Upon checking the regular social media I was tsunamied by a wave of endless posts about the dreaded red cup. Yes, we were at it again. Many enraged posters and commenters were again swinging away in the dark closet of a supposed fight for Christmas and inevitably punching themselves in the face.
It's embarrassing. It's negative. And it's maybe the biggest obstacle standing in the way of 'the true meaning of Christmas'. Simply put, we are our own worst blank red cup agains Christmas.
Commercials, big companies and cashiers at our local Walmart are not the culprit. We are. Every single time we rant about Christmas being under attack, it is the enemies agenda that is furthered, not Jesus'. Jesus came so that we would be reconciled with God. If we are too busy arguing, being offended, and picking fights to walk out the peace and love that comes with being redeemed, the entire Christmas message is lost. All the world sees is an incredibly angry and overly sensitive group of people that will rant your ear off about what they believe. And whats more, arguing never saved a single person. Ranting has never opened anyone's heart.
It is tragic that we as Christians's have picked up our weapons to waste time on such a fruitless- dare I say, nonexistent- plight! Being told, "happy holidays", rather than, "merry Christmas" is not a battle invitation, it's an opportunity to be kind and show Jesus' heart. Commercials on TV including other holidays is not them taking a stance against Christmas, it is a marketing technique to *gasp* make money.
Commercials make money, and Walmart is secular. What else is new?
If we want to preserve Christmas as a season that expresses the Father's love- if we want to fight the battle that wages against Christianity, we should volunteer. We should show kindness when it is not deserved. We should give, regardless of whether or not we think we are being taken advantage of. We should see the tiny desires that we all have to be first and treated the best, and put them aside in order for God's love to be showcased.
But when we take the secular nature of the world as an opportunity to become offended and use our various platforms to spread anger, that is when the real attack against Christ's message happens. We are the image the world sees of God. We are the nativity scene- we are the Starbucks cup. And when we fail to show the love of the father; when we throw the baby Jesus out of the barn and arrange the hay, wisemen, and cattle as we see fit; when we become blank and red with anger rather than speckled with snowflakes, love and forgiveness for all, the world is robbed of Christmas.
You see, the battle waged for Christmas is not for our benefit. The real battle for Christmas is far less selfish and self centered. The eternal prospective of Christmas extends outward and longs for none to be left out. A Christmas with an attitude mirroring that of our Savior is one that cannot sacrifice a chance to spread God's love for a chance to become irritated or petty. The real Christmas that deserves protection does not focus on being recognized and respected. It concentrates on a radical love that turns the other cheek in the face of wrong treatment.
Jesus love is radical, and it does not and never will line up with the wisdom of man. It doesn't make sense to not get offended, but we do it. It doesn't make sense not to complain, but we mustn't. It doesn't make sense to welcome other cultures and religions, but we do. And it's not an act of passivity, it is a strong act of war against the spiritual forces our war is waged against.
Loving others beyond what is expected from the world, in a way that sets our own desires in the grave, is the nuke from which the enemy has no escape. Because loving as one who is first loved by the Father opens a door to the coldest of hearts that ranting and 'defending Christmas' only serves to forces shut even more tightly.
The problem is not the cup. The issue is that we keep on lending ourselves to the enemy's puppet act in which we are unhappy, and the world is lost.
Go to Starbucks, or don't. In the perspective of eternity, it matters very little. But we must not let the opportunities we are given every day, in real life or online, to be wasted because our ego or sense of self is pricked or threatened. There's more than a red cup at stake, there are souls. And we are the only way they will hear of the good news, not the cardboard outside of a latte.
