Examining Christmas Traditions

Christmas time is a time of tradition. We need to ask ourselves some questions:
Where do all of these traditions come from?
Why should we incorporate them?
Which traditions are secular and which traditions are sacred?
What traditions started off as sacred, but have become secular over time?

When we blindly accept traditions without examining them, our holidays start to get a little bulky. The meaningful can get buried and smothered in the louder and more prolific traditions. We let our lives and schedules become so over-full with good things that they push the best things off to the margins or out of the picture completely.

Following tradition for the sake of tradition is not the way to a meaningful and joyful life. Doing something because that's the way that it always has been done gets to be pretty exhausting.

Sometimes we need to clear off our proverbial traditions table and prayerfully examine which ones we should add back and faithfully incorporate. We need to ask them and God why they should be in our lives.

This beast of a Christmas season is overwhelming, chaotic, and going at an insane pace. I suggest that we, as Christians, perform a Christmas season reboot. Shut down the season. Then prayerfully and intentionally add back only those traditions that are meaningful and point us to Christ. Then we will finally find peace on earth in the prince of peace. Then we will have the space for the traditions that really matter.

Be warned, not everyone in our lives will appreciate that we are not following the popular culture's path. Some people will get upset that you are not jumping through all of society's hoops. Frankly, will we choose to obey God's instructions or will we follow man's traditions? We can't do both. We have to choose.

So let us interrogate all of our Christmas traditions and ask them how do they glorify and worship Christ. We may be left with fewer traditions, but they will point us and others to the true meaning of Christmas.

Below are some questions that we can use to start examining our traditions so we can set aside the merely good for the best traditions out there:

What do our decorations mean? (i.e. the candles, trees, tinsel, angels, Santa, stars, elves, nativity, reindeer, lights, and snowmen)
Should we incorporate Elf on the Shelf?
What messages do our seasonal songs send? (both the secular and the sacred)
Should we visit Santa in the mall or write him a letter?
Should we go caroling? Why or why not?
Should we go look at lights and decorations?
Should we attend a Christmas Eve service or a live nativity?
What's the point of baking all the Christmas goodies?
With whom should we share our baking?
Do we take the time to read the Christmas story & meditate on its truth?
What Christmas movies should we watch? (both the secular & sacred options)
Do we have an Advent calendar? What does it look like?
What would be a good meal for Christmas dinner? Who should be invited to share it with us?
Who should we give presents/gifts to? What should we give?
Should we use an Advent wreath and candles?
Should this season be one of hustle & bustle, or of quieter & simpler activities?
Should we send Christmas cards?

What other traditions do we have in this Christmas season? Should we keep them or set some aside?