Reality is that we are really in a "Post-Christendom" society, not necessarily a "Post-Christian" culture. There is a big difference! To say "Post Christian" seems to give the impression that Christianity is dead. This is not true. What is dying a slow painful death is Christendom - the collusion of "Christianity as a religion and the State". I never thought I would say that I would want to see a separation of Church and State, but when I look to the scripture, Jesus is very clear when he says that His Kingdom is not of this world and that if it were, His followers would fight to prevent his arrest. I also look at times when Church and State were in collusion with each other and the outcomes were devastating, such as the various Inquisitions, persecution of Jews, the Crusades, etc., etc. People lament the fact that prayer was taken out of school but the question, and potential hypocrisy, is whether those same people are actually praying with their children in their own homes.
Another proof of the collusion of Church and State has been the fact that the Government is trying to dictate what can and cannot be mentioned in a pulpit of a Church. For instance, if a Pastor speaks about how homosexuality, according to scripture is wrong, there is the potential for that Pastor to be charged with a hate crime. If a Pastor endorses a particular candidate from the pulpit, the Pastor can possibly lose their "tax exemption" status. I am here to say that if I am called to speak truth to my congregation or if there is a candidate that has moral principles (or the antithesis), let the government pull my tax exemption. This is sort of like saying, "We will 'pay' you to keep you quiet!" This is simply WRONG!
On that note, I am going to say something that sounds diametrically opposed, but it is not. When we no longer have collusion between Church and State, genuine Christians will understand that we SIMPLY CANNOT impose Christian Standards on a non-Christian culture! This has been what most non-Christians complain about the most - and for good reason. Most so-called "Christians" do not live by Christian standards. This is where the charge of "hypocrisy" comes in! If God does not force Himself on His creation, why do we think as Christians we have to coerce others to live by Christian standards? What we DO need to get back to however is having Christians hold each other accountable to Christian standards if we really are going to follow Christ and be a light to a dark world.
The collusion of Church and State has also led to things like the commercialization of Christmas. Instead of Christianity being about the celebration of Christ's birth, the coming of salvation and the breaking of the heavenly kingdom into the world, it has come to be the buying of gifts in order to prop up a failing economy! We can not longer say, "Merry Christmas" for fear of being labeled, "Politically Incorrect". Now we have to say, "Happy Holidays!" Again, if someone says to me, "Happy Kwanza" or "Happy Hanuka", even if I am not African American or Jewish, should I really get upset over that? Only if I am insecure and immature! Why should I be offended?
So, here is my suggestion: Forget about the commercialized Christmas and celebrate the real reason for Christmas. Every day, I see the need for Christians to live in the world, but not be of the world. We must recover authentic Christianity and lose the Christendom! It is my belief, that for the most part and with a few exceptions, Christianity began to decline after the first 350 years after Christianity started to be in collusion with the State. Let's celebrate Christmas, not commercialism that is pushed by our culture!
