What is Our Goal In Christmas?
What’s your goal in this Christmas? Shopping out new dress,
decorating stuffs, and lights? Ordering a big Christmas cake? Organizing a
fabulous Christmas party and inviting non-Christians on it? Sharing traditional
or trending Christmas posts on Facebook, Instagram, etc.? Wearing Santa Claus
fancy dress and entertaining people?
Now look, before you call me a conservative person on this
who is trying to build restriction walls on these stuffs, I want to say I am
not doing so! That’s okay! You need to enjoy and feel jolly on such a great day
okay! But I have seen a dark cloud around Christmas celebration here in Nepal
under a heavier influence of western style! You know? Non-Christians are
happier and more passionate in celebrating Christmas than us! Before the day of
celebration comes, my own relatives who abide abroad wish us Merry Christmas
and they really enjoy there.
While I was in my +2 Science and even in my Bachelors of
Engineering level, I was usually asked about Santa and Christmas songs. Not a
holiday was ever granted but on the very day everyone wishes one another “Merry
Christmas” and boom! The day is over! If it was Kirshnastami or other Eastern
religious festival, the environment is something different. Have you ever heard
how these occasions are celebrated and what message is conveyed in media? No
matter whether the answer is “Yes” or “No”, but I need to say that some Christians
today are quite busy in debating whether it is Dec. 25 or not, whether the
Bible supports Christmas celebration or not, whether this day is originated
from a pagan environment or not, and so on! These issues will again come to
rise this time and maybe continue in our offspring’s time!
Once there was a newspaper article on Christmas maybe a
decade ago (Sorry! Why I need to lie or assume?) and it was written by some
secular professor who circulated extra-Biblical information of Jesus such as
His visit in India-Nepal and learning from enlightened gurus. Also, a year
before, there was a new Indian serial “Yeshu” launched from 22nd
Dec, 2020.[1] Serious Christians,
evangelists and apologists from India protested it.[2] It was totally unusual
with many fabricated stories of Jesus’ childhood which cannot be even verified
Biblically. Later it was shut down limiting the whole sequel only to Jesus’
childhood.
Some years ago, I thought to do something different in
conveying Christmas message on social media but my post later was informed to
be banned as it went against their community guideline. I abandoned using
stuffs like Christmas tree, Santa Claus, etc. and used Biblical message. I saw
how some of my non-Christian friend shared a kind of disappointing Christmas
posts which was related with Santa and hope of gifts. Those posts were
sarcastic but coated with false depiction of what really Christmas means for
whole world. I tried my best to convey what Christmas really means to them.
Who is god of Christians today? Some secular mindset thinks
its Santa Claus and they are eager to make wishes to him just as astrological
belief of wishing to Shooting Star. Its true that Christmas tree, Santa Claus,
etc. today gives a vibes of Christmas season. However, our Nepali environment
is not that certain about this great day in order to adopt those western
fashion and culture. Just for example, we move on step by step in mathematic
problem when we are in small class but now, we don’t. In small class, after
learning formula of (a+b)2, we are often confused when it becomes
(x+y)2! Now, in Bachelor level, we are capable to reduce even massive
formula into few expressions in order to easily remember it. Same thing is reality
with the use of Christmas stuffs for westerns when they knew core Christmas
message! But now their current generations are also insane about this. It’s
just like Holi is played to make girls targets or tika is received with total
focus on money.
It is our humble responsibility to share with our people
what Christmas really is. Our daily life can go parallel with charismatic
practices, devotion, defense, intellectual discussion, debates, services, etc.
within Christian circle but our responsibility is to present the Gospel to
people in the best way we can like using song, art, poem, article, tracts, etc.
Let not traditional Christmas practices that evolved from west ruin the true flavor
of Christmas in our nation. There is no issue with those practices but we must
never omit our true duty and reaching the lost ones.
Thank you
[1] https://apologeticsimpact.blogspot.com/2020/12/gospel-isnt-flexible-to-add-and-subtract.html,
4:43 pm, 11/22/2021
[2] https://youtu.be/7YvU4zOl7pU, https://youtu.be/3TWCYhGXP-E, 5.14 pm,
11/22/2021
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