ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 1995 TAG: 9512200040
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-16 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE BARNES
MAYBE I'm just being a Christmas Scrooge, but almost everywhere I go in town, I see lots of decorations that have little or nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas. Valley View Mall has spent thousands of dollars on singing bears, jolly elves, giant candy houses, towering castles, carrousels, train rides and Santa Claus. And from a viewpoint a mile up the road, you can see Tanglewood Mall's five-story snowman.
They spent all that money on decorations, but there isn't one Christ child, one Mary or Joseph, and neither are there any wise men bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. There are no angels, shepherds, animals and no guiding star.
Call me a Christmas Scrooge; I don't care. But all the glory the make-believe Santa Clauses, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeers receive is in direct competition to the glory that should be shown to the savior of the world!
Jesus' coming in the world to save us is the most significant happening in history, which is what we cheerfully confess as Christians. Yet we don't stand against all these beautiful, imaginative creations that have replaced Jesus. That's right. Replaced him!
Maybe there was a time when we as Christians could embrace Jesus along with Santa Claus, Rudolph and Frosty without this being in too great of a tension with our faith. But that time has changed.
The world is playing by a different set of rules from what we would like. Christ has been removed to make room for those jolly, imaginative creations that make so many people feel good. And why is this the case? Are Nativity scenes in privately owned malls during Christmas bad for business? Is Jesus' birth so offensive that it can't be celebrated in the open?
The malls have much to learn about what is truly offensive. Is there anything worse to the majority of us in Roanoke than completely substituting our Lord with something else? This, by the way, is the very definition of idolatry.
How on Earth can we as people of faith continue to appreciate Santa, Rudolph and Frosty when Jesus' birth is ignored all around us? We can't support that make-believe stuff anymore.
Is there a place for a secular Christmas because of its origin and its festive spirit? Well, when it's used to replace Jesus who is my Lord, I think it would be better not to exist at all.
Mike Barnes is minister of the Belmont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Roanoke.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB