DeoOmnisGloria.com

Making Christmas about “Christ”

It’s an interesting dilemma that Christians, and particularly Christian parents, find themselves in every year. Christmas has taken on the materialistic gloss that we Americans have become famous for over the past century. Christmas should be the celebration of Christ’s birth – an incredible event – but it seems that Christmas is rather a season of getting and getting and getting.

The onus is on Christian parents to break through the materialistic fun and get our children to focus on the core of the Christian identity, particularly at such an early time in their lives. How can this be done effectively? It’s not easy, but we do have the Holy Spirit (and lots of prayer) to help. So, I’ve seen several suggestions that I thought were good or interesting and I thought I would mention them here. Let me know if you have any that you would recommend.

1 – Santa is a fantasy. There are really two ways to go with Santa. One way is to use the little figurines that depict Santa praying to Christ in the manger. This is kind-of an attempt to ‘take Christmas back.’ The other route (and the one I use) is to explain that Santa is actually taken from Saint Nicholas. We explain the story of “St. Nick,” and we also explain that Santa Claus is not real. Basically, I don’t like deceiving the kids, so we don’t.

2 - The season of giving. Personally, giving is one of the key facets of a Christian holiday season. There are many ways to get this across, but one of my favorites is this: Give the kids a dollar (or any amount of money) whenever they are caught doing something “good.” In addition, put the same amount into a jar on your kitchen table, which is for the poor. I’ve heard variations where all of the money goes to the poor, which is good as well. You can always encourage kids to even give some of their earnings as well. Other options are to give a present to Jesus – it is His birthday – or have a Jesus birthday cake on Christmas. I think it’s important to do something that gets the central idea across: this is Christ’s birthday.

3 - The central message. Another key is making sure your kids understand why Christ came – the point of Christmas. There are numerous ways to do this (Bible stories, nativity plays, etc), but ultimately you have to sit down and discuss it with them. We make it a point on Christmas Eve to spend the day in the house together (just my immediate family – we see the rest of the family on Christmas). This day involves reading the Christmas passages in the Bible and generally discussing the importance of Christmas with the kids. You can make it more fun by including other games/information, but it’s ultimately a quiet conversation about God in our lives.

4 - Decorations and Events. Christmas can easily become a secular holiday in our lives. There are so many things going on this time of year with family and friends, that it’s difficult to stop and recognize the central message. To keep us focused, we make a point of using Christian decorations. We only send Christian Christmas cards. We try not to attend purely secular “Christmas” events. And we make a point to stop each event and recognize God. Often this can be done with a simple prayer before the meal that notes the Christian message of Christmas. It doesn’t take much, but you do have to be determined to do it. This way you link Jesus with Christmas in the minds of your Children. Kids often learn not only by words, but also by visual images, so keep the visuals centered on Christ.

5 - Selfless Love. Remember, a key aspect of Christmas is the selflessness of Jesus. That selflessness is important for us to mimic and teach our children. As the kids get older (they are still too young), we have decided that every Christmas and Easter we will take time to work at a soup kitchen, take blankets to the homeless, or perform some act that puts the needs of the poor above our needs. This helps prevent a focus on self and gives children a better understanding of Christ’s work in the world. At a young age, we’ve considered making them give one of their toys to the poor, but I’m not sure they would understand. So currently, we simply participate in several Toys for Tots-type programs and involve the children in selecting presents for kids their age. This seems to have a pretty good effect – last year my wife helped deliver the toys, so our kids got to meet the kids that they choose toys for, which was great.

This post could go on and on, but I think these five are a solid starting point. What do you think? Are there any other ideas that help convey the “Christ” in Christmas to kids? Please post your thoughts.

Jay