What you say to Christians who get all uppity about avoiding the Xmas abbreviation

Ever meet one of those people who says stuff like, "I hate it when they write Xmas instead of Christmas. They're trying to take Jesus right out of the holiday!" Ever wonder how to respond to those people?

Photo courtesy of Kat N.L.M. at Flickr.com

Well take heart. There's a good reason for the abbreviation. And it has nothing to do with Christmas originating from a pagan holiday if that's what you're thinking. The reality is, the Xmas abbreviation is a lot more Christ honoring than most people know.

In a recent conversation with a pastor friend, I learned that the X from Xmas isn't an attempt to remove Christ from Christmas at all. In reality, it's simply an abbreviation for Christ. The Greek word for Christ looks like this 'Χριστός' (Don't bother trying to pronounce it). The X at the beginning of the word is the Greek character 'Chi' (pronounced Kai), which scholars have used to mean Christ. And the Xmas abbreviation is simply an old timey way of referring to Christmas in it's most Christ centered form.

But that's not necessarily what you want to tell someone who's hung up on the abbreviation for Christmas. Because the same idiom that is true of non-Christians is true of Christians - You can't argue someone into believing the truth. And typically when people are miffed about the Christmas abbreviation, what they're really upset about is the cultural move to drive Christ out of Christmas, which is a real thing.

The real problem is not that people are abbreviating the word Christmas. And to be honest, the problem isn't that corporations are firmly pushing Jesus out of Christmas. The real issue is that too many Christians are working to live comfortable lives, while keeping their stories and the gospel to themselves. There are just too many people who expect to attend church, keep their faith to themselves, and live in a country where their God is publically exalted.

And those who are outraged by the abbreviation of Christmas typically number among them. Because typically when people are passionately pursuing a cause (such as the making of disciples) they really don't have time to stop and get offended at the abbreviation of a word.

But I'll reiterate that you won't get anywhere by trying to convince people of that either. None of us will get anywhere trying to argue people into a right way of thinking. If you really want to impact the offended Christian Probably the best response to people who are offended by the occasional Xmas abbreviation this holiday season is to say, "Yeah! You're right. That's disgusting that they'd do that. Let's go show some people Jesus' love, and tell them how much he loves them. That'll show'em."

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Merry Christmas,
Tim