Last year around this time I wrote a post about my realization that in all my stress and holiday blues I’d lost Baby Jesus. My realization came flooding back to me Friday evening as I did a little shopping for Christmas decorations. But this time it wasn’t just about my own condition, but the condition of the world I see all around me.

It all started with my boss, who threw down the Christmas decorating gauntlet at work this week by decking his office in much garland, lights and baubles. I’m not normally competitive (yeah, right) but, frankly, my pride was wounded by his early, and classy, display, as I always fancied myself a top-notch, early bird, Christmas bedecker. I’m not early to anything except Christmas; I used to arrive sometime in July and just (im)patiently waited for November to show up so I could officially be Christmas-y. The last four years I haven’t had any desire to do such things; depression has that affect on me. This is the first year in a long time that I’ve even felt like participating in the holiday festivities. It’s progress I’m excited about, frankly. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Consequently, most of my Christmas decorations have sat idle in the attic or the closet for the last couple of years. I’m not even sure what condition they are in (note the present tense of that… more on that later) or if they are even usable. Hence my shopping trips on Friday evening. Sometimes it’s easier to just buy new strands of lights and new decorations than to patch up the old stuff.

As I shopped I noticed an appalling lack of nativity scenes, or even of baby Jesuses (is that word, Jesuses??). I found myself wondering more and more passionately as time passed, "where is Baby Jesus?" I was starting to get alarmed, when I remembered where I was: Target. While it once seemed "Christian-friendly" (at least in the LA area), it never has been the mecca of Christ-centric decor (if you’ll pardon the cross-religion references). So I quickly wrapped up my shopping at the Big Red Dot and headed for a place I was sure would have Baby Jesus front and center: LifeWay.

I was sadly disappointed. While there were references to Jesus and lambs and angels all over the place, I saw very few classy, non tchotchke-ish nativity scenes and only one that was worth considering, but not at its ridiculous price. Most of the Christmas decorations I saw were variations on the Santa theme, a Jesus/Christmas=the Cross theme or angels. And most were even cheaper looking than the stuff I saw at Target. I left LifeWay with only a Christmas cd (Avalon’s "Joy") and a paperback copy of The Ragamuffin Gospel; no ornaments for the tree or nativity scenes for mantle (not that I have a mantle; it just sounded better than "shelf" or something…).

What have we done? Have we, the Church, become so Americanized in our celebration of Christmas that even our own specialty stores don’t bother to display decorations with little more meaning and aestheticism than that of our cheapest secular (non)competitor? What happened to the Church setting the standard for beauty, art and taste?

And what about Baby Jesus? He seems to have gotten lost amid the Veggie Tales, Precious Moments, Willow Tree, and angel figurines. Instead of creating great art that inspires as it depicts the birth of our Savior, we’ve followed behind the World’s cheap Santa and Father Christmas tchotchkes and created our own brand of cheap, Christmas knock-offs. Meanwhile, Jesus is lost in the maze, even as we blare "He is the Reason for the Season" from every church sign, Christmas card and holiday song we can. It’s amazing. We can shove Jesus in the face of every non-Christian in our lives, and have His name plastered over every inch of every bauble and garland we hang, yet cannot see how empty the manger is in our own celebration of His birth, in our own heart.

Glen Beck has been shouting "doomsday is coming!" (or at least the perfect storm for doomsday is coming) for many months now and it occurred to me as I stood forehead high in LifeWay Christmas schlock that perhaps that is exactly what the American arm of Jesus’ Church needs: a shake down of doomsday proportions to wake us up to the fact that we’ve been playing church instead being His Church. At least maybe it would be good for me. Perhaps it would finally knock me off my Americanized butt and back to the Truth of what it is to be a follower of Christ, sitting both at the foot of the cross and at the side of a manger, marveling at the Grace, Love and Courage of God that brought about my Redemption; and bringing everything in my heart to Him as a gift. No matter how ugly it seems to me.

Where is Baby Jesus for you? Is He in the manger, patiently waiting for you to come give Him a gift out of who you are — even if all you have to give is anger, loneliness or depression? Or is He perhaps missing from the manger altogether; lost amid the glitter, garland and Santas that fill up your holiday season?

I pray this season we all rediscover the Babe in the manger and encounter Him as we never have before.

Come and behold Him
Born the King of Angels

O Come let  us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ, our Lord

For He alone is worthy
For He alone is worthy
For He alone is worthy
Christ, our Lord