Pilgrim's Road Trip
There is probably some significance that the last animated Christmas TV special for popular audiences to mention the (to borrow a phrase) reason for the season premiered in 1965. You know the one to which I’m referring:
America was a-changing, only in 1965, most Americans didn’t know it yet. The Christian-y sensibilities that once informed the way all Americans related to both culture and one another, were veneer, not solid wood. The second half of the 1960’s would begin to peel away that veneer. It’s impossible to imagine a modern equivalent of the Peanuts Christmas special being broadcast on network TV – or basic cable, for that matter. Sponge Bob Goes To Bethlehem? Pokémon’s Very Best Christmas Pageant Ever?
In this occasional series in which I invite you to weigh in on the unintended consequences of the Jesus Movement of the late 1960′s, I’d like to hear your thoughts about how the Jesus Movement’s sensibilities have shaped the way we in the Church have come to think about Christmas in popular culture. I’ve noted in this space when a renewal movement hits the church, things are bound to get messy. Some of the mess is the work of the Holy Spirit as he reanimates dry bones. Some of the mess comes when a bunch of broken human beings try to touch, help, hinder, or profit from the beautiful chaos. Poll after poll tells us that Evangelicalism, the primary beneficiary of this Movement, is having an identity crisis. Christmas is a perfect lens to ponder who we’ve been, and who God is calling us who follow him to be. Are Christians to be hand-wringing culture warriors who decry the fact that on his Christmas special, Sponge Bob wouldn’t dream of reading the Luke 2 passage that Linus did fifty years ago?
Well, some of us sort of do. Every year for the last couple of decades at least, some in the Church have launched numerous boycotts of various retailers who instruct their workers to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” in an attempt to move us back to the sweet, nostalgic world in which Scripture-quoting Linus once lived. I’ve sometimes wondered if the kind of programming we do in our churches at this time of year – the ladies teas, the Christmas dinners, the pageants and cantatas – is connected to a similar, if less culturally-combative, impulse.
What do you think?
This is one topic that perhaps doesn’t speak as strongly to the effect of the Jesus Movement on the Church as much as the cultural expectations an entire generation of Boomers gleaned from Christmases Past. But put on your Santa-style thinking caps, and let’s see if we can tease out specific ways in which this stew of Boomer childhood and the radical longings of the Jesus Movement have shaped our experience of Christmas in the church. Here’s my list – check it twice:
What Jesus Freaks wanted from their churches at Christmas 40 years ago:
- Invitational events at church so their not-yet-believing friends could come and have a profound encounter with the real Christmas story – as big a production as the congregation could stage – a play, a children’s pageant, a cantata, or a living Nativity scene.
- Lots of extra Christmas-themed activities like teas and cookie exchanges for members throughout the month of December. If it happened at Church, and someone gave a 5-10 minute devotional as part of the activity, the event automatically implied there was eternal value to it.
- A return to the innocence of their childhood experiences of Christmas. And in many cases, including almost every non-denominational church of which we’ve been a part, after the flurry of busy during December, this included no or minimal services on Christmas eve or day, because this was “family time”.
What we’ve reaped in our churches today:
- While some churches have moved away from the big productions at Christmas, many mega-churches (a topic I hope to cover in some form in a coming post in this series) now do ticketed extravaganza$.
- A quiet swing in some quarters of Evangelicalism away from that full slate of busywork Christmas activities and toward back toward Advent observance during December. Some churches even include this kind of service, which is the complete opposite of the kinds of things we’ve done for a generation during December.
- The War For Christmas – that annual battle to return to a world where clerks say “Merry Christmas”, nativity scenes could be set up in front of the local courthouse without fear of a lawsuit, and Linus could teach Sponge Bob the real reason for the season.
What would you add to either list?
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