Is it Time for Combative Christians to Seek Peace?

It has happened before. Allies who once marched together now moving apart, one choosing reconciliation while the other continues on the path of confrontation. Recent articles reflect that possibility for two of the powerful online voices of American Evangelicalism.

Earlier this week Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink.com published an account of its continuing war with the American Psychological Association (APA) over Focus’s insistence that gays and lesbians choose between their sexual orientation and their faith. But just as we were about to scream “give it a rest” to combative Christian conservatives, Christianity Today.com offered a sensitive suggestion we Christians stop asking Jews and other non-Christians to say “Merry Christmas” or else get off the planet for the holiday season. Enough of this “War on Christmas” chatter they said; to which we say “Amen.”

Written by Ted Olsen, the Christianity Today piece (titled Do They Know It’s Hanukkah?) mocks the passion of self-appointed defenders of Christmas:

“One organization is selling bumper stickers that read, "This is America! And I'm going to say it: Merry Christmas!" and "Merry Christmas! An American Tradition." (I don't remember the American part of the Christmas story, but I haven't re-read Luke 2 yet this year.) Also for sale: "Just Say Merry Christmas" bracelets. ("They're guaranteed to ward off the evil spirits of the ACLU grinches," says the ad.) Just say Merry Christmas? To everyone? Regardless of whether they actually celebrate Jesus' birth?

Olsen goes on to tell two stories of Hanukkah -- one the historic Jewish tale of revolt and miraculous victory, the second a story of Christ recorded in John’s Gospel of Jesus walking in the temple during the Feast of Dedication, a festival derived from the victory celebrated in Hanukkah. Because Jesus is already known as a religious revolutionary, his very presence in the temple provokes the established religious leaders, and his words push them to the edge. They insist angrily that he tell them plainly if he is claiming to be the Christ. Jesus sidesteps the showdown they would force on him, saying, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. You do not believe because you are not part of my flock.”

So, Olsen offers advice on the “Christmas Wars” that works in most situations: Be like Jesus. “The Jewish Hanukkah story is one of triumph over a culture that wanted to force the Jews to assimilate against their will. The Christian Hanukkah story is one that starts with Jesus asking provocative questions, but retreating rather than forcing the issue.
To insist that non-Christians say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays" runs against the lessons of both Hanukkah stories.”

That ‘live and let live” attitude might be a good one for Focus on the Family to take in its war against the APA. We’ve all seen what happens when science is forced to conform to religion. Instead of spending so much energy visiting guilt on gays and lesbians they would be better served to visit the heart of their own faith. They might discover there’s joy to be had in taking Olsen’s advice to be more like Jesus.