December 9, 2010 
I was challenged by a tweet from Donald Miller (@donmilleris) this past week. Here it is: “I really wish more stores would take Christ out of Christmas to distance Him from over-consumerism.”
Wow. What a thought. For the past several years many Christians have been fighting this “culture war” to keep Chirst in Christmas. We want to hear “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” from cashiers, we want to see manger scenes set up at our local grocery strore, and we want to make sure that no one ever, ever uses the term “X-mas.”
What has any of this done for the cause of Christ, though? Jesus came to earth to establish a new Kingdom, to bring about a new way of life, and to sacrifice Himself for humanity. These are enormous ideas that have very little to do with our contemporary definitions of the “real meaning of Christmas.”
Some of us would be quite excited to find a nativity scene set up in front of our local Walmart. We would call it a cultural victory. But do we really want Walmart using Jesus to sell more stuff? Do we really want the baby Jesus in the manger to be an icon of the most consumerized season of the year?
It seems to me that Jesus’ incarnation should incite something far greater than feelings of peace and contentment, sentimental songs about snow, and a need to spend money. I agree with Don Miller. Let’s seperate Jesus from the over-consumption of Christmas.
JasonWiedel.com 
Amen!!! However, I feel we need to look a little deeper, maybe beyond Christmas. I would like to look at Easter and the glorious chocolate cross, and the candy scripture… How about our escalades and corvettes made “holy” by the little Jesus fish stuck to bumper… How about our very lives that are “saved” because we “accept” a savior. Paaaaaaleeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssseeeeeeeee!!!!! Jesus does not need our acceptance. I’m going to stop… If you want to understand what I am getting at, read David Platt’s “Radical” It will change the way you look at this religion we American Christians “follow.”
Is there any more ironic Christian symbol than the chocolate cross? Muslims would never put up with a chocolate Muhammad. What is our problem?
You are right on track, Bill, with my thoughts in the “Noun or Adjective” post from last month. A Christian is a person who follows a radical way of life. We water the meaning of the Christian life down with our religious do-dads.
Hey Jason. I think there is a reason that we are always fighting to put “christ back into christmas,” maybe He wasn’t there to being with. Look at the history of christmas in the US, like the fact that the puritans/pilgrims did not celebrate it. Mostly only those with german backgrounds celebrated christmas (moravians, etc.). Christmas didn’t beome popular in the US until the mid 1800’s, and even if you look at Charles Dickens, it is not a religious holiday, (and i wont go into the whole church history of the development of church “holy days”
.)
We would benefit tremendously from some historical perspective. Did you read my post about Jefferson and Christmas, Kevin. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
https://jasonwiedel.com/2010/12/29/thomas-jefferson-and-christmas/