Don't Keep Christ in Christmas

 It seems that the world is divided into two groups of people: those who eat vegetables, and those who don't. A lot of people who don't eat vegetables seem to feel that that's a totally valid option. They say that they feel well and strong, and that they don't feel that they are lacking any nutrition from not eating vegetables. They say that vegetables are boring at best, often unpleasant, and that there are better things that they can eat. Those of us who do eat vegetables say that vegetables are badly misunderstood. Vegetables are meant to be central to human nourishment, and the perception that vegetables are boring is unfair. Boring vegetables are the fault of the chef, not of the vegetable.

For a while now, it seems that there has been a campaign by some vegetable eaters arguing that people should eat vegetables once a year. I think that they hope that by experiencing vegetables, non-vegetable eaters will be more inclined to eat them. But I think it's much more likely that non-vegetable eaters then feel secure in having done their yearly duty, and then go back to eating what they want.

I hope that by now, you've figured out that I'm not talking about vegetables. I'm talking about the dangerous cry that we hear each year from well-meaning Christians arguing that we “keep Christ in Christmas.” I think I understand where such people are coming from: Christmas is a natural time to experience the story of Jesus, and they hope that it will stick. But I am afraid that the message that ends up being sent is, “get your yearly Jesus.”

Jesus did not come to be the patron of a political party, the leader of a feel-good campaign, or the centre of a holiday. Jesus came to seek and save what is lost, to draw all people to himself through his death, and to call all those who would follow him to a life of sacrifice that looks like his own. To encourage people to celebrate Jesus once a year represents our Lord very poorly. It's like telling a person that because they once read a book about the brain they should try neurosurgery. It's telling someone that because they can tap out a tune on a piano they should quit their job and become a concert pianist. It's telling someone that they'll meet all their nutritional needs, if they would just eat vegetables once a year. It is the selling of a false hope by those who actually have the real hope. So don't keep Christ in Christmas – at least, not if that's all that you're telling to those who are lost. Because if Christ is only kept in Christmas, then he isn't really kept at all.