“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”(Mt 28:18-20)
Watch any classic Christmas movie and people wish each other Merry Christmas like they are so full of the Holy Spirit they can barely contain their good will for their fellow man. So how did we get from that natural evangelizing, sharing the good news of the Gospel that God has been born as a baby to live among us, to the point where parents are supposed to teach their children to only wish others “Happy Holidays” for fear of offending their fragile friends and neighbors. It’s not clear what will be the disturbing result of this offense taken, but it certainly won’t go well for these thoughtless, callous children who persist in sharing the Christmas Spirit with their unwitting victims.
I would suggest that the political correctness that dampens the sharing of the joy of Christmas with others is more than just a feeble attempt at politeness. I think that like other politically correct censorship, it is a way for the far Left counterculture to continue to eliminate God from the world. Marxists are very up front about this need to purge Christ from the world. Just as Caesar, Pontius Pilate and the Sanhedrin knew that Christ the King of the Jews was bad for business back in the day, so have Marxists seen Christianity as the biggest threat to their earthly power grab. There is a case to be made that Marx (and the Marxists after him) are tools of Satan, but you don’t have to go full-apocalypse-conspiracy-
Let’s say that you don’t really care if there are Marxist ideologies behind the censorship of wishing others Merry Christmas. I respect that. I should probably try harder not to see Secular Materialists behind every tree or in every mainstream media broadcast booth. But I would respond that a Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit and has the intention to share their love of the Lord, but is afraid to wish others “Merry Christmas” for fear of offending them as a habit (not in an individual situation), is not a Christian who is capable of accepting the mission to make disciples of all nations.
We are not all called to be missionaries, traveling to foreign lands to convert heathens who don’t know about Christ and the good news of His birth, death and Resurrection. And we are not all called to dialog with others who haven’t specifically asked us a question about our faith. But we are all called to become knowledgeable in our faith, and to share it when we have the opportunity. And one opportunity that shouldn’t be planned ahead like a military strike, but can still be part of our overall evangelizing in our lives, is to wish others a Merry Christmas.
So Christian parents, I generally would advise you to do the opposite of whatever Huffington Post tells you. And in this case, I would recommend that you encourage your children to wish others a Merry Christmas in a natural and cheerful manner, unless they have a gut feeling that this would not be advisable. You would be teaching them not only how to evangelize in their lives, but how to be courageous in the face of Leftist censorship, how to use prudence to discern what to say in various circumstances, and overall to be the kind of person who is joyful and receptive of the Holy Spirit, and willing to share their joy during the Christmas season with those around them.
May you and your loved ones have a blessed and Merry Christmas!
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