This Month's Editorial
God born among us
Christmas is a time of huge sentiment. It is a time for gatherings, family holidays, pohutakawa flowering, beach trips, good will to all. Because it occurs in the midst of our summer holidays, people are generally more relaxed, more in the holiday mood. As such, it provides a welcome break from the rigours of the year just completed. It is a time we need to embrace and enjoy.
Christmas is also a time of consumer insanity. If ever our modern golden calf was on display, it is at this time. At every turn we are urged to buy – and buy more. This great consumer feast is evident every hour of every day. And celebrated. To visit a shopping mall is to enter into a world of frenzied activity, centered on buying things that often are obsolete by New Year. It reflects a type of cultural madness.
Therein lies a paradox. Most have taken the historical birth of Jesus – the most important event in history - and wrapped it in holiday sentiment and consumer madness.
The importance of the birth of Jesus is virtually lost. We have sentimentalised his birth to the point that it is almost unrecognizable. Is it any wonder that Christian faith has such little hold on the public consciousness? Jesus is born in among a Santa bag of presents as just another item. Most don’t bother even to unwrap him!
This sentimental celebration of Christmas can cloud our understanding of Christ for the rest of our lives. Instead of Christ being understood for what he really is, he runs the risk of being seen as an ineffectual figure with some good ideas we can take or leave, not unlike a favourite uncle or aunt. Read More »