Christmas — The Great White Elephant

December, 2008

by: Jack Hughes

In Southeast Asia, the kings of Siam had an interesting practice. When someone in their court offended them they would give that person an albino Indian Elephant as a gift. These white elephants were regarded as sacred and could not be killed or put to work. It is always an honor to receive a gift from the king, but a white elephant was a curse because of the great cost it took to maintain them. Thus to receive a white elephant often led to slow financial ruin for elephants live as long as people. Thus the proverbial “white elephant gift” is a gift that one is honored to receive but is often burdened to keep.

As I thought about the origins of the “white elephant” gift exchange, it dawned on me that the entire Christmas season has become one huge white elephant. It was in September this year when I first saw Christmas merchandise being sold. I remember when stores had some shame and would wait until after Halloween to put out their Christmas wares, but not any more. Retailers are finding it just doesn’t pay to wait. If they get their Christmas merchandise out early, they have a greater chance of out selling their competitors. Though it is difficult to get into the “spirit of Christmas” when it is 95 degrees outside, I find that I often feel a bit of anxiety at the first sight of Christmas stuff. Maybe you have felt this yourself. I asked myself, “Why does seeing Christmas paraphernalia make me feel anxious, uneasy, even burdened?” I came up with four reasons or forces in the world which have turned Christmas and the Christmas season into the “Great White Elephant.”

The first driving force is guilt.

As someone once said, “Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving.” I guess that makes guilt fit in with Christmas, since Christmas is about giving. As soon as store displays hint of Christmas, you begin to think of all the people you either want or feel compelled to buy presents for. Knowing a lot of people can put a significant amount of pressure on you to maintain The Great White Elephant. What will they think of you if you don’t get them something and yet they give you something? Will they think you are stingy? Will they think you are angry at them? Will they think you don’t care? All these thoughts produce guilt and guilt often moves us to action.

Yet, if guilt is the reason you give gifts, you are really not giving a gift any more. In order for a gift to be a gift it must be undeserved, unearned, not under compulsion, or coercion, and certainly not a sacrifice to appease a guilty conscience. I would encourage you to check your motives for giving this year. If guilt is driving your gift giving, don’t give! Gifts should always be given freely, not under compulsion, and with a cheerful heart. You should never give expecting to receive either. I know this is easy to say but difficult to do. I know you are probably thinking to yourself right now, “But what about the people who give me gifts expecting one in return? How can I keep from offending them?”

First, realize that if they are giving to you, expecting something in return, they are not giving you a gift, but a bribe, a burden, a “white elephant.” They are thinking of themselves, not you. Gifts must be given with no strings attached. Some people have unspoken expectations and though we do not intend to give offense sometimes they may take offense if we do not meet up with their unspoken expectations. I would encourage you this Christmas to take note of how advertizing agencies subtly work guilt into their sales pitches. “Have you purchased all those gifts for your loved ones yet?” Implied in a statement like this is the false idea that if you haven’t purchased someone a gift, you must not love them. It is true that our love for people can move us to give them gifts, but it is false to say that gifts are the only legitimate means of expressing love, or that gifts at Christmas time are the only means of expressing love. Do yourself a favor, fight against giving to relieve guilt. Feel free to give gifts, but don’t give to relieve your guilt. Don’t let guilt become an idol that you bow down to and try to appease this year with Christmas presents.

A second motivating factor merchandisers will use to manipulate you is fear.

Fear has always been one of the great tools of the advertizing world. We have all seen commercials where a mother, in the snow storm, with three little children, gets into an icy car. She tries to start the car, but the battery is dead. The camera pans first to her face, where you see that look of terror, then to her children, who look like they are about to cry. Moms watch in fear. Then comes the plug for a certain brand of battery “which won’t leave you out in the cold.” The fact is, all car batteries wear out and die eventually. Any battery, of any brand, can, “leave you out in the cold.”

