13th December, 2012
It is not an overstatement to say that many in the Christendom do not understand the essence of Christmas celebration beyond the atmosphere of razzmatazz and merry making that usually surround it. To many, particularly the children, Christmas season is the time to wear new clothes, eat varieties of sumptuous meals, attend children parties, explode bangers and other fireworks and partake in picnics at beaches and other places of attraction. To some adults, it is the season for traveling to the countryside to extravagantly spend monies that were hard earned in the cities. To many, it is simply the time to paint the villages red. Many ceremonies like burials, weddings, community development meetings and other events are usually fixed within the Christmas season since it is regarded as the most propitious time in the year for organizing events.
But alas! Despite the fact that Christmas season is meant for the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, not a few people are found to usually get themselves enmeshed in the labyrinth of avoidable debts. Even some corporate organizations are wont to engage in expensive activities that are related to the season without being mindful of the dire consequences.
Little wonder many often lament that the month of January is usually bedeviled with financial difficulties. Some would say it is the most difficult month in the year in terms of financial inflow. Personally, I beg to disagree with those that have this erroneous belief. Rather, in my view, January is the month that is usually not financially planned for.
As if this quirk that has become the trademark of the celebration of Christmas is not enough, it is also the period when armed robbers and other criminally-minded people usually go on the rampage and lay siege on millions of innocent people. For God sake! This is not how Christmas ought to be celebrated. It should be celebrated with peace. It is also the Season when many people that are in business usually become inconsiderate in fixing the prices of goods and services. It is during the Christmas season that the prices of essential commodities like cooking ingredients are obnoxiously hiked.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that transporters are actively involved in this act of obnoxious price increase. For instance, a journey from Lagos to any other part of the country that would have ordinarily cost N5,000.00 (Five Thousand Naira) was in previous Christmas celebrations arbitrarily increased to N15,000.00 (Fifteen Thousand Naira) all in the name of Christmas bonus, as some of the motor park touts simply explained. The obnoxious trend that often characterize the Christmas season had in the past made many travelers to be stranded in various villages, sometimes, uptil the 3rd week into the month of January to the detriment of their paid-employments and personal businesses. Some also enter the month of January with debts incurred during the Christmas period only to be trapped in debt throughout the new year.
But if I may ask at this juncture, “Is the Christmas celebration meant to get anyone into financial mess or to refresh such person with the joy and peace that characterized the birth of Jesus Christ?
Seemingly oblivious of the fact that “Health Is Wealth”, many Christmas holiday makers are wont to gluttonously eat and drink that some unfortunately enter the new year with one ailment or the other. Also, some impressionable youths see the season as an auspicious time for getting involved in licentiousness and debauchery. Surprisingly, these are the two sins that Jesus Christ strongly frowned at in his teachings as recorded in the bible. In my view, Christmas season should be pleasantly observed by all Christians to truly reflect the good news which Jesus Christ espoused during His earthly ministry.
In my view, it is expedient for everyone in the Christendom to ask whether it really honors Jesus Christ by celebrating His birth in the way it is being done in this contemporary age. Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry did everything well. Mark chapter 7 verse 37 says “They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well!” Given this scriptural injunction, “Are we doing Christmas well the way Jesus Christ would have loved all Christians to celebrate His birthday? It is a paradox that despite the unprecedented popularity which Christianity is gaining across the world by each passing day through Pentecostalism that not many people actually understand the essence of Christmas.
It is disappointing to note that only few people understand what Christmas is all about despite the fact that we have many pastors who variously command large crowd of worshippers and seemingly have unrestrained access to the media. Would it not have been better if these pastors enlighten their followers on what the concept of Christmas is all about through the advantageous pedestals they are literarily standing on? The main reason why all pastors should not hesitate in educating their members on the essence Christmas is that the yearly celebration has been ridiculously bastardized by millions of Christians so much so that it has been characterized with debauchery and licentiousness.
I am therefore using this medium to appeal to our pastors and other ministers of God to let their followers understand the essence of Christmas. In fact, in my view, Christmas season ought to be a season for Christians to individually introspect into their lives and resolve to follow Jesus Christ in His steps. It is not a season for over eating and drinking and engaging in ostentatious lifestyle and eventually run into debt. Most importantly, it is not the season for engaging in crime and sharp practices.
Finally, it is expedient to mention at this juncture the steps of Jesus
Christ that all Christians should follow throughout the yuletide season. First and foremost, all Christians should strive as much as possible to abstain from sins throughout the period of the yuletide. Jesus Christ lived a sinless, blameless and transparent life. Secondly, Christians should during the period endeavour to imbibe the spiritual habit of loving others unconditionally. Jesus Christ loved everyone while on earth irrespective of social or spiritual status. Thirdly, Christians should use the period to genuinely submit their lives to the will and purpose of God. Fourthly, Christians should use the season to pray fervently for peace to reign in the country, particularly in the northern part of the country.