In Every Way

     I think we can say at this point that the Christmas “season” has officially started, we're past Thanksgiving and December is here. Many of us have started decorating and others have long since finished. I'm happy because unlike some previous years I feel like I am actually able to enjoy it all this time. I sometimes feel like its an unfortunate bi-product of adulthood that much of the magic of the holidays is swallowed up in work and life and errands and preparation.

     Part of my issue with previous years is the fact that one of my jobs is in retail. Anyone who works in that environment can tell you that it is difficult to maintain the “Christmas spirit” when the season is two months longer than it is for everyone else. When decorations and products hit the shelves in October it tends to kill some of the magic. If nothing else simply being around it all for so long tends to make it lose its charm by the time Christmas actually arrives. Not to mention having to listen to the same several songs over and over and over and over and over until you're willing to listen to anything -anything- else can be frustrating to say the least.

     This was, as I said, a major issue for me in past years. I simply found it quite difficult to keep any sort of enjoyment or excitement going for so long a period or even at all. Compound that issue with the fact that the songs I heard at work were usually the worst possible Christmas songs they could have found (don't even get me started on “Santa Baby”.) What really grated my nerves though was very same thing that irritates me every Easter; namely the preponderance of movies, songs, and TV shows “celebrating” Christmas, that are produced by people who obviously don't believe the Bible. I used to grumble at these people and wonder how could they possible sing or act about a topic that they don't hold to be true. How could they support something they don't believe in? In addition there is the whole problem of Christmas's real meaning not being supported much by society in general. This all weighed on me every year until a passage of scripture came to my mind while I was grumbling:

“Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”

(Philippians 1:15-18)

     I realized than that it doesn't matter that these people may or may not believe. It doesn't matter that so many people mangle or ignore the whole reason for the season. It doesn't matter that a fictitious fat man in red has taken the place of a baby in a manger in the minds of many. The story of God's Son coming to earth is out there! A crucial point in God's redemptive plan is freely available everywhere for everyone to see for months every year, and even the fictions that swamp us give those of us who believe an opportunity to spread the Word. What used to be an annoyance has become a source of joy! Paul was telling us that it does not ultimately matter how God's Word get's told so long as it does get told. So I'll sing along to the Christmas songs (not all of them, again, do not bring up “Santa Baby”...or “Last Christmas” for that matter) and I'll help with the decorations, because I'll also tell people about the miracle of deity wrapped in humanity and the story of the Savior.

Merry Christmas!