Merry Christmas!!!  Christmas is not only a Christian holiday, it is also an official American holiday.  Our nation has traditionally celebrated Christmas through secular eyes, AND through deeply religious eyes– both at the same time.   We have learned to do it without much fuss.  Our own two daughters learned that the real meaning of Christmas was the birth of our Savior, AND they also were able to enjoy the entire Santa Claus experience.  We sang Jingle Bells and Joy to the World; we read Luke chapter 2, as well as “The Night Before Christmas” without batting an eye.  Any harm done?  No.  None.  Genuine Christian parents can thread that needle without any doing any damage to Christmas or to faith.  Christmas should be a time of joy and celebration, especially for a nation with a Christian majority.  After all, the first coming of Christ changed not only the calendar, it had eternal consequences for billions of people.  So what are the “immaculate mis-conceptions?”

The term “Immaculate Conception” historically refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her becoming pregnant while still a virgin.  The Bible states that God Himself was the Father of Jesus.  Mary’s conception was not a normal one– it was an Immaculate one– perfectly pure and holy.

However, it is a “mis-conception” to assume that Americans can successfully thread the Christmas needle anymore.   In fact, there seems to be at least two big Christmas misconceptions floating around in our bi-polar (pun intended) American culture:

The first mis-conception I call, “The Conspiracy Christmas.”

There are some who feel that there has always been a grand conspiracy afoot trying to deceive Christians into celebrating a pagan festival that somehow got rebranded as  “Christmas.”  They believe it is actually a dark celebration of the winter solstice, and a sinister call to all demons and druids to come and occupy our minds and hearts with a pagan replacement of the true God.  They see devils in Christmas trees, in yule logs, in gift giving, and in Santa.  The big “Santa Claus lie,” they say, will teach children to believe other lies and undermine truth.  They often feel the call to purge the holiday of it’s damning roots so that purity may be restored.  Most of their time is spent crushing the Christmas spirit with odd factoids and frightening conspiracies.

The problem with the “Conspiracy Christmas” misconception is that it’s just not true.  Christmas has long been a time of the year chosen by the church to especially remember the birth of Christ.  Historically, it was a special “Christ Mass” for Christians, not for pagans.  No one knows exactly what time of the year Jesus was born, but December 25th was chosen as the date to celebrate it for several reasons– the primary one being that it was in the dead of winter.  Just after winter comes the spring, when all things are made new. When Jesus was born, hope was born, and the springtime was just around the corner.  It’s a time to celebrate indeed, and December 25 is a perfect day for all the world to do it!!

Incidentally, children who once believed in Santa don’t become bigger liars than the children of purists– they just get to enjoy a happier, merrier, more memorable December!  I haven’t met one that hated their parents for letting them use their childhood imagination and believe in Santa.  But I have met some who resented the Santa-hating, legalistic, grinch-like pretzel they were forced into as a child.

Come on!  Let children be children.  A joyful season of imagination doesn’t harm them, and certainly doesn’t keep them from knowing the truth of the birth of Jesus. (They’ll grow up and figure it out.  And then you can congratulate them with a wink for being so smart!  No lying necessary.)   I think it’s great for the birth of Jesus celebration to be a child’s favorite time of the year.

The second mis-conception I call “The Hallmark Christmas.”

We all know about Hallmark movies.  They are happy, uplifting, hopeful, family friendly, and mildly romantic.  They are also totally predictable, unrealistic, and politically correct.  Still, they are great for watching on a cold night with a cup of hot chocolate, cuddling with the one you love.

I’ve watched a few in my time.  But I have noticed, at least in recent years, that Hallmark Christmas movies have eliminated almost every connection with Christianity.  The birth of Christ is NEVER mentioned.  Santa, or the “Christmas Spirit” is the miracle worker–not God.  Instead, it’s all about families getting together (that’s good), and about helping the needy (that’s good too), and about rejecting the rat-race of making more money (also good), and about being happy (I vote for that as well).

But the problem with a Hallmark Christmas misconception is that THERE CAN BE NO CHRISTMAS WITHOUT CHRIST.  It matters not how much  American secular culture wants to adopt Christmas for it’s own, it cannot.  Christmas is not a human invention, or an American one–  it’s a divine one.

Christmas is all about Jesus.  It’s about the miracle of the Immaculate Conception, and about Jesus being born in a humble stable to show to the world the immaculate love of God.

So I encourage everyone this Christmas to reject BOTH  “Immaculate Mis-Conceptions,” and join with God’s people in the joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, AND let’s give children a thousand more reasons to call Christmas their favorite time of the year.

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
                                                                 Luke 2:11-12