An Introduction

Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? An Introduction

We have celebrated December 25th as Christmas Day since A.D. 325 in Rome, though the tradition didn't really catch on until the twelfth century. From the beginning, the faith roots of every era have been intermarried with so many ethnic and cultural ideals that Christmas is for many a warm-fuzzy sentimental journey at best, and at worst, a crass exercise in applied covetousness as we worship at an altar made of credit card plastic.

Many of the voices from Christmases past that have called us to faith in Christ have grown dim. Even the Church has become, for many, just another option to consider, like call waiting or super unleaded gas. Far more prominent in our minds and hearts are the noises from today's cultural cacophony.

This very day, incredibly, there are more people alive on this earth than have ever died in the history of humankind. This creates an unprecedented social force. Among the earth's five billion-plus people, nearly 100% of those raised in North America have been impacted by television and other media, the inherent purpose of which is to create a market for buying and buying and more buying. How many hours do we spend indoctrinating our minds with commercials, compared to filling our minds with "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord..."? (Eph. 5:19, NRSV) No wonder "two out of three adults (63%) concur that the purpose of life is enjoyment and personal fulfillment." (Barna Research Group, 1991) We're all busy trying to get the things we are told to try to get. The really important messages of life are derived more from a dollar-infatuated media than from God's Word.

What are the chances that dedicated Christians can rescue their celebration of Christmas from the season's creeping secularism? For many, Christmas is merely the most poignant occasion to notice the paradox in many of our lives: outer richness belying our inner poverty. However, there are still individuals who annually light the flame of devotion to the Christ Child in their hearts. How can we join those Christian "salmon" who have learned to swim upstream?

An oft-overlooked opportunity lies right next to Christmas: Advent! With more than half of all Americans, Christian and otherwise, longing for a closer relationship with God (Barna Research Group, 1991), the season leading up to the Christ mass may be the very thing we need.

During December, the month when Dasher has a claim to being the patron saint, we can find ways to focus on the one whose birth we celebrate. Here are some ideas: Don't let Advent get the remnants of your time and efforts. Pack your Advent reflection and study with deep longing and peaceful waiting. Sing heartily the songs of promises made and promises kept. Provide opportunities for your family to get back to the things that really matter.

With a peaceful Advent followed by a glorious Epiphany, the Christmas season can be one of real joy.

--David Allen Sorensen

David Allen Soresen is a pastor and writer. Along with his wife, Barbara DeGrote Sorensen, he authored 'Tis a Gift to be Simple and Six Weeks to a Simpler Lifestyle.

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