Describing “happy holidays” as a “war on Christmas” is sort of like comparing a fight at recess to D-Day. The scope doesn’t compare. Don’t get me wrong – there is a war on Christmas. I’m just not convinced that it started in the North Pole and is funded by Macy’s.

Colossians 1:15
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Immanuel – (Hebrew) “God is with us.”

Each December we think about this moment. My family even has little ceramic reenactments of it around the house. Nativity scenes of Joseph, Mary, and shepherds gathered around the Baby.

What you don’t see, however, is what was out in the darkness. The Ancient Serpent peering from the cold as he heard the declaration of war. He knew, more than anyone else, that the whimpers coming from the swaddled Nazarene was the same Voice that spoke the cosmos into existence. Those kicking feet, though vulnerable and small, were there to crush his head.

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come.”

These are not nostalgic words we croon into the air once a year. It is our fist-pumping battle cry to the forces of darkness. Our King has come to bring peace on Earth and war to sin.

So, don’t get swept away when the White House calls it a “Holiday Tree.” The stable at Bethlehem has more in common with the beaches of Normandy than with Christmas ornaments anyway.