About this time every year the cultural war of the words shifts into high gear. Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays square off in the ring of popular vocabulary. The secularizing elements of our culture ever increasingly seek to suppress Christian religious expression from the public sphere and the response has been to counter with buttons, signs, t-shirts and other marketing strategies to encourage Christians not to give in to such secularizing influences. All well and good. But the war on vocabulary is not confined to the Christmas season. It is ongoing and many who call themselves Christians have already unwittingly allowed their speech to be altered by the forces of secular interest, aka, ‘political correctness’.
How many have autonomically adopted the word gay to describe the homosexual condition? This word – gay – by classical definition has nothing whatever to do with the pathology of homosexuality and we do an unloving dis-service to those thus afflicted by describing their condition with a word that makes it sound happy, natural and non-destructive. Of course it is equally un-loving to use derogatory and inflammatory words as well. People are largely drawn to Christ through the example they see and hear in us. Verbal harshness drives away; verbal acquiescence to particular sensitivities sugarcoats reality. Neither are useful.How many have defiled their faith by adopting the usage of political and ideological metaphors to describe their Christianity? Is it not sufficient to say I am Orthodox or Catholic or Baptist Christian? Must I also entangle it with the metaphors of worldly vanity such as Conservative and Progressive? There is no purpose served in this except to set people at odds with one another.
Let our ‘yes’ be Yes and our ‘no’ be No. Let our Christianity be simply Christian. Let us re-sanctify the cultural vocabulary.
In some ways this can be accomplished through thoughtful response. In other ways through silence. But never through passionate reaction.
As we begin this holy season of Advent let us keep in the silence of our hearts the words of Isaiah the Prophet: “We all are become as unclean, and all our righteousness is like a filthy rag. We fall off like leaves because of our wrongdoings; thus the wind will carry us away. There is no one who calls upon Your name and who remembers to take hold of You (Is. 64:5).
Thus, with our hearts in the proper state of repentance and humility, our efforts to re-sanctify the cultural vocabulary will meet with greater success.
The secular-minded have succeeded in good measure in convincing Christians that the salutation Happy Holidays is less religious, less spiritual than Merry Christmas and somehow makes God absent. This is a deception. For God is “… everywhere present and filling all things.” Plus, the word holiday is simply a combining of the two words holy day in the same way the word Christmas is a combination of the words Christ Mass. In the old English speaking cultures Christians celebrated the Divine Incarnation by attending the Midnight Mass and bid each other a Merry or Happy Christ-Mass because it was a Holy Day.
In our modern culture when so much of our speech is delivered at light speed, we need to slow down, re-orient our thinking and sanctify our words. Not just in this season, but in every season. We must remember to take hold of Him in our hearts and not be afraid to express what that means in our words and actions, no matter the consequences. Thus manifesting the words of Isaiah:
“The fire shall burn up the adversaries, and the Lord’s Name shall be manifest among the adversaries; and the nations shall be troubled by Your Presence” (Is. 64:1).
If God’s Presence, through our words of simple and peaceful greeting, causes His adversaries to be troubled, how much more will His mercy help and console those who wait for Him?
This season, wish everyone you meet a Merry Christ-Mass and a Happy Holy-Day! Re-sanctify the vocabulary and trouble a few of the Lord’s adversaries!
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