There is a good chunk of the population that struggles with fear. Advertisers know this. It is why they use fear to move people to buy things. The lie is that we can have security in things, rather than God. When you hear the sales pitch, “Don’t wait until it’s too late! Supplies are limited.” Remind yourself that everything but God comes in a limited supply. Outer space, compared to God, is in limited supply. And so what if you do wait until it’s too late? You aren’t going to lose your salvation. It is not the end of the world. In fact, you would probably be better off without whatever it is they are trying to get you to trust in to relieve your fear. Don’t let Christmas advertisers frighten you into buying false security. Trust in the Lord. Don’t bow to the idol of fear or try to appease it by running up credit card debt.

Tradition also tugs at our heart during Christmas time

Familiar songs, decorations, foods, and smells work us over. Memories of favorite past Christmases or ideas of what Christmas could be, can be hypnotic, mesmerizing. You are walking through a store when you hear, “Chest nuts roasting on an open fire, Jack frost nipping at your nose…,” and instantly you are struck with the arrow of Christmas tradition. You begin dreaming about the classic “White Christmas.” You feel like asking the stranger in the aisle next to you if they want to dance and twirl around the store like they do in musicals. You decide to hire a mason to install a fireplace in your house. You want the ambiance, the mood, the crackling of the fire, chestnuts roasting on an open fire! Snap out of it! We live in California. You have probably never even seen a chestnut in your life. And if you threw them on an open fire in your living room they would send fiery incendiaries out onto your living room carpet and burn your house down. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that traditions are bad or that they shouldn’t be enjoyed. I am saying that the world will use them against you. A friend of mine who lived in Florida said they bought a house with a fireplace. Every Christmas they would turn on the air conditioning and make the house real cold so they could enjoy a fire in the fire place!

But think with me on this. Who says Christmas has to be snowy? What about those people on the other side of the equator who’s summers come in December? I know people in New Zealand who go to the beach every Christmas. That is their tradition. Make your own traditions, but don’t let others dictate to you what your Christmas should be like. Don’t be deceived into thinking that the only good traditions are traditions that cost a lot of money. Don’t let Christmas traditions become an idol that enslaves you and which you bow down to appease.

The fourth and final driving force behind Christmas is love.

Look for it this Christmas season. Advertisers use love as a means to sell you things, “A perfect gift for that special loved one.” Implied in the slogan is that if you love someone you will buy what they are selling. This is a lie. It is true that love can manifest itself in gift giving. The Word of God tells us in Jn. 3:16 that, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.” God has expressed His love to us by giving us the gift of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to die on the cross, to make an atonement for sins, so that we through faith in Him might receive the gift of eternal life.

It is also true that God’s love for us causes Him to extend us grace. Grace, by definition, is to receive unearned, undeserved, gifts from God. It is also true that when we love others, we desire to be gracious to them and giving them gifts is one way we can show them love. However, consider Paul’s definition of love in I Cor. 13:4-8a and notice the kind of gifts which love gives, “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” Did you see that? Love gifts are things like never failing patience, kindness, trust, humility, generosity, self control, rejoicing, perseverance, and faith. Try buying these at the mall! Yet these are the greatest gifts that we can give others for Christmas or any other time of the year.

The world has turned Christmas into “The Great White Elephant.” Year by year we are increasingly burdened by the financial upkeep of a beast of burden which no longer resembles Christmas at all. Guilt, fear, traditions imposed upon us by others, and unbiblical definitions of love and how to express love have enslaved us into maintaining an illusion. Satan has turned Christmas into a Great White Elephant which is very expensive to maintain and which ignores the true meaning of Christmas all together. He has tricked us into bowing down and worshiping the season, gifts, guilt, fear, traditions, and worldly expressions of love.

I encourage you, exhort you, beg you to think about these things. Make necessary changes in how you view and live during this time of the year. Enjoy the Christmas season. Have your traditions, decorations, songs, and gifts, but don’t let the world turn your Christmas season and Christmas itself into a Great White Elephant. Instead, keep reminding yourself of the true meaning of Christmas. Let your traditions, songs, peace, and joy come from knowing that God gave us the gift of His Son that we might be saved from the eternal consequences of our sins.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” … “Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, … And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Mt. 1:18-21; Lk. 2:1-11).

Merry Christmas!