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No such thing as the So-Called "War on Christmas"

It’s the Holiday Season, and that favorite holiday rhetorical device of conservative pundits is getting dusted off for its annual round of rage and fear mongering. Stories of traditional celebrations dropping Christmas from their names, legal challenges of nativities, and arguments over traditional Christian Christmas carols are easy to find this time of year. However, I would argue that the erosion of the Christian Christmas is not the fault of those who do not embrace Jesus Christ, but rather it is the fault of those who do, Christians themselves.

The desire to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as a miraculous event does not suddenly happen because the calendar says that Thanksgiving is over. Rather, that desire comes from a deep abiding love for Him. The transition from “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays” is not some grand conspiracy against Christianity. It is, however, an indication that we as Christians are failing to spread Jesus’ love to those who do not know it. What we call the “War on Christmas” is a symptom, not the disease.

Jesus left us one commandment in John 15:12, “¹² This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” The Bible is full of exhortations to love one another:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (The Message)

^3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

John 13:34-35 NLT

³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Romans 12:10 NLT

¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Galatians 5:13 NLT

¹³ For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

1 Thessalonians 3:12 NLT

¹² And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.

1 John 4:20-21 NIV

²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

1 John 3:18 NIV

¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

If we honor Christ’s commandment to love, the “War on Christmas” will be won. Arguing with someone over their holiday celebrations pushes people away from the Lord. Loving them all year draws them to Him. Stop fighting the symptom, and start fighting the disease. And of course, MERRY CHRISTMAS!