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Media Can’t Get Christian Belief of Christmas Right

The story made headlines on DrudgeReport — 23% opt out of Christmas — a shocking number that defies almost all previous polls. But then the AP story made this sad statement:

Christmastime is here and a new poll reveals the cards and gifts that are part of celebrating the holiday are ubiquitous, even among those who don’t share the Christian beliefs behind the story of the Magi who gave the first Christmas gifts.

The Magi gave the first gifts of Christmas? That’s what this is all about?

Let’s send Associated Press back to Bible school. The Magi did not show up until Jesus was a child — not a baby, contrary to conventional wisdom. Scholars say Jesus may have been as old as two when they finally found him and brought the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But that’s hardly the point. Christians don’t give gift to each other because of the Magi.

The gift of Christmas is Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son….” — John 3:16. We see it at every major sporting event. That is what the giving of Christmas symbolizes for Christians.

Why can’t the media get this or acknowledge this? It is a very simple idea.

The headline of the article — and of the link to it on Drudge — are terribly misleading. The article is about sending cards and giving gifts. Participation in either one does NOT mean someone “opts out” of Christmas. Christmas is celebrated in more ways than just exchanging cards or giving/receiving gifts.

But that is what they would like us to believe it has become to us all. It is just one more media nail in the secular coffin of Christmas. They will strip what is sacred from every last one of us.

Or so they would think.

Christmas is the oldest observance known to man. It was the first. The Bible says that men “shouted for joy” when learning that Jesus Christ would come into the world. His coming was anticipated and celebrated. When He did come, it was witnessed not by kings but by shepherds — the humble and the lowly and they were ministered by a Heavenly Host. Christmas is no ordinary celebration. It never has been.

So for the media to project it differently leaves a solemn obligation at the doorstep of every believing Christian who claims to celebrate the sacred Christmas. Simply insisting that we say “Merry Christmas” isn’t going to do the job (that phrase is purely secular anyway).

Many in our Christian society get it right. They give service. They seek out the poor. They help others. Some of that gets noticed by the media. But not nearly enough of it.

America, in particular, is the most giving country in the world. It is woven into our fabric, it is who we are, a claim that we make not as Christians but as Americans who embrace all faith. We recognize that our cousins who are Muslim or Jewish or even Hindus all have ties to the ancient prophet Abraham, who was promised to be the father of nations. What was his central celebration?

Yes, it was Christmas — the season of giving, the extension of goodwill and the declaration of peace on earth. Each has gone their own way in terms of worship and belief but they share one very common thread: there is a God and he gave His Son.

Let’s not water that down in the name of evolution. Christmas is the same as it ever was. Sacred.

Father of 7, Grandfather of 7, husband of 1. Freelance writer, Major League baseball geek, aspiring Family Historian.

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