Every year around December, I have this creeping feeling in the back of my mind. It gets stronger and stronger each year. It’s this question that keeps repeating itself – what’s the point of Christmas anyway?

I know, I know. What a Scrooge! But honestly, it seems like everyone on earth is completely obsessed with Christmas, and I feel like I’m the only one asking this question. But I’m bringing it up today to see if I am in fact the only one, or if anyone else out there finds themselves asking it too.

And I’m sure by my last blog post, I probably seem like I’m just as in love with Christmas as anyone. That post is full of spirit and holiday festivities. Now don’t get me wrong, there are things about Christmas that I love. But there are also many that I question, despite continuing to do them year after year.

The Christian answer

So what’s the Christian answer? Well of course Christmas is wonderful because we’re celebrating the birth of Jesus. But researching the history of Christmas was something really eye opening for me. Many Christmas traditions are actually rooted in pagan traditions that date back long before the birth of Christ.

In early Christianity, Easter was the biggest holiday and the birth of Jesus wasn’t even celebrated. The pagan Yule and Winter Solstice celebrations were done by many European cultures to honor pagan gods. Firs and spruce were used as indoor decorations because it was believed that they scared away witches and ghouls.

In fact, many of the original Christmas traditions are more related to Halloween traditions than anything biblical. (The first time I learned this, I was really surprised. I’ve done research on the history of Halloween before, and feel like I’m one of the few Christians who actually grew up not celebrating it.)

How Christmas started

So why did Christians start celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25th?

The Roman Catholic church decided to create this holiday a few hundred years A.D. and put it at the same time as the pagan winter holidays in order to encourage its popularity. (We actually don’t know the date or even the season Jesus was born in.) But what happened is that the pagan traditions and Christian holiday got mixed together into one big celebration.

Early Christmas represented drunkenness, revelry, and the poor classes terrorizing the rich by raiding homes and demanding food and drink. In fact, Christmas was a banned holiday during early American settlement. The Puritans were strongly against the worldly holiday and viewed it as sacrilege. And even when Christmas started being celebrated in America, Christmas trees were still not used because they were seen as a pagan symbol.

And I haven’t even touched on the tradition of Santa Claus yet!

Long story short, Santa is based mainly on the legend of Saint Nicholas, combined with many different tales of a man (or woman) delivering gifts to children for different reasons throughout different countries in Europe – a combination of many pagan superstitions. Saint Nicholas’ death day, December 9th, became a holiday to celebrate him, which is how the Santa tradition got tied together with all the rest of the hodgepodge Christmas traditions.

Modern American Christmas

So what are we supposed to do with this information? That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. Although Christmas roots are from many different and strange origins, that doesn’t mean they’re all bad. The holiday has evolved to become about family, gifts, loving and caring for the poor, and of course Jesus’ birth.

I think my personal dilemma for awhile was wondering, should we even be celebrating Christmas? Do we know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it? What’s the point? And what I realized is that it’s not necessarily the traditions that bother me about Christmas, as long as we’re doing them with purpose and honoring God with them. But it’s the modern phenomena of Christmas obsession and indulgence that gets to me.

I guess it depends on each family, and each person’s heart. I love Christmas parties, Christmas movies, the cookies, even the decorations, and (most of) the music. But what I struggle to reconcile in my mind is the gifts, and the crazy amount of spending spending spending!

“Giving” or getting?

I love being able to surprise the people I love with a gift that I picked just for them. Something they weren’t expecting that they love and that’s meaningful. But what it seems like Christmas has come to is everyone rolling out a laundry list of all the things they want, and telling everyone around them exactly what to buy them so they get everything on their list.

No longer is there any joy in picking something special for people when you’re just buying them what they ask for (or demand). And the amount of money people throw away at Christmas seems insane and ridiculous to me. It’s basically turned into an excuse for everyone to just GET GET GET everything they want but wouldn’t normally buy themselves all at once because it would be too frivolous and indulgent.

We disguise our ridiculous amount of spending as “giving” to others. When in reality we know we’re going to get back just as much in gifts given to us! I know I might be stepping on some toes here, but I think the gift tradition has become one of the most selfish traditions ever. (Okay okay, I know not EVERYONE is only thinking about themselves – this is just a generalization!)

Everyone feels obligated to give things to their family members or else they’re considered a jerk. You can’t just not buy people Christmas presents!! (Well maybe you can… maybe your family has already stopped the usual gift tradition and opted for something more simple or special.)

