Does it matter: Calling it Christmas

One of the ever-recurring hot topics in American Christianity is the name of the day observed on December 25th. A few years ago the big angst was "Christmas or X-mas?" Now it's all the way to "Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, or what?"

I want to weigh in on this, because that's what a blog is for. Well, one thing a blog is for. Another is free stuff and shameless self-promotion, but we'll hit those on other days. Today, it's using the blog to grind an axe or two.

The first thing I would say about this whole debate is that I personally believe that there are two different standards of behavior relating to Christian days of observance or holidays. That's right. This is not a purely right-or-wrong issue in front of us. There are two groups of people in this world, to present it simply, and each group has a different obligation in this case.

What are those groups? Christian believers and not Christian believers. Or, to use the typical Baptist verbiage, the saved and the lost, though that merits its own explanation.

For non-Christians, the rule is simple: December 25th is one of several holidays of various religions, political groups, and families. If "Happy Holidays" works for you the whole time, then go with it. However, please refrain from trying to redefine a term or concept: that is a Christmas tree, those are Christmas presents—you are not joining Christianity by using the traditional terms. Neither will it hurt you that someone has a visible Nativity Scene any more than it hurts me to see visible New York Yankees propaganda.

For Christians, the rule is simple, too: if you celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ on December 25th, which there's no real reason not to do so, than say so. In fact, please refrain from adorning your churches and such with mixed messages that dilute from the meaning of Christmas. Please do not put "Happy Holidays" in your church bulletin. Go ahead put Merry Christmas in there. If someone comes into church, does not know Christ, is antagonistic towards God, and is not offended until they see Merry Christmas in the bulletin, your church has some real problems. Please take next year and read the whole Bible together and try to do some of it.

The real challenge for us, my fellow believers, is this: don't mix up the two rules. Yes, I find it irritating to see "Holiday Shoppe" or whatever in the stores. Especially given the lack of attention to Thanksgiving except as the kickoff for insanity, the near-total lack of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Solstice merchandise, which means you're really just selling Christmas stuff, so call it a Christmas Shoppe. Seriously, the Druids aren't going to be more offended at the lack of Solstice Cards in the Holiday Card section than seeing it labeled "Christmas Cards" so they know not to waste their time?

But we cannot expect Wal-mart to market the Savior. Nor Lowes or Home Depot or Target. And we need to keep something else in mind in how we handle the situation: there's really only one definitely rude person in the story of Christmas. It's Herod. (No, no relation to Harrod.) The whole story reflects a grace-filled God coming into this world. He does not demand attention, but receives it anyway.

We cannot expect to reflect Him well if we are going about being obnoxious to store people about their signage. If you don't like it, don't shop there. But I assure you of this: that guy at the checkout at Target whose name tag says "New Team Member"? He did not choose the script to give you when he said "Happy Holidays." So reaming him out really only makes you and Jesus look irritable. Odds are, he already knows the boss that told him to say "Happy Holidays" is irritable. That guy's a retail manager at Christmas. He won't get any sleep until January 3 and good profits now mean he hopefully gets a bonus next year: whatever he's getting this year was decided in October.

So, please, everyone: ease off the unbelieving segment of society. Celebrate Christmas. Do so openly: put up a nativity in your yard, decorate your church, go about with a "Merry Christmas" on your lips and a giving spirit in your heart. That is the best way to keep Christmas about Christ: let every step you take be a reflection of shepherds and Magi, angels and parents, even innkeepers and taxmen.

And let's celebrate Christmas with those who want to celebrate, without trying to drag anyone to the manger. Make sure they know it's there. Make sure they know He's there. Because He is.

Does it matter #1: Theology

Some time past, I told you to look for occasional posts in the vein of asking the question: “Does it matter?”

Here’s the first question to ask and answer: Does theology matter?

The answer is yes. You didn’t come for that simple of an answer, though, did you?

First point to address is the definition of theology. Taken at its simplest level, theology is the study of God. If you push, you could also say the study of gods or the gods and take the definition back from monotheism to simply theism. (Theism being the belief system that there’s some form of God/god somewhere.)

That’s really it. It’s something that nearly everyone does. If you have beliefs about God, you “do theology.” You may be doing it wrong, but you’re doing it just the same. Even atheists do theology: they’ve decided what they believe about God: that there is none. While some will say that’s not belief, it’s provable fact, that’s an unscientific viewpoint. There is no verifiable, objective test to prove or disprove the existence of Deity, so it does come back to a belief.

