Cute Little Linus

It is surprisingly easy to get punched in the face by a Christian in the month of December.

            Granted, I am not sure why that would be a personal goal anybody would actually have but this is useful information should you desire it. This is especially useful when you consider how hard it is the rest of the year to get people who are supposed to be characterized by general niceness to give you a good right hook.

            If you want a Christian to punch you in the face simply say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

            You wouldn’t think that something so seemingly harmless would provoke such a hostile response during a time of the year where even grumpy people are usually pretty happy. We as Christians respond so passionately because we are absolutely terrified of the thought of someone taking Christ out of Christmas. The events of the first Christmas are fundamental to everything else a Christian believes. If God did not come down to Earth and live among people as a person himself then He could not have done all the things the New Testament credits Him for doing. He could not have taught us the right way to live and could not have demonstrated what divine power looks like through the vessel of humanity. If Jesus was not born on that first Christmas then He could not have given up His life on that first Good Friday and most certainly could not have conquered Hell and the grave on the first Easter Sunday. To forget that God once came and physically dwelled with Humanity is to begin unraveling the core of everything we believe in.

            We as Christians have cause to be uneasy. We turn on the TV and see that every year wide-spread consumer mania starts sooner than it did the year before. Every year Christmas becomes less about a celebration of Christ’s incarnation on Earth and more about a vague celebration of winter and all the warm fuzzy feelings we have come to associate it with. So far, the only way most Christians have fought back is by refusing to say “Happy Holidays.”

            And then there is cute little Linus.

            I am of the opinion that Linus is one of the greatest evangelists of our time. If you didn’t know, his famous dialogue at the end of “A Merry Christmas Charley Brown” is from Scripture- like the straight up King Jimmy Holy Bible and not even the culturally relevant Message translation. Little Linus stands up in front of the entire Peanuts gang and starts preaching from the Word of God and this is syndicated nationally on prime time television every year because millions of viewers continue to tune in and watch.

            How does he get away with this?  The Bible is the furthest thing from politically correct and offensive to as many people as it is comforting. The crazy thing is that Linus is not just sharing an encouraging word like a motivational speaker, but he is actually preaching and reprimanding the rest of the Peanuts gang for the way they have celebrated Christmas. Linus is calling out the sin of other people and the nation as a whole seems OK with it. This is baffling but can be explained with one simple reason:

            It’s Christmas.

            That’s it! Our secular culture is willing to listen to a direct proclamation of the offensive Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is simply part of Christmas tradition. Tradition has erected so many figures as icons of Christmas that we are willing to accept Jesus as simply a part of the whole package. After all, we have Santa, the Elf on the Shelf, the Grinch, Tiny Tim, George Bailey, Ralphie and Clark Griswold- why not a little baby in a manger?

            Now as a Christian coming to this revelation I have two main options as to what comes next. I can take the most common route and be offended that my Savior has been reduced to such seasonal mythology as a creepy elf who watches children while they sleep and constantly gets in trouble and fight back with everything I have by saying “Merry Christmas” when a cashier tells me to have a happy holiday. I can blast “Silent Night” when my co-worker starts playing “Santa Baby.” I can shake my head at all the retail commercials and superficial holiday movies and overuse the phrase “reason for the season” all over social media. Such opinion would turn me into a very grumpy guy.

            Or I could take my lead from the one with the blanket.

            I could recognize that for eleven months out of the year radio stations are playing songs about hedonism and superficiality but during the month of December they play songs written hundreds of years ago about the incredible idea of witnessing the birth of my God on this Earth. For every “bring us some figgy pudding” there is a “glory to God in the highest.” For every “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer” there is a “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.” Christ is being preached to an audience who hates even the mention of his name the rest of the year.

            What if Christmas is about the presence of Jesus wrapped in a blanket of consumerism, political correctness and holiday tradition? Baby Jesus was wrapped in dirty swaddling clothes when He came into the world the first time, is it so unreasonable that He would be wrapped in dirty secularism and holiday tradition this time?

            History will tell us that most of the traditions even Christians celebrate during Christmas time have pagan origins. Let’s not get offended that the pagans want their holiday back when they are OK with us giving it back to them wrapped with the promise of eternal salvation. So long as the people of this country have a desire to buy more than they can afford and feel good inside every December, which I suspect to be for a very long time, we will have Christmas and we will have Christ.

            Let’s use this to our advantage. Use your friend’s favorite Christmas song as a bridge to sharing your faith. Take all these Christmas movies about the “spirit of Christmas” and show the world what the presence of Jesus looks like.

            Take up your blanket and preach the Word.