I don’t want to be “that” guy. You know, “that” guy who corrects people who wishes him “Happy Holidays”, and tells them in a snappy voice, “It’s Christmas!” “That” guy who always complains about the commercialism ruining the true meaning of Christmas, and being grumpy to everyone about it. “That” guy who loves to correct people with the facts that the early Christians didn’t celebrate Christmas, and Jesus wasn’t born on December 25. “That” guy who gloats about Christmas being a pagan holiday and all. “That” guy who hates Santa Claus and all he stands for.
I don’t want to be “that” guy. Do I think that everything that happens in December is good? No, not at all. I dislike the materialism and greed, but I don’t want to go around with a chip on my shoulder about everything wrong with the season. Honestly, why does it matter to me if someone else wants to call it “the holidays” and I want to call it Christmas? Boxing Day and New Year’s Day are holidays too, and I want them to be happy as well, so why should I fight over that?
And keeping Christ in Christmas. People want to fight over this. People are worried about taking Christ out of Christmas. Look: His name in Greek is “Kristos”, and it started with the Greek letter chi, which looks very much like our letter X. “Xmas” isn’t taking Christ out of Christmas; it’s shorthand, keeping Him in Christmas.
Besides, I think other people are more concerned with Christ in your life than Christ in Christmas. This is about “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). It’s about “peace on earth, good will to men on whom His favour rests” (Luke 2:14). I don’t want to be “that” guy who is so concerned with the mistakes others are making that I make the biggest mistake: missing Jesus in the midst of the worldly pursuits.
Christmas tells the story of a perfect God meeting an imperfect people. It’s about God coming as a foreigner to embrace this life we live. It’s about our knowing that God knows exactly what it means to be human. He knows hunger, thirst, pain, loneliness, rejection, poverty, and sorrow. It’s about Jesus loving the lost, the least, and the last. It’s about the love of God for “that” guy, even when “that” guy is me.
And if you’re “that” guy, His love is for you too. Relax in that love. Merry Christmas!
I don’t want to be “that” guy. Do I think that everything that happens in December is good? No, not at all. I dislike the materialism and greed, but I don’t want to go around with a chip on my shoulder about everything wrong with the season. Honestly, why does it matter to me if someone else wants to call it “the holidays” and I want to call it Christmas? Boxing Day and New Year’s Day are holidays too, and I want them to be happy as well, so why should I fight over that?
And keeping Christ in Christmas. People want to fight over this. People are worried about taking Christ out of Christmas. Look: His name in Greek is “Kristos”, and it started with the Greek letter chi, which looks very much like our letter X. “Xmas” isn’t taking Christ out of Christmas; it’s shorthand, keeping Him in Christmas.
Besides, I think other people are more concerned with Christ in your life than Christ in Christmas. This is about “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). It’s about “peace on earth, good will to men on whom His favour rests” (Luke 2:14). I don’t want to be “that” guy who is so concerned with the mistakes others are making that I make the biggest mistake: missing Jesus in the midst of the worldly pursuits.
Christmas tells the story of a perfect God meeting an imperfect people. It’s about God coming as a foreigner to embrace this life we live. It’s about our knowing that God knows exactly what it means to be human. He knows hunger, thirst, pain, loneliness, rejection, poverty, and sorrow. It’s about Jesus loving the lost, the least, and the last. It’s about the love of God for “that” guy, even when “that” guy is me.
And if you’re “that” guy, His love is for you too. Relax in that love. Merry Christmas!