Now, whether you believe that God is the same as the God revealed in the Bible or is the same as the Allah of the Koran or is the same as the pantheon (group of gods) on Mount Olympus comes back to your theology.

So, the first reason that theology matters is that everyone (nearly) does it. Only those who have never considered spiritual beliefs of any sort don’t have a theology. Understand this: it’s a fancy-sounding word that stands in for the phrase “whatever you believe about God to be true and the methods by which you decided it was true.” See why there’s one word?

The second half of the long definition above is an additional aspect that needs discussion. Theology encompasses not just what you believe but how you came to that conclusion. Did you reach that conclusion through logic? Revelation? Dream-seeking? Listening to authoritative others? Studying pressed rose leaves?

What we believe hinges, in no small part, on how we get to the answer. Unlike other sciences (for many centuries theology was classed as a science: the underlying connection being that there is an objective reality to be studied) that can generally assert a method apart from a question, theology’s methods drive the questions. Astronomy can define its method as observing the observable universe, biology can define how to use a microscope to look at paramecia, but theology cannot define how to determine the reality of God without taking a guess or two first.

We have to start with an assumption about whether or not there is a God: we have evidences, but do we have certainty? That depends on your method: I, personally, find that God has chosen to reveal truths about God. My theology is based in God’s revelation of God. From that point, I look at the Bible as God’s revelation of Himself and Creation as a general portion of His revelation.

Yet that is not the only method. Some use logic alone, some use feelings or hopes, others impressions. For the one who uses logic, their picture of God will change depending on the logic system they use. Feelings change, so a theology based in feelings will shift.

It matters---how we reach those answers matters.

In conclusion, theology matters because we will then act based on our theology. If we believe in a God, we will act differently than if we don’t. If we believe in a God who reveals Himself, we will search for that revelation. If we have a theology that’s based on our own happiness, we’ll seek that instead.

Theology matters. It’s not just a fancy subject for Bible nerds. We Bible nerds do like it, but it’s more than just that.

Doug

Does it matter? The Introduction

For some time now, I've been a little spotty with the blog writing. I'm supposed to be writing for my own dear readers here and for the occasional post at a team blogging project that I'm one of the low-end contributors.

Part of my difficulty has been knowing what to write to you dear folks who take the time to read my writings. I was using the leftover material from sermons, but I felt like that was just beating those passages to death. I may bring that back if I can find a way to focus it better.

Considering that, on top of being the least famous blogger in Almyra, I'm also trying to keep up with real work and school work, I was looking for some method to keep fresh ideas without spending hours every day on the ole' blog.

So, I'm going to work my way into a couple of different series of blog posts. Here's the one I'm going to start with: Does it matter?

Why?

I spend a lot of time in research and learning, reading and writing. Right now, I'm working on a school project for Systematic Theology about the authority of the Bible, and the big issue isn't filling 10 pages, it's reducing to it. Last year I wrote more than 20 on an old British monk who is known as The Venerable Bede, and had to reduce it for school. I'm reading on the history of churches east of the Roman Empire in the first millennium after Christ as well as a few other, lesser tasks.

That's all in what time isn't spent on preaching and teaching (which need a lot of preparation work) or refreshing my memory for Greek.

And I began to wonder "Why do I do this stuff?" There's days I don't enjoy it, times this is no fun. Why do it? Ultimately, I reduced that question to this: "Does it matter?"

That's an important question. Partly because if it doesn't, then I should do other things. Also, though, because if the stuff I spend my time on doesn't matter, do I? Really and truly?

I can't really answer the second question without taking apart the first one. So, if you, my beloved audience, will take a read in from time to time, you can be the hands involved answering both questions: "Does it matter?" and the bigger question, "Do I matter?"

What I intend to do is find various items and activities, habits and decisions, to fill in for "it" in the question. Does Theology Matter? Does my vote matter? Do politics matter? Does education, prayer, exercise, reading, writing, family----well, you get the point.

I won't guarantee the results: I will make the case for whatever subject I find and we'll see about them all. Some things might not matter: if so, let's look at how to cut them out.

Look for the first installment in "Does it matter" soon. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow—but someday.