The debate about how our Christmas traditions got started will never end. The legalism some impose on themselves and other will continue to suck the joy out of families year after year. After weeks of watching friends debate about how Christians must celebrate or should definitely not celebrate, Saving Christmas is a breath of fresh air!
Let me share something that will seem outrageous to the legalistic crowd: it really doesn't matter how the traditions got started.
If you abstain from all Christmas celebrations and fast and pray all day while wearing sackcloth and ashes because it makes you feel holier than others, it is in vain. If you wrap everything in tinsel and hang 50k lights to outdo your neighbor, it is not for God's glory, but your own. God says He looks to the heart. (I Samuel 16;7) It's WHY (or maybe I should say WHO), not how, you celebrate that matters to Him. Our own humility is crucial to honoring the Lord in our celebrations of what He has done.
No matter whether you watch this movie or not, Christmas is what you choose to make it. That's right! It's a choice. You will either let the symbols of the holiday point you to remember dead pagans or point you to glorify a living Christ.
This movie is a little goofy at times and isn't in the same league as other Christian productions. That doesn't take away from the importance of the message. It takes each element of traditional celebrations and attaches Christian symbolism. Some of the symbolism was the same as our family has chosen to celebrate for decades and some was new to us. I love what it has done for my children! It has taken simple symbols and even the time of year we celebrate Jesus' birth and given a deeper, faith based meaning.
Saving Christmas will help those who want more Christian symbolism in their faith filled Christmas celebration. It returns joy and helps us escape the legalism of the "it's a pagan holiday" crowd. It's not pagan at all if your heart is filled with your need for Jesus, the wonderful Gift of Redemption God gave us, and sharing the good news with others!
