our life in Greensboro...: November 2011

I'm writing this not to offend anyone (although I'm sure this may happen), but more so to inform and hopefully sway some people in their thinking. Around this time last year, and again this year, I noticed a war being waged on the battlefield of the holiday greeting. The struggle is between- 'Merry Christmas' and 'Happy Holidays'. I do not believe either of these greetings are bad or that preferring one over the other is wrong, however the view that 'Merry Christmas' is and should be the sole greeting of the season, I do believe, is misguided. Perhaps it is not the view itself but the attitude that often accompanies it. There is a self-righteous attitude sometimes evident in this fight - an 'us' versus 'them' mentality that is just plain sinful. As a result there is a zealous, though wrong-headed, effort to ensure that all people, businesses, media stations, advertising, etc. are saying 'Merry Christmas', not 'Happy Holidays'.

Obviously there are those (Christians and non-Christians) who are indifferent to either greeting. They realize they are able to use one greeting or both greetings without any hard feelings. Their purpose is not to offend but just to be cheerful...good for you! For those of you who feel so strongly about this issue that it makes you angry and invokes in you a sense of injustice, I hope you will hear me out. I'm trying not to judge, knowing I myself am a sinful person and don't always think rightly. Hopefully what little humility I have will be evident in my writing. My main concern is for people to be informed and for the Gospel not to be muddied by an unnecessary struggle. So here are a couple of observations I think everyone (although I'm writing more specifically to Christians) should consider before donning sandwich boards and ringing bells shouting, "Don't take the 'Christ' out of Christmas!"

#1 - Why would we force people who are not Christians to say "Merry Christmas"? Are we so prideful that we'd make other people recognize and unwillingly hold to our beliefs? Sometimes this mindset is in conjunction with the idea that, "America started its journey to hell when prayer was taken out of schools." No it didn't...taking prayer out of schools should have never changed a Christians' prayer life. 1Thessalonians 5:16-17 says, "Always be joyful. Never stop praying." Although, that's for another blog post, the underlying belief is the same...taking the 'Christ' out of Christmas should not change how Christians view Christmas. Protesting the use of 'Happy Holidays' and 'Holiday Tree' does not convey the message of hope, forgiveness and love found in Jesus. We can still celebrate Christmas as a remembrance of Christ's birth no matter what greetings people are using. Our energy and zeal should be utilized in growing in our relationship with Jesus and sharing the gospel daily, not in demanding others to conform to our preferences.

#2 - Does anyone know what "Happy Holidays" actually means? The word 'holiday' is literally translated 'holy day' and since we celebrate December 25th in honor of Jesus' birth...that makes it a holy day! I'm not sure all Christians know this, but what we celebrate as Christmas - December 25th - is not actually Jesus' birthday. Most scholars think it was sometime in the spring. The earliest recorded celebration of Christmas was in Constantine's Day (336AD) and December 25th was declared the official date by Pope Julius I, a few years later. There is some historical evidence that this date may have been chosen due to some Pagan winter celebrations that also took place in December.

One more closing observation - I do find it slightly ironic that some can have such a problem with the 'holiday' jargon, yet will remind their children all season that a fat guy in a red suit is coming down the chimney to bring them presents, but only if they're good...again, that's for another blog.

Pat Oliphant cartoon on Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

image courtesy of US News

For those of you who don't know yet, "Our life in Raleigh" is soon to be "Our life in Greensboro". Carter and I (and Koda) will be moving to at the end of May to plant a church with a group from the Summit. Most church plants start with a couple of families...so far there are around 25 of us going, which is pretty amazing and definitely a result of God working in each one of our lives. The church is called Mercy Hill, here is our official website...check it out...http://www.mercyhillgso.com/

This past weekend we all took some time to get to know each other and headed for the mountains of North Carolina! We rented a house and spent the weekend praying for the church plant, getting an understanding of what our goals for Greensboro would be, and of course, eating, playing games and hiking. It was a great weekend - I am thrilled to be a part of what God is going to do in Greensboro, and am excited to be going with such an awesome group of people. Enjoy the pics...there are lots...

Beautiful sunset from the porch

Most of us were pretty creeped out by this picture

Some of the boys. I like how Carter is as far away from the group as possible, and none of them are touching...very different from the girls' pictures