That’s not a rhetorical question. I’m really chewing on this question this year. I don’t have a solid answer to the stated question, but I do know what Christmas isn’t.
Christmas is not Santa Claus. While Saint Nicholas was real, and was known for his secret gift giving, the derived Santa Claus is a fairy tale told to children.
Christmas is not a catch phrase. While “keeping Christ in Christmas” has bothered me for a long time, my new favorite is “taking back Christmas.” As if some barbarian horde came and absconded with our beloved holiday, and we need to go to war to rescue it from their evil clutches. Those barbarians being the actual people whom Jesus came to save. I know the intent of both of these messages is to maintain the centrality of Jesus in celebrating Christmas, yet they seem to miss the point IMHO.
Commercialization is not the issue. Charlie Brown has been lamenting the “commercialization of Christmas” for 45 years, and yet we still find it necessary bemoan it today. Is commercialization going to be the downfall of the church? My wife’s love language is gift giving, so is she sinning if she buys a present for someone?
Perhaps we are missing the forest for the trees. Have we become so focused on things that we control — our words, our money, our traditions — that we are missing what God was doing by sending his son to Earth as a baby? Tonight I’ve been dwelling on the first phrase of an old, traditional Christmas song:
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King.
What does it mean for us to receive Jesus? I think when we figure that out we’ll figure out what Christmas really is.