As we approach the celebration of Christmas this coming week, we need to remember that such celebrations are an essential part of the cultural glue that holds a people together. When that kind of thing is gone, it is all gone. Battles over nativity sets on county courthouse grounds are not a trifle.
But we have to take care not to hold on to the trappings tenaciously, while losing the heart of the celebration. To fight for the Christmas tree while losing Jesus is to be guilty of mindless folly. Jesus really is the reason for the season. To hang on to a winter festival, a burst of glory in the bleak mid-winter, while neglecting the reasons why this is such a powerful metaphor, is to surrender without technically surrendering.
We should want everything to be named in Christian terms. Our calendar does well with B.C. and A.D. and we should keep it that way. And we do not want the rhythms of our time within a year to be defined by Soviet-style civic holidays. Labor Day is fine for barbecue, but do we really want to mark our commitment to labor unions, and then not commemorate the birth of the Son of God?
If we want our laws to reflect biblical justice, and we do, and if we want our rulers to acknowledge the God of Heaven, and we do, then we as Christians need to live that way ourselves, and we need to live that way without getting permission from our secular rulers first. They are not in charge of that.
Of course, as we define our time in Christian ways, we have to recall and remember the errors we Christians fell into when we had it all our way. We should keep our celebrations modest and Christ-centered—on Christ’s birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and gifts. There is no need for a festival dedicated to Our Lady of the Miraculous Tortilla.
But at the same time, remember to keep your priorities right. As we resist the idols of the age, we should start with the big ones—by which I mean secularism statism—and not the idols that were huge four centuries ago. Remember that in the right spirit merry Christmas is a statement that promises insurrection.
You think the kings of men don’t know “Merry Christmas” is a political act? The first “Merry Christmas” resulted in government-perpetrated mass infanticide.
So what would be a good list of public holidays to have in a specifically Christian republic?
*Sunday off each week with a 6 day working week?
*Christmas Day?
*Good Friday?
*Resurrection Sunday (but that is already a Sunday)? NZ has Easter Monday as a pubilc holiday though business opening is restricted on the Sunday (and Friday)
*Ascension?
*Pentecost (but again a Sunday)?
Are 5 days of public holidays enough?
Should nations also have
*An independence day?
*New Year’s Day?
A specifically Christian republic might esteem every day alike. :)
Why should we “want everything to be named in Christian terms.”? The answer ought to be because the vast majority of people honour the name of Christ rather than being forced to conform to some top-down theocracy with a thought-police. Christian terms can be joyful iff they indicate that most of the people have a saving relationship with Jesus. Hence, insurrection against a supposed secular statism is barking up the wrong tree! Our insurrection is against the Liar and these poor secular statists are his unwitting pawns. Our commission is to save them from him. Our brief is not to… Read more »