Christmas is nearly here, and so why not a post on that theme.
There’s a lot of typing going on via social media about churches moving Sunday services this weekend to Saturday night. “You’re taking the Christ out of Christmas” is a common caption. There’s an enormous amount of anger over this, a lesser amount of mockery, and a very proud lack of any charity. However, a brief Google search turned up the fact that churches have done this for decades. In 2005, articles were written about it. Same in 2016. I suspect it’s happened for much longer than that.
It raises the question of why this is becoming a fight this year and no previous year.
My own preferred theory, which may be totally wrong, is that it comes from having nearly all churches closed by wicked government dictate back in 2020 for a very long time. Some never want to see churches closed again and will fight even a whiff of it, and others feel guilty for having dutifully gone along with it and are acting out of that. I’m not persuaded either is terribly healthy, if true.
I’ve seen otherwise reasonable Christians claim that churches which move their Sunday morning services to Saturday evening are essentially apostate, and may as well never open up again. This zeal reminds me of what I’ve read of early American Christmas traditions, with some denominations banning the observance. The hatred was so extreme it didn’t even become a nationally recognized holiday until nearly 100 years after the Declaration of Independence was written. Some Christians carry on this tradition today, refusing to participate even in gift giving, and making sure their friends know that having a Christmas tree makes them a pagan because an Old Testament passage mentions wood carvings worshipped by pagans.
Given the real apostasy going on in churches over sexual issues, from a denial of masculine virtue, to the insanity of the transgender craze, to the failure to condemn baby murder, these fights just seem like a total waste of time to me. I’m more concerned that there will be churches open on Sunday with rainbow flags draped on the walls than that some faithful churches will be meeting 12 hours earlier than normal.
If I don’t post again before Christmas, I want to thank all of you who stop by and read, comment, and interact here, and wish you all a Merry Christmas full of the joy of Christ (if you don’t know Him, watch this, and feel free to comment below with any questions).
I really appreciate all of it. I am not the most consistent blogger. I could blame my multiple jobs, my several young children, or anything else, but the truth is that writing for me comes in spurts and fades, and I’ve taken to heart – probably more than I should – Thomas Sowell’s injunction that “one should only write when he has something to say”. That all sounds like an excuse, and it probably is, but I appreciate the patience.
If I do post again before Christmas, well, I’ll talk to you then!
Antemodernist 