My neighbor put up a sign that reads, “Keep Christ in Christmas.”

This is great advice for Christians. But I sense my neighbor isn’t just admonishing believers to remember “the reason for the season.” I’m pretty certain he’s directing the message to the broader society.  (This is the same neighbor I wrote about with the Trump stickers.) I think this is a calculated salvo in the “war on Christmas.”  And to this, I have to ask: why would you expect people who don’t believe in Jesus to “keep Christ in Christmas?”

Quite frankly, I find this whole “war on Christmas” thing to be more than a little tiresome. America is a secular society. While most people in the U.S. might claim to be Christians in some generic sense, the majority of Americans are nominal believers at best – and many people flat out don’t believe. Expecting them to show outward devotion to a God they aren’t devoted to is unreasonable.

And if you’re a believer, why does it matter?

Why do you care what kind of cup Starbucks serves its coffee in, whether there is a nativity scene in your county park, or if somebody says “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas? Their actions don’t impact your relationship with Jesus one iota — or at least they shouldn’t. Some of the most dedicated, flourishing churches in the world exist in nations extremely hostile to their faith. I can’t imagine a Christian church in Iraq obsessing over transforming their country into a Christian nation.

I have a theory; I think this’ obsession with the “war on Christmas” makes up part of the broader push in Christendom to “keep” America a “Christian nation.”

I’ve got bad news for you; it never was one to begin with. That’s not to say American culture doesn’t have roots in a Judeo-Christian worldview, broadly speaking.  But it never was a truly Christian nation. It has always been a pluralistic society made up of people with vastly diverse beliefs.

In truth, there’s no such thing as a “Christian nation.” Far too many believers think their country should look like Israel of the Old Testament – a “holy nation.” But the New Testament “Christian nation” is the Church. You can’t expect the United States, or England, or Germany, or Brazil or any other country, to look like a “Christian nation.” If a country happens to look, Christian, I assure you, it’s an illusion.

Isaiah warned, merely going through the motions of religion doesn’t please God.

“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” (Isa 29:13 )

This is what you get when people “keep Christ in Christmas” but aren’t disciples of Christ and make no effort to live their lives in accordance with a kingdom ethic. You end up with a country full of people who smile and say “Merry Christmas” to each other, and then cheerlead their government bombing people into oblivion thousands of miles away.

This “war on Christmas” business is really nothing more than a political movement. And Christians will never politic their way into establishing God’s kingdom. We need to spend more time getting our own house — the church — in order and working to conform our lives to the kingdom ethics Jesus taught, and less time trying to force Americans at large to wrap themselves in the trappings of our religion.