Written by Guest Columnist, Monte Harms of Albuquerque, NM
Years ago, I made a Christmas tree ornament from a 12-week-old fetal model wrapped in a little blanket that hung on our tree for many years. My kids thought it was so creepy, but I thought it was appropriate. Obviously, we were celebrating the birth of a baby, so it was right along that theme. For someone who has the unborn on his mind every day, there was nothing wrong with this. But for the vast majority of our society, I see where they would think putting a fetal model on a Christmas tree is weird. Hey, a depiction of baby Jesus on an ornament is common, so this represents a younger version.
Christians worldwide celebrate the birth of the most important figure in history. Even the non-believers have their way of honoring Christmas Day. It is so ironic that nearly everyone in America changes their whole routine for Christmastime, all because of a baby, albeit a very important one. Churches are usually full, decorations adorn many houses in every city, almost everyone is off work that day, and the Christmas story is told or reenacted thousands of times. Despite all of this, the majority of our society, including many Christians, treat babies a little younger and in a different location as trash that will be discarded. Very few are vocal or active at all about saving the unborn from torture, dismemberment, and death. In general, the reaction to abortion is not much different between most Christians and those in the secular world. Why? It’s called a social or political issue by most leading the flock, so the slaughter of the unborn is conveniently ignored. Interestingly enough, the mantra from non-believers is that those who do fight against abortion are a bunch of religious zealots. Consequently, little gets done to stop this horror.
Jesus was hated by many from his birth, death, and resurrection up until today. Over the past 50 years, Jesus has gradually been replaced with Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals at Christmastime. Most companies have Christmas parties, but you better not mention Jesus at work, or you could be called into HR because somebody is offended. Schools call it a Winter break instead of Christmas break because Jesus has been thrown out of the public schools.
When I was younger, the churches I attended often had excellent Christmas services with a beautiful message of what Christmas was all about. They usually ended with everyone holding candles and singing Silent Night in a darkened church. So cool!
Then, a new trend started at some churches. When my children were teens, we attended a few Christmas productions at different mega-churches in Albuquerque. I invited family members who regularly didn’t attend church. What happened was surreal for a church. The vast production seemed to be out of Hollywood with a director who had not set foot in a church before. The story could be from a Hallmark movie, and at the end, Winter Wonderland was sung, and fake snow fell from the ceiling (That really happened). We all had the same conclusion: “Where was Jesus? This is all unnecessary.” It was frankly an embarrassment to take them there, and after that experience, people could get a poor view of Christianity and never want to be a part of it. We all went again the following Christmas with, unfortunately, the same experience and result. It always seemed that they needed to outdo the event from the year before, but it didn’t matter to me. One huge church in Albuquerque had even featured Disney characters at their event, while another last year had Santa at their church.
I want church services to include Christian-based Christmas hymns, such as Away in the Manger, Silent Night, Oh Holy Night, etc., sung like the original and not a rock version. I want the true message of Christmas spoken from the pulpit and not Jingle Bells or Frosty the Snowman sung with such great joy. I want the world to realize the sanctity of life, which should include every baby in the womb. Every December, we rightfully celebrate the most significant baby born in history, but we should also realize the significance of our neighbors knit together in their mother’s womb that we are supposed to love as ourselves.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Monte Harms
