The holiday season brings out the best and worst in all of us. We are stressed, frustrated, confused... One thing a Christ follower shouldn't be is rude. It seems to me that lately we are nitpicking over every statement made by the people we come in contact with. I know that Jesus is the Reason for the Season and that we need to keep Christ in Christmas, but do we have to be so forceful with our opinions. If a store clerk wishes us Happy Holiday instead of Merry Christmas, we may notice it, but we shouldn't be rude to that clerk. The best response is a smile and a Merry Christmas right back.
We are all guilty of not keeping the "reason for the season" in front of us every minute. Can't we give others a break.
We don't live in a part of the country where there are multiple cultures, but some of our huge companies that have stores all over the nation may be based in a more multi-cultural part of the nation, so they may be telling the store managers to tell their clerks to say Happy Holidays.
One thing I am a firm believer of is that we represent Jesus. When I open my mouth, I am speaking as a representative of Jesus. I fall so short, but I must keep in mind that the people whom I come in contact with are expecting me to be Christlike. Jesus was never smart mouthed.
We have to keep in mind that our ultimate goal is for more people to follow Christ. If we are rude, why would a person want to join us as the bride. They wouldn't.
Let's purpose to make every person we come in contact with wonder what makes us so happy and kind. Maybe they will want to meet the God we worship.
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This is such an important topic. I hope people will really think about it. I always find it astonishing that someone would be mad because another person wished them well by saying happy holidays. Don't they realize how awful and self-centered they look when they complain that the sentiment wasn't worded to their satisfaction? I really don't get it.
This type of thing has a big impact. I know many, many people who were raised Christian and who will never return to the church because of this kind of behavior. It does so much damage because people see it and they don't want to be associated with it and they generalize it to all Christians and churches. I've struggled with this myself.
Anyway...one little quibble. You mentioned OK not being very diverse. It's actually more diverse than many realize. When I lived there, I had friends of many faiths (and no faith) but they were definitely silenced by all the aggressive Christianity around. They learned that they would be disparaged, judged and told they were going to hell, so they just learned to be silent on matters of faith. But they're definitely there.
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