If you missed the message The Reality of Christmas: The Three R's of Christmas, part 2, and the first seven myths, go here.
Myth #8 is "Xmas is taking Christ out of Christmas!"
Now, to watch many Christmas specials on television, walk through your local mall, or listen to Christmas ads on TV or radio, you may believe there are forces at work in the universe to remove an emphasis on Jesus Christ at Christmas. This is of course ironic, because the word, "Christmas" comes from the words, Christ and Mass, a worship celebration of the birth of Christ. In recent years, then, people are dropping the word "Christmas" to replace it with "holiday" so as not to offend non-Christians. Someday someone will oppose the use of "holiday" because it is a combination of the words "holy" and "day." If you're a secular humanist, the idea of holiness is completely spiritual and foreign.
No doubt, Jesus is not getting his due on his day! However, the use of Xmas instead of Christmas isn't one of the attempts to secularize Christmas.
"Xmas" is an abbreviated form of "Christmas." It is not pronounced "Ex-mas," but, "Christ-mas." X is similar to the Greek letter Chi in form, not in usage. The Greek Chi looks like the English X. The way we transliterate words using Chi is by using "ch". The word Christ in Greek is Christos, or Χρήστος.
The letter Chi looks like this:
There are many attempts to ignore the reality of Jesus Christ at Christmas, but Xmas isn't one of them. Remember, Christmas isn't about you, but it is FOR you. Jesus Christ became human to show us the love of God the Father and empower us to love others through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
I hope your Christmas centers on Christ so you don't miss the amazing grace of God for you this year!
Come back to the blog for new Christmas myths the rest of the week!
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