Get a free copy of Parental Rights & Education when you subscribe to our newsletter!
Expressing the profound hope that lies at the heart of the Christian faith — the hope that God has not abandoned us to our own sin but instead entered into the world to redeem us — is a glorious truth worth proclaiming, whether or not others believe it.
You might not realize it, but wishing people “Merry Christmas” is an act of war.
No, saying Merry Christmas to all is nothing less than a declaration that Christ is Lord and King.
Which raises the question: How did saying “Merry Christmas” ever become controversial?
In 2005, John Gibson published the controversial book, The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought. In it, Gibson argued that there is a concerted effort by secular liberals across America (advocacy groups, the media, the universities, schools, etc.) to remove Christian symbols and traditions from public spaces during the Christmas season.
Gibson suggested that this was not an accidental cultural shift but a deliberate plot to secularize Christmas, citing examples where schools and local governments have banned traditional holiday symbols like Christmas trees and nativity scenes or replaced “Christmas” with more generic terms like “holiday” in public discourse.
The War on Christmas sparked a furious debate. But now, almost 20 years later, Gibson has been validated. Our President-elect, Donald Trump, has regularly weighed in on the debate — and perhaps even moved the cultural needle back towards Christmas respecters. In a 2023 interview with Mike Huckabee, Trump said, “When I started campaigning, I said, ‘You’re going to say Merry Christmas again.’ And now people are saying it.”
Even Target, the notoriously woke retail store, has apparently embraced the “vibe shift.” Merry Christmas is back on brand.
Which means it’s time for Christians to press the attack.
The peculiar notion that one ought to suppress their expression of deeply held beliefs lest someone who holds different beliefs take offense must be shattered. The absurd annual ritual in which many Christians, particularly in America, find themselves oddly hesitant to wish others a Merry Christmas must be relegated to the dustbin of modern history.
We need to be Merry Christmas–maxing, now and forever.
But why?
Consider what happens when we replace “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings.” We’re not merely changing words; we’re actively emptying the meaning of what was once the greatest of feasts. Christmas is not merely one holiday among many, interchangeable with any other winter celebration. It is the commemoration of what we as Christians rightly believe to be the central event in all human history: the moment when, as the Gospel of John tells us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Surely, we are told, we cannot maintain such an exclusive claim in our pluralistic age. But notice the sleight of hand at play. The reality of the Incarnation — like all historical events — is not made more or less true by how many people believe in it. Either God became man in Bethlehem, or He did not. The number of people who celebrate this event has no bearing on its historicity, just as the number of people who believe in gravity has no bearing on whether things fall.
But what of giving offense? Let offense be given! When I wish someone a Merry Christmas, I am not imposing my faith upon him or her. Rather, I am sharing something precious to me — the joy of celebrating what I believe to be the greatest gift ever given to humanity.
When Christians allow themselves to be pressured into suppressing “Merry Christmas,” they don’t merely compromise their own convictions — they contribute to the cultural conditions that empower the secularists to push us further to the fringes of the very nation we built. We are handing them the strands of mistletoe that they will later use to hang us.
Even worse, it dishonors Christ. Which is why the secularists hate Christmas in the first place. They don’t want to be reminded of the “Christ” who Christmas is named after. Don’t give them that power.
That’s why saying “Merry Christmas” instead of more generic greetings like “Happy Holidays” explicitly keeps the focus on Christ, reinforcing the reason for the season. Now more than ever, amid debates over religious expression in public spaces, saying “Merry Christmas” is both an act of faith and a countercultural statement, encouraging a return to the holiday’s original meaning among believers and potentially sparking conversations about our faith with others.
The fundamentalists were right. It’s time to put Christ back into Christmas. And keep Him there. Because the truth is that He never left. We just forgot Him.
So, when you celebrate Christmas tomorrow and let the only appropriate Christmas greeting roll off our tongue, remember that it is an expression of the profound hope that lies at the heart of the Christian faith — the hope that God has not abandoned us to our own sin but instead entered into the world to redeem us.
For that is a glorious truth worth proclaiming — heralding even, along with the angels — whether or not others believe it.
And even more so if they don’t.
If you like this article and other content that helps you apply a biblical worldview to today’s politics and culture, consider making a donation here.
Notifications
