Have you ever heard the complaint, “Christmas has become too commercial”? I am pretty sure I have echoed that sentiment myself. In 1996, Washington Times writer Larry Witham, in an article entitled “Rescuing Christmas From Its Pagan Beginnings,” wrote: “It should at least reassure people that Christmas hasn’t undergone some recent decline. It’s always been an event that’s bothered people. They have complained about its commercialism for 150 years.” We could easily update the years to 167.

While we celebrate Dec. 25 as the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, there is little doubt that He was not born on Dec. 25. In fact, that date was chosen by the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome to counteract the pagan excesses involved in the worship of the sun god, Saturn. Scripture does not say when Christ was born. The emphasis is on His birth and not the date of His birth. That He was born is more important than when He was born.

Associated Press writer Peter Coy wrote several years ago, “The inventors of Christmas (in America) emphasized the pagan origins of the holiday because they wanted nothing to do with the Roman Catholic roots of the celebration of Christ’s birth.” According to University of Pennsylvania historian Karin Calvert, whom Coy interviewed for his article, “if you had to choose between Catholic and pagan, pagan was the lesser of two evils.”

In colonial New England, Thanksgiving, not Christmas, was the most important seasonal holiday. Puritans even passed an anti-Christmas law in 1659. Eventually Christmas Day became a federal holiday. Today, the Christmas season in America is a mixture of pagan, Christian and popular practices.

Many different Christmas traditions have evolved in this country over the years. While our girls were growing up, one tradition we had was to attend a worship service on Christmas Eve, have a rather formal dress-up dinner, read Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus, and pray. Some years we had our own family Christmas play, complete with stuffed animals, etc. We even videotaped it one year. As time went by, the Christmas Eve meal became less formal, and the family Christmas plays disappeared. We always read the biblical account of Jesus’ birth and later added a Christmas movie to our Christmas Eve time together.

One important tradition that my wife and I continue to this day is to make our contribution to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions our largest Christmas gift.

There is much make-believe and many myths associated with Christmas. The need to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ has not changed. Your gift to the Lottie Moon offering can make a difference. Would you prayerfully consider making your gift to the Lottie Moon offering the largest gift you give this Christmas season?

From all of us here at The Courier to each of you, have a Christ-focused Christmas season. Don’t be afraid to say, “Merry Christmas!”