Wayne Weekly “The Rest Is… Just The “Other”
Written by Teddy on December 13, 2016
The music of the Christmas season, most of us love it. As believers we naturally love the traditional Christmas carols and hymns that sing of the Savior’s birth. But then there is the “other” Christmas music that reflects on family, friends, the sounds and sights of the Christmas season that have been part of our yule tide culture for years. How we delight in songs like “White Christmas”, “Silver Bells”, “Sleigh Ride” and scores of others, but we pretty much keep them out of the church, and that’s OK, I mean in church, we especially want the focus to be on the real meaning of Christmas.
It’s hard enough in the “world” to stay focused on Jesus when we hear so much of the “other”, no matter how much we may enjoy hearing them. Christian radio, well perhaps we can be somewhat broader in the music we choose to broadcast. I don’t mean we should fill the air waves with Ho Ho Ho stuff, even though most of us Christian people recognize Santa to some degree. You may know, the real St. Nicolas was a benevolent Bishop from what is modern day Turkey. He was known to help the poor and needy. Though rejected by many during the reformation period, St. Nick has endured and transitioned into today’s Santa Claus. Was he a true believer? We’ll probably find out in Heaven.
So what about Christmas greetings while we’re at it? If people intentionally replace “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” just to protest Christ’s birth or to be politically correct…then it’s time to get a life. But as a Christian, if I write or say the word “holiday”, not that big a deal. I mean the word does mean “holy day”. If I acknowledge ‘Season’s Greetings”, OK, “tis the season” and I like the “greetings”. My Christianity should not be dependent on the greeting I use, though I do think using “Christmas” is the excellent, and can be a great opportunity to remind those we come in contact with what Christmas is…something all Christians should want to do anyway.
So here we are, Christmastime is here. It’s a time for lots of wonderful family and cultural traditions. But we must not forget…Christmas is Jesus…the rest is just the “other”.
“… behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Luke 2:10
