At this time of year it is common to hear the complaint, “The trouble with Christmas is, it’s too materialistic these days.” Christians up and down the land go even further, “It’s all very well celebrating, but what about the spiritual spects of Christmas?” And there is no shortage of evidence for the truth of these complaints. Christmas has become a riot of spending and gluttony. The rule seems to be, if it can be indulged, it must be over-indulged. You haven’t had enough to eat if you can still move. You hven’t had enough to drink if you can still stand. You haven’t spent enough if there is still credit on your VISA card. More! More! More!
Every Christian I know complains about it, and of course they’re right to do so, Right?
The commercialism and materialism of Christmas is such a soft target, I almost wonder why we bother. If everyone agrees it’s wrong (At last! Something the whole church can agree about!) why do we bother talking about it? I want to suggest that even in the materialism of a modern Christmas, there’s a lesson for God’s people if we are willing to hear it.
Christmas is a supremely materialistic festival. We celebrate the fact that God took human flesh — became incarnate — and lived among his people. He did not enter the world as a glorious heavenly being. He came as a baby, doing all the things that babies do. Forget the sentimental carols and Christmas cards. If the Christian gospel means anything at all, it is that “God is with us”. Through the incarnation, God takes fallen human flesh and makes it holy. I think it was Irenaeus who put it this way: “He became what we are, that we might become what he is.” So if ever there was a time to celebrate our flesh with eating, merrymaking and music — this is it! Christians should not be on the sidelines looking po-faced. We should be showing the world how to party!
The real trouble is not with Christmas, but with the rest of the year. In the west we live every day as though it were a party. The reason we over-indulge to such excess at Christmas is that we over-indulge the rest of the year. The target of the church’s complaint should not be the materialism of Christmas, but the materialism of a lifestyle in which excess is not only lauded, it is practically compulsory. Johann Hari got that much right in his column today:
This year, the first to utter this cry has been Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, warning “the spiritual values that many people rightly acknowledge at the heart of Christmas are [now] subjected to an assault of materialism”. Many of us nod solemnly at this thought, before guiltily dashing out to Brent Cross to buy another DVD player, remote-control dinosaur and pair of Heelys for the kids.
But, of course, it is much harder to address an overindulgent way of life than it is to “Bah! Humbug!” about a short time of celebration. We complain about the splinter in our brother’s eye but don’t notice the plank in our own.
Merry Christmas.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Rick O'Donnell 12.22.06 at 2:06 am
Now darn it Richard, that hurts (burp). Guess you’re right…
Ivan the Crank 12.22.06 at 3:08 am
Maybe it’s no coincidence that Jesus’ first recorded miracle was turning water into wine at the end of a week long wedding celebration (party). I think the biggest problem is that we like the Christmas party so much that we don’t want to be bothered too much with the guest of honor: Jesus.
An interesting thing has been happening here in the States this year. Donald Wildmon with the American Family Association has been griping that commercial enterprises like department stores, malls, etc. are no longer proclaiming that they are cashing in on Christmas, but simply are selling holiday gifts. So when did the Church decide that our retail outlets were supposed to promote the true meaning of Christmas? It’s time for the Church to reclaim Christmas. When the 24 hour Christmas music ends on the radio on Christmas night, we are to keep singing Christmas hymns until January 6: Epiphany. When everyone is busy returning gifts the day after Christmas, we should be pointing to the Gift. Instead of jumping on the retailers for moving from Christmas to Holidays, maybe we should thank them for putting that responsibility back in the hands of Christ’s followers.
So, let’s celebrate past December 25th while everyone else is getting ready for the next holiday. Let’s reclaim Christmas as a holy day.
Kim 12.22.06 at 9:05 am
Today’s Independent has published a letter of mine in reply to Hari’s article under the title “Giving Atheism a bad name”. Richard has picked out the best bit of the whinging diatribe of this otherwise intelligent young man, as Hari plays the monkey to Dawkins’ organ-grinder (which is one the bit of my original longer letter that the Independent edited out!).
On over-indulgence, however, I go with Blake (who put it much better than Hari): “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”
PS: I shall be reporting Richard to the Methodist Teetotal Association (as one of his members once threatened me!).