The Real War on Christmas

The so-called "war on Christmas" is always a common source of contrived contention, and though I know that no none of you asked for it, here's my take on this "war".

To me, the war against Christmas isn't only waged by the secular - it's one that Christians wage inwardly daily. You see, if the glorification of Christ and his sacrifice is the true "reason for the season", any self-glorification or stuff-glorification is a declaration of war on everything Christmas stands for. This battle between the Christmas spirit of Christ-glorification and self-denial and the secular Grinch spirit of idolization and distraction is a battle that every Christian fights - a battle that's fought as much during the holiday Christmas season as much as any other time in the year.

This is a battle that we lose when we neglect to meet with God after sleeping in, as we spend our days off in either idleness or meaningless busyness, a battle we lose when we catch up with all of our old friends except Jesus and when we spend time with all of our family except for our heavenly Father. We wage war on the ultimate gift of Christmas when we're more preoccupied with both giving and receiving trinkets, an act of aggression far more profound than any mindless "Happy Holidays". Like all sinners, we fall into the trap of valuing and enjoying the benefits of Christ over Christ himself - be they externally admirable gifts such as friendship and family or overtly materialistic pleasures.

So this Christmas, when we hear talk about the "war on Christmas", let's not condemn the secular or scoff at the overzealous religious. Let's reflect and self-examine how we ourselves have been waging a war against Christmas.

Merry Christmas, all!