What do you do with Christmas when you don’t believe in Christ? If you were watching television in December any number of situation comedies might have answered that question. On December 17th NBC gave their viewing audience three examples in a row: Community, The Office, and 30 Rock. Each sit-com had its own flavor. What was fascinating to watch was how much they were alike. Community, The Office, and 30 Rock ARE funny—no doubt about it. The underlying message was unmistakable, however: Christmas is not about Christ.
The Office, which has had a huge following over the last six years, made an attempt to change Christmas to another holiday tradition all together. 30 Rock used their Christian character to petition his vengeful God, praying judgment upon his co-workers. The group tried to trick him about being faithful to another religious conviction. To get out of playing “Secret Santa” these characters on 30 Rock make up a fake religion: Verdukianism. Central to the show’s message was the clear statement that all religions are man-made and therefore susceptible to all sorts of changes. To quote Tracy Morgan’s character, “That’s all religion is; just a bunch of made-up rules to manipulate people.”
The show Community is about a study group at a local community college. In keeping with a pluralistic (or all inclusive) point of view, many major beliefs were represented: Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Agnostics, Atheists, and Christians. Yet, while Baby Jesus was prominent in the episode, his presence was more that of a good luck charm than a person to be worshipped. The agnostic, or “I’m-not-sure-God-exists” point of view, drove the show to its ultimate conclusion: we must tolerate all beliefs. But it was the Christian message that had to accommodate adjustment. Among the many alternatives forced into the Christian character’s acceptance was the word change of the hymn “O Holy Night” where we are confronted by the following revision: “Sensible night, appropriate night. Snow on ground, left and right. Round yon purchase of decorative things. Tolerant rewrite of carols to sing. Function with relative ease, Function with relative ease.” “O Holy Night” now becomes “O Poly-Theistic Night.” Accommodation leads to compromise and compromise to rejection.
In “The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor,” a story within Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan the rationalist rejects The Christian Gospel. What bothers Ivan, however, is how to understand the world as it is without God. Ivan uses the metaphor of a train ticket to explain his existence. But to whom does he return his ticket if he does not like his life? Ivan says, “And so I hasten to give back my entrance ticket and if I am an honest man, I am bound to give it back as soon as possible. And that I am doing. It’s not God that I don’t accept, only I most respectfully return him the ticket.” Here is Ivan’s problem: accepting God is essential even for someone who tries to reject Him.
December sit-coms could not help but do episodes about Christmas even though each rejected the Christian message. Perhaps the oft-quoted line is true: when people stop believing in God it’s not that they believe in nothing, they believe in anything. I am not surprised by my culture’s desire to excise Christian thought; like Christ from Christmas. But I always smile, a sad smile, when the same culture attempts to fill the void, with anything and everything. For Prime Time America, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, seeking truth wherever it’s found.
To Reject is to Accept, Moody Radio Commentary, January 2010
Dr. Mark Eckel, Professor of Old Testament, Crossroads Bible College