Cute Bunnies, Jolly Santa, and Horrid Syncretism

It happens every time we come to Christmas and Easter. Someone somewhere waves a large red flag of warning over our celebrations. Their argument is that buried in the holiday is a connection to paganism. Is this true? Do we need to jettison these celebrations, or radically alter them? Are there dangers lurking in what we do?

These are valid questions. We shouldn’t shy away from such inquiries. If we are not willing to evaluate all we do, especially the important things we do, then we are sitting ducks waiting to be lead into some kind of error.

Will Paganism Please Stand Up

So are there pagan roots in our Christmas and Easter holidays? I doubt it. Note that I say I doubt it; not that I’m certain. History has always been a weak spot of mine. It seems that Christmas, particularly the December 25th date, was a day of a pagan festival. But after the time of Constantine (4th century) it was preempted by the celebration of Christ and His birth. Easter seems to go back even farther and have no pagan connection. The desire to focus on and celebrate the resurrection of Christ was a desire of the early church.

Having said this, I am always amazed at the amount of detail that people will offer up concerning a myriad of direct connections to devilish elements that are still subtly present in our modern day holidays. If this can be backed up with ancient resources then I am willing to listen. I haven’t seen this kind of documentation so I am pretty skeptical.

Syncretism And A Bridge Too Far

However, let’s pretend for a moment that these things really can be established. Let’s just say that Christmas trees, presents, bunnies, and eggs were all once elements of worship to false gods. Can connections with 2nd century practices, or even 16th century practices, pose a danger for us today? First, let’s understand what the danger is. The danger is syncretism. Syncretism is the mixing bowl of religions. It mixes differing, even opposing, doctrines or practices resulting in a brand new religion or system. Every culture, and church, lives under the constant threat of syncretism. People are always trying to meld Christ with whatever the culture is doing. In India, people try to make Christ into another of the millions of gods they acknowledge. In animistic tribal settings, Christ is another of the spirits that may bring blessing or cursing depending on how well you can appease or avoid them.

So syncretism is the danger, but has it really traveled over this incredibly long bridge spanning centuries? I think not. The bridge is too far. The cultures are far enough removed there is no longer any connection. If there was an ancient syncretistic effort to mix pagan symbols like trees and eggs with Christian doctrine; while it was deadly then, those symbols are emptied of all that meaning now. This is confirmed for me by the fact that I have never once met anyone who used an egg or a tree or a bunny or anything to teach or support a doctrine that opposes what the scripture says. Maybe that did happen in the 3rd century. Whatever the case, it doesn’t happen now.

Our Syncretistic Danger: Distracted Triteness

While I don’t see a danger of ancient pagan teachings worming their way into our homes and churches through these items, this is not to say there is no danger whatsoever. There is a real danger, and it comes from our own culture. The main threat we face is distracted triteness flowing from a secular worldview. We live in an increasingly secular society that is running away from biblical truth. What does that mean for our Christian celebrations when they roll around on the calendar? It means promotion of distractions of every type; Christmas parties and Easter egg hunts; presents and Easter baskets; Santa Clause and bunnies; events and food and gatherings. Where is Christ? Where is the gospel? If there is not a predominate and weighty drive to highlight Christ and the gospel in and through these kind of things, then you have been syncretized. Jesus is to be magnified, and the gospel should be weighty. Weightiness is the answer to the other danger; triteness. Triteness means that where Jesus is mentioned, it is surface level and light. There is no substance, no real biblical treatment, no weight of glory. Instead of the gospel being lined with heavy gold, it is sprinkled with confetti; confetti that is quickly blown away by the next windy distraction.

Exalt Christ

Please hear what I am saying. Your Christmas and Easter should be marked by worship. These holiday seasons focus on massive truth that should stir you to joy at the deepest level. If you have bunnies in your house, or a Santa Clause somewhere, that is not necessarily a problem. I wouldn’t think anything about it. But if Jesus is not who you are talking about, singing about, and focusing on in your house, there is a problem. He is to be the preeminent one, exalted over all things, the object of our grand obsession. If Jesus has competition with bunnies and Santa Clause, something is very wrong. We are not under threat of different deities, we are threatened with losing the gospel and the glory of Christ under a load of trivial distractions. Let’s keep silly things on a silly level with only the sparse attention it deserves. But let us be captivated and grounded and propelled by that which is massive and eternal and powerful; Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.