The First Christmas Would Have Never Been Shown on the Hallmark Channel

Last updated on: December 10, 2018 at 6:44 am by Josh Daffern

The First Christmas Would Have Never Been Shown on the Hallmark Channel 2018-12-10T06:44:37-06:00 Josh Daffern

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Katie Treadway

Tis the season for holiday cheer, Christmas joy, and festive memories that make this the happiest season of them all. Or at least, that’s what’s supposed to happen. The Hallmark Channel does the best job at capturing what the epitome of Christmas is designed to be in our culture: beautiful people with little to no real tragedies or crises to overcome where everything always works out in the end.

Yet there are three major dangers with swallowing whole this fantastical, almost mythical version of what Christmas is supposed to be. The first and most obvious danger is that Christmas isn’t about abstract ideas like love, joy and peace. We don’t celebrate the true meaning of Christmas when we all hug it out in the end. Christmas celebrates the birth of a child in the Middle East 2000 years ago, a child Christians believe to be the son of God.

The second danger in our modern fairytale version of the American Christmas is that it creates an unrealistic standard that few can live up to. We see nothing but joy and happiness ooze out of the Hallmark Channel, which looks nothing like the dysfunction and loneliness oozing out of ours. Promoting a false ideal of what Christmas is supposed to be about exacerbates the guilt many have because our lives aren’t as perfect as the ones we see on television.

The third danger in exclusively promoting the Hallmark version of Christmas is that the first Christmas would have never been shown on the Hallmark Channel. The people (Middle Eastern peasants) and sets (a dusty peasant village and a cave with a feeding trough) wouldn’t have been interesting or appealing enough. The scandal of an unexpected pregnancy and Joseph’s plan to divorce her wouldn’t be considered family friendly enough. And instead of finishing the story with the couple getting together and the lights fading slowly to black, you’d have a young couple and their newborn son fleeing the country as refugees as the local ruler commits mass murder to try and kill this newborn king. The first Christmas would definitely gotten an MA rating for modern television.

But the first Christmas should fill us with hope, because the first Christmas wasn’t as perfect as we’ve always imagined it to be, nothing like what we’d expect to see on the Hallmark Channel. And if God could make something beautiful out of the mess of the first Christmas, then He can make something beautiful out of our messy lives today.

Previous Post

December 6, 2018

There's Got to Be a Better Method Than Hit-and-Run Evangelism

Next Post

December 13, 2018 4 Steps to Keep Regret From Ruining Your Christmas

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Family Matters Ministry in the Trenches Morning Brew MTVpastor New Wineskins Top Menu Truth from Life Uncategorized Watch Sermons

Select a Month June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In 3 John, what does John say he has no greater joy than?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Preaching the gospel Hearing that his children are walking in the truth Seeing souls saved Serving the church