Here in London the UK, Boris Johnson announced on the 19th Dec. that Christmas is officially cancelled as we have entered into Tier 4 of COVID-19. But my question is, is Christmas really cancelled?
Why do we celebrate Christmas?
Now for us Christians we would say that Christmas is about the purpose of the birth of Jesus. Without Jesus we would not be free from our sins and thus be able to spend eternal life in heaven. For others it would simply be about the festivities of Christmas which includes, decorating and lighting up the Christmas tree, giving and receiving gifts, Father Christmas and his reindeers and elves, the turkey and spending time with all your loved ones. But if Christmas is truly about Jesus then surely from the Christian standpoint Christmas could not be cancelled, right? Or is it because we have made Christmas all about the festivities; the distorted perception of Christmas and therefore for that reason Christmas feels as though it is cancelled?
Have we been celebrating Christmas all wrong?
Personally, I think I have. If I am going to be honest, I have been celebrating a pagan holiday. You may be thinking that’s a bit far-fetch. Here me out! If you are a believer, could you say that the way you celebrate Christmas differs from the way an unbeliever celebrates Christmas? When I asked myself that question, the answer was, NO.
Look at it this way, if something has been distorted then the original meaning of the thing is somewhere in the midst of it. For example, the star you put on your tree is a distorted representation of the star which the wise men followed to get to the birth of Jesus (Matthew 2:10). Another example, the gifts we put under the Christmas tree is a distorted representation of the gifts the wise men gave to Jesus which all symbolically represented who He is (Matthew 2:11). Father Christmas is a distorted representation of Jesus being the Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6). And the list goes on. Check out the PowerPoint of a Bible Study I did with the Youth at my church on “What is the meaning of Christmas?” for more insight.
What are the ways we could be intentional about celebrating Christmas appropriately?
How can I be saying that I celebrate Christmas for Jesus, yet nothing I do on the day points back to Him? I got convicted of this in the month of December and it encouraged me to do a project called “12 days of Redefining Christmas” over on our Instagram @forallisthroughhim. Check it out! It was all about re-presenting the true definition of Christmas which is all about Jesus. It was a great reminder to me of the birth of Jesus, who He is and why I place my faith in Him.
I have personally felt encouraged by the Lord to start celebrating Christmas differently, to not make it be about what I want, but what He wants. So instead of expecting gifts, why not give gifts to those who are less fortunate. Also, there’s nothing wrong using Christmas as a time to spend with your loved ones, but how are you using that time? So, what we are doing is we are taking what the world does to celebrate Christmas, that is in fact a distorted way and instead bring it back to its original intent – to be all about Jesus.
Here are some ways my family and I are going to be celebrating Christmas this year, which could be of help to you on how you may want to celebrate Christmas from here on out:
- Giving out blessing bags to the homeless and a homeless shelter.
- Giving out food to a foodbank.
- Playing games that Christ themed than Christmas themed e.g., Bible trivia, Pictionary (drawing out parables from the bible) etc.
- Not putting up a Christmas tree (personally, I don’t know the source of it)
- Morning bible study as a family
As you can see all of what we are doing, the focus is less on us but on Christ and spreading love to others who are less fortunate than we are. Jesus is love, so we want to be able to represent His love to others the way He called us to do (John 13:34).
Going back to the initial question, is Christmas really cancelled? I think the distorted way of celebrating Christmas is, but Jesus cannot be cancelled. We as Christians are always supposed to be celebrating Him throughout the way we live our lives, Christmas should not be the exception of this. I think the same way God has used COVID-19 to show us that the church is not the building but that we are the church, likewise I believe He is using COVID-19 to show us that Christmas is not about YOU, it is about HIM.
Well, although this is my personal conviction that I wanted to share with you, I hope this blog post has encouraged you to at least think about the true meaning of Christmas. And I hope it has helped you reflect on how you celebrate Christmas and whether it is reflective of Jesus Christ, like our whole walk should be.
Stay Blessed,
Divine L.
Hi, I am Divine L., your sister-in-F.A.I.T.H., who is passionate about discipling Christian girls to be a walking embodiment of Jesus Christ in their daily lives and to help young girls and woman become who God destined for them to become. It is a great blessing to welcome you to the F.A.I.T.H. sisterhood!