Sometimes Christians complain about society and don’t
realize their part in making things the way they are. We don’t have the
foresight to see the consequence of actions. Yet we complain about those very
consequences in the end.
I am one who doesn’t make much of a fuss about the phrase,
“happy holidays”. I don’t use it because I celebrate Christmas in December, not
any other holidays. But we live in a diverse country. There are people that
celebrate Hanukah, Ramadan, or God forbid Kwanzaa. Add in New Year’s (including
other nationalities’ New Year’s) and we have a number of holidays being observed.
While I don’t support the holidays of other religions, due to the fact that I
believe the Bible, I have no problem with a business issuing a general
greeting. Some may think me wishy-washy for believing so, but it’s not
something to make a big deal about. Perhaps this line is crossed when employees
are threatened to stop them from saying “merry Christmas”, but apart from that
I don’t take issue.
A number of Christians do, however. This is where I believe
we are too late. The use of “happy holidays” by companies may be a sign of
moving away from Christianity. That would be nearly unheard of 50 years ago. I
can see the correlation between the decline of Christendom in the U.S. and the
rise of something like “happy holidays”. But the phrase is an effect, not a
cause. Using “happy holidays” is not leading to the decline of Christianity.
The decline of Christianity has led to the use of “happy holidays”.
Let me emphasize this. “Happy holidays” is not a threat to
Christianity. It is not causing greater problems. We not doing what the Bible
commands is.
I see people complaining about the effects of the changes in
our society, but not about the causes. What was a ten point gap between the
percentage of evangelical Christians and the percentage of unaffiliated people
is now less than three. In all, those that even claim Christianity is down 7%
while the unaffiliated group is up 6%. This is only since 2007. The Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church
Leadership Development and Into Thy
Word Ministries have done 15 years of research on the subject. Their
findings include the annual closing of 4500 churches, while only 1000 open.
Each year, 2.7 million Americans fall out of church attendance, as the
percentage of regular church attendees dipped into the teens at the turn of the
century. In 1900, there were 27 churches per 10,000 people. In 2000, there were
only 11 churches per 10,000 people.
What do these statistics tell us? We’re failing at our
mission. We are commissioned to preach the gospel and make disciples in our own
cities and nations. The overlooked part of the Great Commission is that it also
mentions our backyards, not just “the nations”. Some combination of fear and
complacency has stopped Christians from reaching those around them.
The failure of Christians goes well beyond the unremarkable use of "happy holidays". This is the same mistake we saw in the 1960s and 1970s with
the counterculture movement. It wasn’t wrong to lash out against those actions;
on the contrary, we should call out sin. But too many people missed the point.
It wasn’t the counterculture that was hurting Christianity. It was simply a
reflection of the problems in the church. I can point out the same with the gay
“rights” movement and abortion today. We must speak out against this sin. But
it wasn’t the liberal movements that forced these into law. It was the church
that allowed them to become law. If they are to be stopped, it is the church
that must force them out.
In light of these, the use of “happy holidays” is trivial.
Nonetheless, the same principle applies. There are too many Christians whining
about the societal developments around us and not enough Christians focusing on
doing our part to prevent them.
Instead, we keep putting buckets out on the floor instead of
fixing the leak.
Complaining won’t do any good. What will is Christians doing
their God-given duty of affecting and infecting our society. Preaching the
gospel is a must, but so is holding ourselves to biblical principles and
fighting for justice. Don’t just reminisce about a time when God was in the
schools and courthouses. Don’t just complain that gay marriage is legal. And
don’t get frustrated over the rather trivial matter of using “happy holidays”.
Do something about it. Evangelize. Disciple. Get in the fight to protect the
values our nation was founded on.
It’s a lot easier to just put the bucket out. But if you
want to solve the problem, you’re going to have to climb up on the roof and fix
the leak. If you’re not going to be obedient to your calling, don’t complain
about the effects of the problems you allowed.