Approximately 2,010 years ago (give or take), the greatest marketing opportunity in history was born and the religious and secular worlds have been fighting over Him ever since. If only Herod had seen the commercial implications, perhaps a generation could have been spared.
He Himself didn’t really seem to get it, either, what with overturning money changers’ tables, insisting His kingdom was some sort of spiritual enterprise rather than worldly one, and His peculiar knack for telling large crowds what they didn’t want to hear.
“Repent and ye shall be saved.”
What kind of message is that? Seriously, His Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Surely the bigger message here is,
“Merry Christmas.”
I remember a time when we were concerned about the commercialization of Christmas. Maybe the whole “Jesus is the reason for the season” thing was from before businesses became so irreverent as to begin wishing people a happy holiday instead, I don’t know. But the message seems to have changed since I first accepted Christ 18 years ago.
Now, instead of discussing how believers can “keep Christ in Christmas” during a stressful and particularly commercial time of year, prominent Christian groups are instead concerned with how to keep His name in the minds of marketers.
In response to affirmation from Dick’s Sporting Goods that they would indeed be using His name as a marketing tool, the American Family Association sent out an email alert calling off their boycott. Dick’s has seen the light. Not of God’s glory, of course. Just of the profitability of slapping His name on their commercial endeavors. And that’s the most important thing.
“It is amazing to see the culture change that is occurring inside corporate board rooms. All across America, companies are coming to realize they should include Christ and Christmas in their advertising.” AFA email, dated November 19, 2010
Luke 1:49 tells us, “Holy is His name.” Sacred, blameless and set apart. Set apart for glossy ad inserts, that is. Shouldn’t we boycott everyone who doesn’t see this simple truth? And that bit way back in the Old Testament about not using the Lord’s name in vain? Well, when there are this many dollar signs attached, you can hardly call it “in vain,” right?
So now we are free to shop online at Dick’s Christmas Shop and rest assured in the knowledge that His name is being kept in its rightful place at the altar of American commericalism.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject don’t forget to buy a button.
_________________________
With a wave of my gardening gloves to Bore Me to Tears
Welcome to Roscommon Acres, my little home in the country. I write here about life more abundantly, from the joy of a baby’s smile to the almost unbearable grief of losing a son. I am seeking beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3).
Just place "Tiggy" in the subject line.
Truthfully, with the fights about “Happy Holidays” versus “Merry Christmas,” the people blogging about the pagan roots of the holiday and my own children (who have BTW never been visited by or visited Santa) starting their want list for the holidays…
I am ready to climb into a hole and stay there until all this passes. And, by then it will be January. I might as well stay there until winter is over. Sadly, my husband emailed me that I will have to participate in winter… but gave me a pass for today. The roads around our town are “terrifying.”
So Happy Holy-days, Merry Christmas and all that to you and yours. Hope you all have better weather than we do.
It’s dreary here, but no snow. Yet. Not feeling like an ostrich just yet, though. I enjoy the changing of the seasons too much. And I am looking forward to our first real snow that we can play in. Though that may mean we get snowed in as well.
Beautifully written, Dana.
[From the kitchen this morning, a wave of my oven mitt.]
Very insightful. I recently read a post about totally nixing the entire aspect of gifts at Christmas… and was shocked at how unwilling I was to even finish reading the article. Yes, even I, am commercialized to the core. Every gift we’re giving this year is homemade (except for the snapfish calandars to save my sanity) but a lot of dollars and effort still goes into preparing those gifts… that are not at all about Jesus. Maybe next year I’ll be ready to consider getting really radical. I just hope Jo-Ann’s puts a full length glossy ad of Jesus in their next flier so I can shop there guilt-free, knowing I’m keeping Jesus at the heart.
By the way… did you notice all the “Eat, Pray, Love” paraphanalia??? I mean, how can you possibly live simply without having a hammock, apron and key chain to constantly remind you to do it???
Waving what I have handy, which happens to be a Scrooge script! Seriously.
See why in the comments at Dana’s Bore Me to Tears link, it all relates . . .
Right to the heart of why we stay so confused about who we really are, Dana.
It is amazing as we go about this holiday season. A few years ago we started only having simple gifts in stockings for our kids and one large(ish) gift for the family (this year it is a dutch oven…so not very large at all). It has made our focus so much more on Christ and so wonderful. I love the comment above about possibly taking all gifts out. We may need to do that next year (as I buy all my gifts by October).
Great post, very thought provoking.
It is always difficult to strike that balance, isn’t it? We’ve never done a lot for Christmas. My kids really look forward to going to Grandma’s and that is the highlight for them. For my food-loving son, it’s all about Christmas dinner.
Speaking of Christmas traditions, if you haven’t heard it or at least read a transcript of it, Dave Sedaris does a historical riff about Santa stories around the world that leaves us helpless with Christmas cheer. My kids (admittedly older than kids who believe in the supernatural of any sort) just crack up every time they even think about this part, for example:
In northern Germany, it’s the Weihnachtsmann (Christmas man), but he comes on Christmas Eve. While you’re still awake, usually while you’re at church. The door to the room stays locked all day, and my little host sister was terrified. Strange men breaking into her house and all.
Southern Germany’s tradition is a little strange with the Christ child himself coming down to deliver gifts.
I want to introduce St. Nicholas Day. Who doesn’t need to have their shoes filled with chocolate at least once a year?
Oh man. You’re cruel, JJ. You have me thinking about Christmas in Germany. Now, I can almost smell the roasted almond smog hanging over Kiel, and feel the warmth of a glass of mulled wine while perusing the Christmas Market.
Sigh…
Maybe THAT’s the true meaning of Christmas. All those fond connections and warm memories, as every year layers on more until you have a lifetime of bounty .
I don’t know about that, but it is something that brings meaning because it draws connections.
Kinda like nursing.
The holidays frustrate me. I can’t really sum it up any better than that.
I’ve invited the whole family round this xmas for a big dinner, so the roast is pretty important! I found a lot of ideas at this roast recipe site, but cant decide on one – there’s so many to choose from! It is fun planning such a big family meal though!