Every year we hear the same old stories:
- A local mall will not allow Christmas songs that mention Jesus to be sung.
- Certain large department stores refuse to allow Salvation Army ringers in front of their businesses.
- Particular clothing stores will not permit its employees to say “Merry Christmas” to its customers.
Well, it is no different this year. Same song, second verse.
For me, this is just getting to be old hat, and, frankly, I really don’t care. I am well beyond the place where I fret over these kinds of things. I may point these things out in certain circumstances to make a larger point, but I don’t allow it to become a personal irritant. My attitude is that if they don’t like me and my beliefs, they must also not like my money. But rather than get frustrated, I simply look for places to shop that have an appreciation for my values (and thus, for me).
It is really kind of silly when you think about it. The owner of a business does not have to be antagonistic to its customers just because he or she has a different belief system. I recently went to Disney World and had a great time. One of the shows I got to watch was a Christmas program featuring a professional 50 member orchestra, a mass choir, and it was narrated by Steven Curtis Chapman. This program was basically a Christmas cantata telling the story of the first Christmas.
Now, the Disney company is certainly not a bastion of conservative values. It owns ABC and ESPN, both well known for their liberal values and reporting. This company was also very active in putting political pressure on Georgia not to pass the “bathroom bill.” Additionally, there have been a number of their movies which portray immoral values. Yet in spite of the corporate leaders’ personal values, they still put on this Christmas program every year. The point is, a company does not have to put down its Christian customers, even if the management has a different set of values.
Of course, this issue really stands out at Christmastime because it is a Christian holiday, and the holiday’s expressions are so pervasive out in society. But, this is not just about Christmas – we see the attacks against Christians happening more and more at other times and regarding other issues, as well.
The truth is, the real issue at hand is not simply the acts of various companies as they put down Christians and Christianity. The real issue relates to “why” they do it. When these companies act this way, there are generally a couple of different reasons for it.
The most common excuse we hear at Christmastime is that these companies don’t want to offend customers who may not celebrate Christmas. They reason that if they don’t put forth any expressions of Christmas, they will not offend anyone. They seem to be oblivious to the fact that they are offending an even larger part of their customer base by not doing it. The majority of people, even those who don’t consider themselves religious, still like to celebrate Christmas.
But there is another reason, as well. Many of these people believe in a different faith system and despise the thought of celebrating or promoting the Christian faith. The large majority of the people in this camp simply do not believe in God at all.
The truth is, most of the opposition to Christian beliefs is actually the reaction of people who follow Atheism – a non-Christian religious belief. While most Atheists truly believe they are “non-religious, or that they have no faith, nothing could be further from the truth. Naturalistic beliefs are absolutely religious in nature. Atheism is not merely “a lack of belief in God,” as they like to portray. That characterization is a negative expression of their belief, but there is a positive side, as well. While they don’t believe in God, they do believe that the natural universe is all that exists – and that belief is based on faith, not on science. There is no science available to demonstrate their belief to be true.
In order for naturalistic beliefs to be true, there are four things that must also be true.
1. The natural universe must either be eternal or have sprung into existence out of nothing.
2. Life must have come from non-life.
3. All of the life forms that exist on earth had to have naturally evolved from less complex forms.
4. Consciousness had to have emerged from non-consciousness.
As we look carefully at these four necessities, it quickly becomes apparent that none of them are based on empirical science. There has never been any experimental science done that can show any of the four to be true. In other words, these naturalistic beliefs are purely faith assumptions – that is, they are religious beliefs. Thus, the opposition Naturalists have to the Christian faith is religious opposition.
So, how should Christians respond to this kind of opposition? Well, there are a couple of different possibilities, and any particular response should be based on how the purposes of God can most effectively be expressed.
One possible response is to simply not frequent offending businesses. There are times when that may be the best option. For instance, when you are dealing with a large corporation, it will probably be impossible to even get corporate leadership’s attention on a personal level. The only thing that will get their attention is for them to see their business suffering because of what they are doing.
But it must be kept in mind that boycotting is not an end in itself. Our purpose should never be to simply try to make people suffer. God’s purpose is always to bring people to himself. If we choose the boycott option in particular circumstances, our motive ought to be to do it in a way that expresses a witness to those decision makers. While we may not be able to speak to them in person, a part of our effort could be an e-mail or phone call expressing our faith. If a company gets hundreds or thousands of these kinds of contacts, it may cause them to take a look at their own faith, and the faith of those they are offending by their practice.
When it comes to smaller businesses, though, a personal touch is always better. Again, our motive must never be merely to hurt someone’s business, but to share Christ with them. If they are acting in an anti-Christ manner, what better way to witness than to engage the owner and share Christ? In this case, giving the person your business in a loving way, with words of truth to back it up, can be very powerful. A personal, loving touch is the most profound witness a person can give.
A bit over 2000 years ago, God humbled himself and took the form of a man in order to bring eternal life to those who would receive him. He then commissioned believers to share the good news of his salvation with others. As his agents on earth, we need to do everything we can to make that happen. In order to pull that off, we have to figure out ways to inject ourselves into the lives of those who don’t know him. Sometimes that means initially becoming a loving irritant to them, and other times it means becoming a friend. In any case, we must always keep the true goal before us and operate with a right attitude. In doing that, we are able to fulfill Christ’s mandate for our lives.
© 2016 Freddy Davis