How To Keep Christ In Christmas
It’s got nothing to do with words
Every year as Christmas approaches, various memes are shared around social media lamenting the loss of the Christian focus of the season.
‘Keep Christ in Christmas’ is the typical refrain. As Western society has become more secularized, there is the call from many Christians to remember the reason for the season in response to the apparent increasing moral degeneracy of our culture. It’s a call that has become boring for most of society and conjures images of judgmental Christians condemning the decline of our moral standards.
In recent years I’ve seen another meme around Christmas time. It’s a call to be Christlike and remember the poor, the lonely, and the marginalized. Often based on the parable of the sheep and the goats from Matthew 25, I reckon it’s a far more Christian way to keep Christ in Christmas.
It’s a more Christian response because it lifts the lowly, just as Mary cried out in her rejoicing in what we call the Magnificat. She joyfully exclaims:
“My spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant” (Luke 1:47–48, NRSVUE).
