Put Christ where He should be

“They’re trying to take Christ out of Christmas!” That’s the reprise I’ve heard nearly every year since I was a fledgling pastor. So many people are claiming it’s a “conspiracy” to remove anything that has to do with Christianity.

One of the biggest things I’ve heard about for years and that people seem to get the most upset about is Xmas. One year, I had a church member who was going to take his family out of the church and go down the road to another church (of another denomination) all because I had a sermon titled “Have a Merry Xmas.” They said that the other church isn’t taking Christ out of Christmas.

Did you know that in Greek, X is pronounced Chi and is the first letter in the word Xpiotoc which is defined as the English equivalent of Christ? In fact, the earliest version of the word Christmas is Xtemass, which literally means Christ mass. The problem we have in our culture is that we don’t study or think about things before we speak out against them.

The word Xmas is in keeping with the very old tradition of using the Greek Chi. I was reminded by my friend Don Griffin, a pastor in Oklahoma with whom I went to seminary, that when we were in seminary if you didn’t use X for Christ, Xian (or even Xn) for Christian, and Xianity for Christianity, you couldn’t keep up in your note-taking.

My point is simply that I do not believe there is any grand conspiracy to take Christ out of Christmas; it is just another way to write the word. Sadly, taking Christ out of Christmas happens way too often, unintentionally, by getting caught up in all of the busyness of the season, what with worrying about finding just the right gift, preparing the “appropriate” food, going to see those folks you don’t see but once a year, etc.

This year, put Christ where he’s supposed to be … in your heart. You can do that by worshipping, praying and singing the praises of a merciful and loving God, who sent his son in the form of a tiny baby all those many years ago. Peace and Good Tidings,

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