Is Christmas Christian?

Around the world, Christmas is by most measures the most popular single holiday, as well as the centerpiece of the world’s largest religious tradition. Ninety-six percent of Americans who call themselves Christian say they celebrate Christmas, and even eighty-one percent of those who do not call themselves Christian claim to observe a Christmas holiday of some sort (“Christmas also celebrated by many non-Christians,” Pew Research Center).

But what are they celebrating? Millions go into debt buying gifts to celebrate a Jesus who reminded us that we cannot serve both God and mammon. The Savior who warned against covetousness is honored, they seem to think, by the annual consumer frenzy that culminates around the Christmas tree. Every December, millions of revelers overindulge in rich foods, drink a little too much, and engage in wild behavior—in celebration of the Savior whose Sermon on the Mount praised meekness and humility.

And what about church? Almost any pastor or priest can tell you about “twice-a-year Christians” who only show up to church on Christmas and Easter.