, having the Word of God in our hands and the Spirit of God in our hearts, rightfully proclaim our Savior\u2019s birth.\u00a0 He is the divine Son of God Who existed from all eternity, Who took upon Himself humanity at the very conception of the virgin Mary, Who lived a sinless life satisfying all the law which none of us could ever do, Who then gave His life on the cross for the sins of the whole world and was resurrected by the power of God, Who will accept anyone who will willingly put his\/her faith and trust in Him as Savior.\u00a0 There was no other hope for this sinful world.\u00a0 God loved us and gave His Son for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity.\u00a0 That is the meaning of Christmas.<\/p>\n
Our local church resumed services on the Sunday after Christmas with hymn-singing, carols, and a nice presentation by our music people.\u00a0 It was simple and nice.\u00a0 Real.\u00a0 No false humanism.\u00a0 Just the truth of our Savior\u2019s incarnation.\u00a0 Praise God for His unspeakable Gift!<\/p>\n
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Now that it is January and Christmas is over until next year, I can risk sounding like Scrooge or maybe even the Grinch.\u00a0 I have to confess that I labored through the Christmas season moaning and groaning at Christmas store commercials, Christmas television movies (the new ones anyway), Christmas network specials, Christmas online ads, Christmas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[135,145],"class_list":["post-3647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-culture-worldview","tag-holidays"],"yoast_head":"\n