Put Christ Back in Christmas

It's a popular phrase among many Christians. "We need to put Christ back in Christmas." I certainly understand the sentiment. What passes for "Christmas" today seems to generally have very little to do with Christ. I mean, even atheists celebrate "Christmas," don't they? Still, it begs a couple of questions.

First, was Christ ever in Christmas? No one with any information today actually believes that Christ was born on December 25th ... 0 A.D. Clement of Alexandria guessed it was January 6. Others guessed that Jesus was conceived at the spring equinox, putting His birth in December. But in the 18th century, Christian scholars began to recognize that the date was more likely chosen for other reasons. Today, we all know that the 25th of December is a convention, a commonly agreed upon date to celebrate the birth of the Savior. But it gets worse. Most of us know that the date was actually stolen. In the early days of the Church, it was the date pagans recognized as the birth of the Sun God every year. It was deeply entrenched in their time, so Christians decided to snatch that date away from idolaters and use it to celebrate the birth of the Son of God. (Now, since English wasn't around at the time, don't try to make anything of "sun" versus "son." That's purely an English construct.) As it turns out, many of our "Christmas traditions" are actually built on pagan traditions. In fact, it is so convoluted that at times it is hard to tell what is "Christmas" and what is pagan in origin. So ... to what degree was Christ ever in Christmas?

On the other hand, the term is "Christmas." It is based on an older English term meaning "Christ's Mass." (By the way, those of you who like to get agitated about "Xmas" when talking about "put Christ back in Christmas," let it go. The "X" in Xmas is simply a reference to the Greek letter that corresponds to the first letter (in Greek) for "Christ." Just like "J.P. Morgan" means that someone named Morgan had a first name that began with "J," the "X" in Xmas is simply an initial, in Greek, for Christ. But I digress.) And the celebration is not so much a "birthday" as we might think. (Seriously, what birthday celebration have you been to where everyone but the birthday boy (or girl) gets gifts?) No, it is actually a celebration of the arrival of our Savior ... whenever He arrived. We find very little in the way of "Christmas" in Church history. It was included in Epiphany at times and outlawed at times. No one in the Church, however, was opposed to the joy of the Savior who came on our behalf. No one in the Church ever has.

Here are the facts. Christ came. When, we don't know. His miraculous arrival is the second most important event in human history. (I would argue that the Creation of humans would have to be the first.) With His arrival came the possibility of redemption, and we are eternally grateful. Now, some may have stolen a day from pagans to recognize that event, and that's somewhat clever if you ask me. And it seems only natural that pagans would steal it back. Nonetheless, the Church -- those who know Christ -- will always celebrate His coming. December 25th has little to do with it. Trees and lights and gifts have little to do with it. Do you want to "put Christ back in Christmas"? That, my friends, is simply a function of your own recognition that every day belongs to Him. "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). "Who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?" (Rom 11:35). Do you want to put Christ back in Christmas? Well, since the Church has always belonged to Him, and since He said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15), maybe that would be a good place to start.