{"id":4033,"date":"2011-12-12T05:25:54","date_gmt":"2011-12-12T13:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/?p=4033"},"modified":"2011-12-12T22:10:21","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T06:10:21","slug":"taking-the-sex-out-of-sex-mas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/2011\/12\/12\/taking-the-sex-out-of-sex-mas\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking the SEX out of Sex-mas!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Source: Borrowed image from Advent Conspiracy | Click image to learn about how to give to a great cause!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Then one foggy Sex-mas Eve, Victoria came to say: Consumer with your eyes so wide, buy this bra and panties tonight.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Twenty-year-old young women wearing unmentionables stare into the camera saying: \u201cTell me you love me.\u00a0 Tell me you want me.\u00a0 Excite me<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Getting your yuletide jollies yet?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest: the girls in the Victoria\u2019s Secret commercial sound fake.\u00a0 Their attempts at sexy<\/em> come across as cheesy<\/em>.\u00a0 And if the nearly bare bosoms of consumerism haven\u2019t bombarded you yet this Sex-mas season, consider yourself blessed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blessed.\u00a0 There\u2019s a person who believed herself to be blessed.<\/strong> Her story continues to be told each year.\u00a0 It\u2019s a story of hope, love, joy, and peace.<\/strong> And the mystery of it all: no sex<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, sex sells<\/strong>.\u00a0 If not Victoria\u2019s Secret, you might run into Mariah Carey as a scantly dressed Mrs. Claus in her \u201cAll I want for Christmas\u201d music video<\/a>. Sex appeals because it awakens the deepest consumer impulse of our being.\u00a0 When sex fails as an expression of self-giving love, it triggers a self-interest driven desire to have<\/em>.\u00a0 In this way, sex and consumerism find a dynamic partnership.<\/strong> Perhaps this is why sex indeed does sell.\u00a0 Consumerism is the power of \u201cSex-mas.\u201d<\/p>\n

The meaning of Christmas continues to be co-opted in various other ways in popular culture. \u00a0Honestly, much of this doesn\u2019t bother me.\u00a0 What non-Christ-followers say Christmas does or doesn\u2019t mean to them is not my concern.\u00a0 What frustrates me is when I see Christians complaining about how \u201csecular culture\u201d reduces Christmas to one of many \u201cholidays,\u201d and yet they continue to spend more money on Christmas d\u00e9cor than on the concerns of the poor.<\/strong> The meaning of Christmas for many evangelicals is rooted in defending a belief about an event<\/em>, rather than the application of that event<\/em> in our daily lives. <\/strong><\/p>\n

We Christians have fallen into the trap of Sex-mas.<\/strong> No, we may not believe that Victoria Secret or any other company that uses sex to sell should be supported by our credit cards, but we consume as though driven by libido<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The story of a young Virgin<\/strong> giving birth to a humble King reminds us of the wonder of the first Christmas.\u00a0 Before Sex-mas took over the church\u2019s imagination, the presence of Christ in the world (the Christ of the Mass) compelled us to give in the way he gave.<\/strong> Christ gave himself to the world.\u00a0 He was born, battered, and abused by the very world he came to rescue.\u00a0 Our invitation is to model this sort of self-giving love to our friends, family, and world.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t need to force the rest of our culture to \u201cput the Christ back into Christ-mas\u201d or to say \u201cmerry Christmas\u201d instead of \u201chappy holidays.\u201d\u00a0 This country isn\u2019t a Christian nation and so we must learn how to live at peace with those who may not yet follow Jesus.\u00a0 Beyond this, however, the people of God might do well to recognize those moments during Advent when we fail to incarnate Christ in the world because we give into the lure of Sex-mas<\/strong>.\u00a0 We may not like the ads, but we sure like the stuff they make us crave. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The only way to take the Sex out of Sex-mas is to deny our consumption impulse and to show the world around us the incarnated Christ.<\/strong> Then and only then will we have won the battle for Christmas.\u00a0 Not by defeating secular culture, but by confronting our own Sex-mas drive.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a great way to subvert the Sex-mas drive.\u00a0 Partner with Mennonite Central Committee<\/a> to: Give Hope<\/a> or Give Peace<\/a> or Give Water<\/a> or Give Health<\/a> or Give Livestock<\/a> or Give Education<\/a> or Give Relief<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Then one foggy Sex-mas Eve, Victoria came to say: Consumer with your eyes so wide, buy this bra and panties tonight. Twenty-year-old young women wearing unmentionables stare into the camera saying: \u201cTell me you love me.\u00a0 Tell me you want me.\u00a0 Excite me.\u201d\u00a0 Getting your yuletide jollies yet? Let\u2019s be honest: the girls in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,55,62,89],"tags":[1322,207,1321,338,1324,423,1327,1328,1325,1320,1319,1323,753,1326],"class_list":["post-4033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-kingdom-of-god","category-nationalism","category-social-justice","tag-advent-conspiracy","tag-christmas","tag-consumerism","tag-god","tag-happy-holidays","tag-jesus","tag-mcc","tag-mennonite-central-committee","tag-merry-christmas","tag-sells","tag-sex","tag-sex-mas","tag-virgin-mary","tag-x-mas"],"yoast_head":"\nTaking the SEX out of Sex-mas!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Then one foggy Sex-mas Eve, Victoria came to say: Consumer with your eyes so wide, buy this bra and panties tonight. 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