Oh, don’t get me wrong; Christmas, with all its tinsel, gifts, inflatable Santas, and festivities, is welcome in our town, but in our home we hold tight to the true value of Christmas, and it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Santa Claus is a loud distraction, and the commercialism has diluted the true meaning and value of this sacred holiday.
Yes, we also celebrate Hanukkah, which is the Festival of Lights, and why not? Doesn’t this also show the Almighty’s power to preserve His people?
But consumerism and secular iconography have transformed Christmas, once a sacred celebration of Jesus Christ's birth, into a sprawling spectacle. No other religion's holy holidays have been as commercialized or diluted as Christianity's most cherished observances. Material indulgence has overshadowed spiritual reverence, reflecting a cultural shift.
Walk down any street in America during the Christmas season, and you’ll encounter an overwhelming display of flashing lights, inflatable Santas, and frenzied shoppers rushing from one sale to the next. The original spiritual essence of Christmas—a commemoration of divine mystery and salvation—is buried beneath layers of tinsel and wrapping paper. The endless stream of advertisements urges consumers to buy more, spend more, and celebrate through material abundance rather than reflection and worship.
The irony deepens when even churches, which should be guardians of Christmas's sacred meaning, participate in the seasonal spectacle. Churches decked out in elaborate holiday lights and adorned with Christmas trees and inflatable Santas often resemble festive halls rather than places of solemn worship. The cultural celebration of Christmas has taken precedence over its spiritual core.
Has Santa Claus become the new god of Christmas? Has Saint Nick become the ‘Jesus stand-in?’ Not in our home, and I hope not in yours as well!
Central to this cultural shift is the figure of Santa Claus, who has gradually supplanted Jesus Christ as the symbol of the season. In many households, Santa has become a near-omnipotent figure, observing children’s behavior, rewarding charitable deeds, and dispensing gifts. This secular deity mimics God’s all-knowing, judgmental, and rewarding nature but without the moral and spiritual implications central to Christian belief.
Let’s face it: Who are you eager to see again?
"He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good but be good for goodness sake!" How omnipotent! This lyric is about G*d’s Son, right? ...nope, about a fat old geezer that slides down your chimney, drains your refrigerator of all the milk, and eats all the cookies! …and in my case leaves me a lump of coal! 🤣
OBTW—He’s coming back, and I’m not talking about Santa! If the prophecy is correct, he is really pissed! The survivors will not receive any milk and cookies!....and I’m not talking about that obese goofball riding in his mystical sled as he whips his defenseless rain deer.
The real problem is parents reinforce this mythology, turning Christmas into a moral transactional system: behave well, and Santa will bring gifts. This conditional dynamic fosters a sense of entitlement and encourages children to associate virtue with material rewards rather than spiritual fulfillment.
Imagine if other religions suffered similar cultural distortions. You won’t find a "Hanukkah Santa" or a "Rosh Hashanah Bunny." These faiths have managed to safeguard their sacred observances from widespread secular appropriation. Yet, Christianity's holidays continue to be reshaped by consumer culture—often with the complicity of Christians themselves.
Christian participation in this cultural commodification is perhaps the most troubling aspect. Many Christians willingly adopt secular traditions, blurring the line between sacred celebration and festive entertainment. Instead of resisting, they conform, allowing the spiritual messages of hope, redemption, and divine love to fade into the background.
Maybe we at the Patriot Command Center should start a movement called MCGA (Make Christmas Great Again) to reclaim Christmas’s spiritual meaning. The followers of Jesus Christ must resist the lure of consumer culture. This involves refocusing on worship, spiritual preparation, and acts of compassion—values that align with the original significance of Christ’s birth. Churches must also lead by example, emphasizing the sacred over the seasonal spectacle.
The commercialization of Christmas is not inevitable. New Testament believers can choose to preserve the holiday's spiritual essence by emphasizing its true meaning within their homes, churches, and communities. Only through intentional resistance can the holiness of Christmas be rescued from the clutches of consumer culture—restoring it as a time of worship, reverence, and spiritual renewal.
Final Word: If all America has is tinsel, blinking lights, and toys, then Christmas is just another paid holiday filled with self-aggrandizement, overeating, and self-induced fables. But if Christmas celebrates G*d's solution for man’s dilemma of sin, then that is worth celebrating!
What does Christmas mean to you?
(Because of the freedom of speech here at the Patriot Command Center please feel free to share your opinion, even if it involves Santa worship)
Replies
🙏🏼🙏🏼
We willingly turned Christmas into entertainment, so it does seem that entertainment is an idol. As is media. As was sports. That spell might actually be broken off via recognizing and being grateful for Trump,, and giving way to a grateful to God, Dance and Song. Think that is not of God? Think again.
You are definitely right about the secularization of the religious celebration of the birth of Christ. The glut of materialism surrounding the holiday has become offensive and is the sign of a greater sickness. Material things cannot replace the the gift of God that was and remains our savior, Jesus Christ. Keeping our children and families focused on the celebration of the birth of Jesus and minimizing the expectations of recieving a glut of "stuff" for Christmas is a noble ambition, and despite the blandishments of the merchant class, achievable. Limit the gift giving, concentrate on the celebration.
Sadly the soul of America has lost its way we as a nation need to repent and put Christ FIRST
WOW! Someone actually said what I was thinking!
Interestingly in Europe Santa has NOTHING to do with Christmas! He comes on the 6th of December with small gifts of candy and fruit. On the evening of the 24th Jesus brings the Christmas tree and gifts......giving gifts celebrating his birthday...and midnight mass is at midnight not the day before, not at 10 o'clock, but midnight!
America made it into a business opportunity, a frenzy, and centers it around old Santa.....who has no real reason in the celebration of this holiday!
We go to a huge old church built by poor Polish immigrants (neither of us speak Polish) arrive at 11, enter a candle lit church that in the dim light creates the feeling of mystery, listen to old peasant Christmas songs that are so sweet, so beautiful, the melody moves your soul, through the sound you can feel the depth of a mother's love. At midnight the lights come on, the organ shakes the building, the floor vibrates under your feet, the sound resonates through your entire body....and the mass begins as they carry the baby Jesus to be blessed and placed into the manger. Did I mention we aren't Catholic? It's two hours long as it is done in two languages. Afterward in the car we enjoy a thermos of tea and Christmas pastries, serving them on fancy china with cloth napkins, before we begin the over an hour drive home.
People need to go back to church, follow old traditions even when they are inconvenient, reflect on what the holiday is really about, teach their children the meaning of Christmas.
Good history! Santa is simply a distraction. Interesting how the names are similar: Santa Satan
Yep, an anagram.