The following post was originally published in December of 2012 on the original Refined4him website at blogger.com. It is here in its original format, unedited. I can no longer guarantee that any links associated with this post are still active. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Well, if you feel like I have been biased in my opinions in Parts I-III, then you are right. Shame on me! I have been on the side of all the Christians who celebrate Christmas this entire time. Guess what? Now it’s time to change teams. Now it is time to attack Christmas. I feel that I have provided sufficient opinions by other websites in the first few parts of this series, so if you need to know where these arguments are coming from then please refer back to those links. From this point on I will not be providing any other links. So without further wait…

To Buy Or Not To Buy. As we may recall from Part III, it doesn’t appear to be a sin to buy gifts for one another. However, we need to understand that it is not advisable to go overboard. Do you really need to rack up thousands upon thousands of dollars in credit card debt to buy Christmas gifts? Only to go back into it the next Christmas just after you paid last Christmas’ debt off? Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you? (Proverbs 22:26-27). The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender (Proverbs 22:7). Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law (Romans 13:8). The bible advises against going into debt. Imagine if you will saying “I will spend $10,000 this Christmas on gifts and pay it all off throughout next year” and then you get laid off from your job in February. You cannot foretell what you will be able to do next year. Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin (James 4:13-17). It would be a shame to be left with such a massive debt that cannot be paid. It is best to be within your means. I know you may be saying “It is my money. I can do what I want with it!”. Our money belongs to God. He can make or break our wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). So your money truly does not belong to you, which is why we are asked to give back a portion to God in tithes (2 Corinthians 9:7). We also need to not be greedy either. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24). Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”(Hebrews 13:5). For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs (1 Timothy 6:10). Greed at Christmas time can also breed materialism, and then we lose our focus on the real reason for the season. But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful (Mark 4:19). We need to focus on giving joy, peace, and love in the name of Jesus and not dance with the evil child of greed and materialism, which is named “commercialism” (Luke 12:15, Matthew 6:33). Commercialism is at constant battle with Jesus Christ as being the focal point of Christmas. It is not wrong to buy gifts, but remember when you spend thousands of dollars on loved ones, you are welcoming debt and creating a breeding ground for greed and materialism just like cold damp places provide a breeding ground for mold and Christ being the focal point gets distorted or lost completely.

Also the materialistic and greed plague can offer failed attempts to show the love of Christ when we forgo Thanksgiving evenings with our families to attend various stores for their now “Black Thursday Evening” deals. Rushing through the doors like a stampede of mad cows, running down little old ladies to get the newest Smack Me Around Elmo doll. Is this showing Christ is Christmas?

To Lie Or Not To Lie? You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Exodus 20:16). If I was to walk up to anyone of you Christians and ask you “Do you lie?” I am sure you would reply with “No!”. Now if I asked you “Do you tell your children all about Santa?” and you answered “Yes”, then does that mean that Santa is real? He isn’t. Therefore when you play up the hype about Santa, you are lying to your children. How sad it is when your child learns that there is no such thing, and they look to you wondering what is true. All you can say is “That’s right, he isn’t real”. Which translates to “That’s right, we have been lying to you this entire time”. And then we expect them to believe in Christ after they have already been lied to? They see Santa at the mall, in the parade, on street corners, in Christmas movies, etc. But they do not see Jesus walking around. It is easier to believe in that which you see. So if we tell our children to believe in something they can see, but are deceived, how much harder will they trust in something that they cannot see? Not to mention we take away from Christ at Christmas time when we give Him competition. Do you think a child will be more enamored with a colorful jolly guy with flying reindeer, who travels the world an visits every child in just one night and gives them everything they want, or with the birth of a Savior? I think in given the option Santa sounds more appealing to the ears of a child who is filled with imagination and wonder. St. Nicholas was real and gave with the love of Christ, but he wasn’t magical and had any flying animals. So we cannot defend Santa by saying he was St. Nick. Two completely different people.

Santa and commercialism, greed and materialism, are the tag team partners that have left a sour taste in the mouths of those who prefer to honor Christ at Christmas time. They are the ones who have driven Christians away from Christmas all together. When Christmas started out it was intertwined with paganism. The paganism is gone and now it is intertwined with fairy tales and money.

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24). This has also meshed honoring and glorifying Christ with worldly passions and ideas. 

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God (James 4:3-4).

However I am not telling you what to do. This is just a thought.

The Beast That Christmas Has Become

O Holy Night! The star gods are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Mithra’s birth.
Long lay the world, incense and every pine tree. Till he appeared and the soul felt the Earth.

Most people have probably never heard of that version of “Oh Holy Night”. I would hope so seeing that I just made it up. Here in the city I live in we have two secular radio stations that switch over and play nothing but Christmas music. For a whole month you do hear about snow, gifts, and that minion Santa Claus. But you also hear a lot of songs about the birth of our Savior. Christ’s name is rampant in a market that otherwise never mentions His name. 

O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord (Psalm 68:32). So what is so wrong with that? The eradication of paganism at this time of the year has led to the name of only One to be proclaimed: Jesus Christ. It is only this time of the year that He has the floor. The rest of the year secular folks don’t think or mention much about Him. Secular radio stations wouldn’t be caught dead playing songs that have the line “Christ is the Lord”. Atheists would get by with putting down Christ without much opposition. But this time of the year belongs to Him. Granted, Santa may “posses” the same all-knowing, all-seeing attributes of God, but you never hear the phrase “Santa is the reason for the season” or “Let’s keep Santa in Christmas”. Santa is there, yes, but this season is Christ’s. That’s why it is called CHRISTmas, not “Santamas”. So what are we supposed to do about this? You will find out in Part V when we finish this series once and for all. Until then…

Love In Christ