"In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure and I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus"
-- Jackson Browne, "The Rebel Jesus"
I used to be a real jerk.
Once upon a time, my opinions had a hair trigger. I'd spout them on Facebook, I'd pontificate in newspaper columns, I'd speak them loudly in restaurants; and the more people I pissed off in the process, the better.
But that was a few years ago, before fatherhood, age, and maybe a touch of disillusionment mellowed me. As I've gotten older (and, hopefully, a little wiser), I have learned to choose my battles more carefully.
Thus, you can safely assume, if I take the time to write at length about something, it's something about which I have pretty strong feelings.
Like this:
A minor controversy blew up among the locals on my Facebook news feed earlier this week. It seems that a local school is having a program just before Christmas break that ... brace yourselves ... doesn't include any Christmas music.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that my wife teaches at this school, and my daughter attends and will be part of said controversial program.)
Apparently, this school is the latest battleground in the alleged "war on Christmas." People who still live here and people who have moved away, people who have kids at the school and people who don't, were quick to weigh in on how this is just another example of society "taking Christ out of Christmas."
I don't have a particular interest in defending this particular school in this particular case; while I absolutely do support the administration and have no problem with the program, that's not really what I feel compelled to write about tonight.
I feel compelled to write about how completely silly and misguided this whole controversy is -- whenever and wherever it arises.
In Brian McLaren's book Everything Must Change, he wrote about the four main religious/political groups of Jesus' day and their attempts to co-opt Jesus and his message.
First, and best-known, were the Pharisees -- strict adherents to rules who, in fact, made the rules even more stringent, with the reasoning that Israel's lack of adherence to those rules was surely the reason they were still under Roman rule.
Then there were the Sadducees -- liberals, if you will, who felt that the key to freedom from Rome was to participate as fully as possible in Roman culture.
Third was the Zealots, who believed the only way Israel's people would ever be free was to take up swords and bring down the evil empire that oppressed them.
Finally, there were the Essenes -- but we don't hear much about them, because their strategy was to withdraw into the desert, separating themselves completely from the culture at large.
All these groups wanted Jesus' stamp of approval on their approach -- but Jesus never gave it, choosing instead to transcend them all and offer a fifth way. Not only did Jesus not endorse the way of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, or Essenes, he individually called them wrong.
I think of this every time I hear the "war on Christmas" or "take back Christmas" rhetoric, whether it's because of the absence of "Silent Night" in a school program or a store employee who wishes shoppers "happy holidays." The talk inevitably goes back to Christians' rights.
I find this highly ironic, because here's what Jesus said about our rights:
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."
Jesus didn't say, "Stand for what you believe;" Poison did.
Now, I can already imagine somebody loading up some scriptures to fire back at me (which really isn't necessary, because I'm not trying to shoot anyone). Maybe you're thinking of reminding me that Jesus said, "If you're ashamed of me, I'll be ashamed of you."
Except ...
I don't really think being ashamed is the question here; it's really more a matter of having respect for people of other faiths. In virtually all cases, people who are accused of "taking Christ out of Christmas" are simply trying to avoid doing or saying something that would offend a person of another faith, or no faith.
I can't find any examples in the gospels of Jesus personally interacting with people of other faiths; some lived their faith out better than others, but the people with whom Jesus crossed paths were pretty much exclusively Jews just like him. So we don't have any hard evidence here; we do, however, have examples of how Jesus' followers interacted with people of other faiths. Paul, for example, spoke to a group of philosophers at Mars Hill in Athens, and did so quite respectfully -- and that was when he was invited to share his beliefs.
Trampling on the rights of the minority to not be forced to accept your way of life doesn't make you a defender of the faith; it makes you kind of a jerk.
Or maybe you're thinking about our mandate to "love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength," and you're under the impression that this love for God should prompt us to defend our faith.
I'm going to extend a bit of grace here. I imagine that it's very likely that some of those who take this kind of stand do so out of spiritual immaturity or lack of understanding. All of us who are followers of Christ have most certainly said or done things we later regret. No less a spiritual giant than Peter showed a propensity for saying the worst things with the best of intentions.
But many -- I'll go ahead and say most -- should know better. I'll say something stronger than that: For most, I believe that being right is the motive.
If you believe that love for God prompts you to launch a counterattack against the "war on Christmas," there's a good chance you are lying to yourself to validate your inner Pharisee.
I promise you that Jesus doesn't mind people saying "happy holidays." Really, he doesn't; he appreciates the spirit of peace and goodwill behind it (you might remember that peace and goodwill were kind of important at his birth, what with the angels singing about them and all).
If you want to be upset about something this Advent, don't be mad that someone is using different words than you in their greetings. Don't be mad that a school program isn't "Christmasy" enough, or that some city decided not to have a live nativity.
Be mad that Americans are expected to spend more than $600 billion on Christmas this year (more than the entire GDP of the nation of Sweden), and this after ponying up $7.4 billion for Halloween -- while more than half the world lives on less than $2 a day.
Be mad that there are 30 million slaves in the world today, and that 3 million children are sold into slavery every year -- many of them to be used for sexual purposes.
Be mad that homelessness increased in 20 states last year.
Be mad that the United States military budget is bigger than the next eight countries combined.
Be mad about things that really matter.
And don't just be mad; do something about it. Advocate for change -- with your time, with your checkbook, with your choices.
A friend of mine told me recently that someone had wished her, "Merry Christmas -- and merry everything else too!"
Let's try something like that, and see if we can't dial this war rhetoric back a few notches. I'm thinking we'll end up being something a lot closer to the salt and light Jesus instructed us to be. After all, it's his birthday; shouldn't he get what he wants?
