Reclaiming Christmas for Christ

This was an email I sent out this morning to my family...


For the majority of human history humans have had to struggle to survive.  Until the 20^th century 90% of the world’s population farmed.  Harvests were uncertain and survival was a yearly struggle.  Scarcity was their great foe.  Still, in the midst of this scarcity they remembered God’s generosity to them by giving gifts.  Their gifts were simple—in Dickens England, just a century and a half ago, it was not uncommon for a child to receive an orange or some nuts for Christmas.  

The world has changed much (at least in America—most of the developing world still faces scourge of scarcity).  Our great foe is not scarcity, but excess.  Except in very rare circumstances, children are far more likely to suffer the ravages of excess than scarcity.  For example, childhood obesity and diabetes affect far more than malnutrition.  We eat excessively, drink excessively, and spend excessively.  What is more, this appetite for excess has come to influence the celebration of our faith. 

   

Far from being a time to remember our Savior’s birth, Christmas has become a time of excessive consumption.  We no longer buy just for children, we buy for adults.  And it is not just parents that buy for children, aunts and uncles, grandparents, great aunts and uncles, coworkers, neighbors all buy for children (at least our children)—it is not uncommon for kids to receive gifts from upwards of 20 individuals.  

Gifts have become the center of a day set aside for the remembrance of our glorious Savior’s birth.  Gifts, even for committed Christians, have replaced Christ as the center of Christmas.  Need proof?  

Christian Philosopher Phillip Cary wrote this:

It is a safe bet that most Christians in America would feel far more guilty if they neglected their Christmas shopping than if they failed to go to church on Christmas.  We feel less obligation to sing praises to the newborn king than we do to get everybody their presents.  That’s just how it is for us in our culture: we take it for granted that we have to buy Christmas presents, whereas the responsibility to join other Christians in worship does not get nearly so powerful a grip on our hearts.  And we hardly notice that this has happened—that consumerism has gotten a larger share of our hearts than our own religion.  

I think he is right about this.  If we are being honest with ourselves we would admit that we would feel more guilty if we skipped buying presents than if we skipped church.  This should tell us something!

We don’t want to be like this—we don’t want our kids growing up like this.  We want Christmas to be a religious holiday (i.e. Holy Day)—not an exercise of commercialized consumption.  When the culture is opposed to Christ the Church must be counter-cultural.  We have had this conviction for years, but have betrayed our consciences in not following through with it.  We know people enjoy giving gifts (we enjoying giving and receiving gifts) and in an effort to spare others’ enjoyment and feelings, we have compromised.  

We’ve now come to the conclusion that if we are ever going to act on this conviction, we must act now.  And we feel compelled to act.  We feel this conviction is Biblical and as Christians we have an absolute duty to follow our consciences when they are prompted by a Biblical truth.  In response to this conviction we have concluded that this Christmas, as well as coming Christmases, will be gift free.  

It is not that any one individual has bought too much—on the contrary everyone has been very understanding of our desire to have minimal gifts.  But when we have roughly 20 people buying for us and our kids, even if everyone is buying a minimal amount, taken together we still receive far, far too many gifts.  

Our kids are not in need.  What is more, they already have everything they want!  So their gifts are not need based or even want based—they are given things in excess not only of their needs, but in excess of their desires.  To be bombarded with things beyond what you desire—to have more clothes than you can wear, more books than you can read (yes, you can have too many books—this should be evidence that this conviction is divine in nature!), more crafts than you can make, more toys than you can play with—this makes one less grateful, less creative, less happy, less respectful of property, and less willing to share.  And this how people are.  As a society we are becoming increasingly less content, we are increasingly rude, we are increasingly alienated and selfish—we don’t want to have kids like this.  We love them too much and want to do all in our power to keep them from becoming like this.  Yet can we live as everyone else does and expect our children to be different?  

There is even evidence that giving our children so much makes them less likely to bond with an individual toy, which in turn makes them far less able to bond with other humans as adults.  Our throwaway consumer culture, that begins when our children are young, leads right to our hookup culture and our throwaway marriages.  Indeed many have begun to ask: what are we depriving our children of by giving them so much? 

Americans are increasingly reliant on the things they buy for their emotional well-being, so it is no surprise that billions are spent on commercials—we are not equipped to resist them.  It is no surprise that the average American annually spends 103% of their income.    

What is worst of all is that this time of excessive indulgence, this time of receiving far beyond what we need or want, is connected with our honor and remembrance of the birth of Christ.  It is no surprise that the American Church is ineffectual both domestically and internationally.  How can we celebrate Christ’s birth by giving excessively to the point of causing harm when billions suffer in poverty?  

We want out of this.  We don’t want to raise spoiled, narcissistic, self-centered kids that find their value in the things they consume.  And that is the average American.  This is a huge problem that requires a drastic solution.    

But we do also realize that the gift giving impulse is healthy.  If you want to give a gift to us or our children, give them the gift of time.  They would be far more happy to read a book or play a game with you than they would be to open up a present from you.  If you want to give a financial gift, start a college savings account for them or give to a charity in our name.  Or, better yet, support a child through Compassion International or Worldnet in their name so that they can learn true generosity and the true meaning of Christmas—giving to those with nothing with no expectation of receiving anything in return.  

Thank you all for understanding.  We are looking forward to seeing you all for Christmas and hope this change of focus increases our love for our Lord and for one another.