It’s a facade

Not only that, but the entire facade of Christmas spirit… I think that’s exactly what it is: a facade.

I know, I know. How sad, right? I hate to burst that bubble. But growing up, Christmas was so magical. And I remember a point in high school, when it was the first year I didn’t “feel it.” It didn’t feel Christmassy to me, even when the season was in full swing! I thought something was wrong with me. Where was the magic?? It resulted in a pretty depressed and disillusioned teenage Becka.

Isn’t that sad? But over time I realized that’s actually normal. As a child everything seems so much bigger and grander and more magical, especially Christmas. But as an adult, enjoying the season is just a choice we make.

But it seems like everyone is forcing themselves and everyone around them to believe that Christmas is still magical, even if it never really was. Like it holds some kind of power, to make you feel warm and fuzzy, and everything hard and sad disappears during December.

But truly in my heart, I know that that’s not true. And for years I think I’ve let Christmas time be an escape. A way to feel good, and hide from reality. I still think it’s possible to enjoy Christmas and have warm fuzzy feelings, without letting it be an excuse to run from our problems. In all honesty I think we put Christmas on a pedestal and make it an idol when we give it so much power over us.

What I want to do about it

So what now? Since I’ve thought this through, I guess you can say I’m fed up with Christmas as I currently see it. I think it’s time to change something. If you feel the same way, maybe you want to change something too. This is what my hope is for Christmas in the future:

I want to stop with the presents. Okay maybe not completely. But at least drastically cut down on them! My siblings and I are grown up, so we’re a family of all adults (I understand if you have children this might not seem as reasonable for you). That means we all have our own money, and if there’s ever anything we need or want, we can just buy it ourselves.

The pressure of buying each other gifts and not knowing what to get, and stressing out about shopping, and then all the returns and exchanges that happen after Christmas day are just not worth it! Maybe we can commit to each getting each other one small but special gift – something that wasn’t asked for but picked out by the giver.

I want to make Christmas more simple. I don’t want to not celebrate it altogether, but just focus on the best aspects of it! What traditions do we partake in that we really don’t even like or care about, but do them out of obligation, or just because that’s what we’ve always done?

Is it putting up lights outside? Decorating our huge and inconvenient and falling apart 9 foot tree? Listening to Christmas music nonstop even when we’re sick of it? Fighting the crouds to go out shopping again and again until we check everything off our list (and going to all the stores we never go to except in the month of December)??

Simplify

Whatever it is, I want to get rid of it. All the annoying Christmas songs I don’t like… I don’t want to listen to them. Feeling the pressure to start the season before December? No, I don’t want to feel obligated to do that. I’d rather things to be slow, and simple, and relaxed, and enjoyable.

I want put more effort into focusing on a biblical celebration of Jesus. Not just baby Jesus, but Jesus who died and rose again. If we have the opportunity to celebrate Him, we should! Every day, but even more at Christmas. It’s been years since I’ve done a real advent study, so I want to make more time for that. Spend time with family in the Word and reflect on the gift of a Savior.

I want to make it more about giving to others and not just about self-indulgence. Maybe volunteer and give to those who might need help. Or find a less fortunate family and do something special to bless their socks off!

And I kinda want to forget about Santa. Now don’t hate me for this one! Maybe you and your kids love Santa, and that’s totally fine. I grew up loving Santa. But as an adult I think it’s a little silly, and it’s just adding to the noise of all the pointless things that distract us during this time of year. (I’ve even thought about not doing Santa when I have kids someday, but I guess that’s a decision for later on…)

If you’ve read this far…

Alright, well I guess that’s the end of my rant. What’s the point? I’m not really sure. I just hope that if you’ve never thought about any of this before, maybe I could spark your interest and give you some food for thought for your own Christmas celebrations.

And if you have thought about it, maybe you can feel relieved that someone else out there actually feels the same way. Maybe we can encourage each other make Christmas something more worthwhile and less like the world’s version of frivolity and indulgence, and enjoy something so much more meaningful together in years to come.

I hope this didn’t just put a damper on your December day! Instead I hope it gave you a little inspiration to live a more intentional life with purpose in everything you do. Let’s live wide awake, because every single day counts, and we’re not promised tomorrow after all!

Feel free to let me know your thoughts. I’d love to hear your perspective, whether you agree or disagree!

Xo,

Becka ❤

P.S. – How to make the most of your quiet time, and 3 goal setting tips for the New Year.

Sources:

History of Christmas | History of Christmas Trees | History of Santa Claus