As the years have gone by and I have grown old, I have seen much of the religious nature of Christmas replaced by a steady secularization of the holiday. First there was the widespread replacing of the word Christmas with Xmas. Radio stations played less and less carols that told of Jesus' birth with sappy songs about Rudolph, snowmen, sleighs, holiday meals, holiday romance and anything but Christ. Many of the stores stopped using the name Christmas and just used the generic Holiday. Even Christmas cards had less and less scenes of the first Christmas. All religious meaning was removed from the verses inside the card. All of that could be blamed on unbelievers and Scrooge-a-likes in corporate offices.
Now that secularization has been adopted by Churches! Already there are listings in local papers of churches that will not be holding worship service on the Sunday that falls on Christmas. Santa Claus trumps Baby Jesus even in those churches now. What is the explanation? Do they really believe that if they are open for worship no one will come? Are the churches saying like Elijah that there are no more believers in God except him? Or is it that the pastor and the assistant pastor and the organist and the Sunday School teachers don't want to work on Christmas? How soon until the Easter bunny closes the churches on Easter - Easter always comes on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment