Chubby guy. Red suit. Red hat. White beard. December? No. But it is Christmas. At least, according to retailers throughout the country.
Bob WeathersLast year top retail giants like Sears and Target theorized that they could ignite spending by hosting a major sales event and calling it “Christmas in July.” It turned out to be a success, bringing in needed dollars, and this summer they are hoping to duplicate the accomplishment.
The idea is not too complicated. In our society, the very word “Christmas” generates warm and gooey thoughts and is immediately associated with buying stuff. Lots of stuff. Consumers hungry for good deals and a way to stretch scarce dollars flock to stores and online sites, giving retailers the sigh of relief they need.
Other shoppers, however, were not so convinced. “Christmas in July” did not sway them. As one young consumer in Indiana told the Associated Press, it was just too hot to think about Christmas. “The earliest I will shop,” she observed, “will be in October.”
It is encouraging to know that people are out there shopping again. But is this Christmas?
It’s no surprise that the retail industry believes that Christmas is about shopping. Can’t blame them for that. We bought that line a long time ago. But now we see the logical conclusion of this. If Christmas is about shopping, then those who provide the goods can have Christmas anytime they need us to shop. They can manipulate it, shape it, sell it.
Which means, clearly, in the mind of the consumers and the sellers, that Christmas can be smoothly detached from Jesus, like pulling it apart at a perforated edge. Many Christians get frustrated, even angry, when “Happy Holidays” is replaced with “Merry Christmas.” But again, this is just the logical conclusion in our culture. If Christmas is not associated with Jesus, what difference does it make how you proclaim it? It has been milked of its majesty and reanimated with a sales pitch and a price tag.
Our response is simple. Christmas, real Christmas, is not only in December or fabricated in July. It’s every day. Every day we should live awestruck, knowing that “Christ came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15). Merry Christmas.