A lot of Messianic folks, having been led by God out of certain cultural and even Christian norms, tend to be ultra harsh in their criticism of Christians who haven’t made the same leap.
With Christmas coming this weekend, I encourage Messianic folks to be kind to our Christian brothers, and, as Messianic scholar J.K. McKee has written in his excellent article on Christmas,
It bothers me, though, when I see a mean-spirited attitude manifest itself among Messianics—who do not appear to know how to love their neighbor as themselves (Leviticus 19:18), or treat others as they would like to be treated during the holidays (Luke 6:31). This is especially true when we consider that most evangelical Christians celebrate Christmas believing that they are honoring the birth of the Lord—an event attested to in the Scriptures! How are we to mature in this area, acting more like adults, and showing respect for others?
The leaders and teachers of Messianic Chapter 1 have largely decided that the way to communicate is by exclaiming “Christmas is pagan!” and have given Ebenezer Scrooge a real run for his money in the anti-Christmas department. The leaders and teachers of the forthcoming Messianic Chapter 2 have to do better and have to show that there is a different way to do this. We have to communicate via our actions of faith that we are not unloving, mean-spirited, and unbalanced people for whom “pagan” is the word of choice. We have to communicate instead that we love our Lord and Savior so much, that we will not commemorate His birth on a day that was used to honor gods and goddesses and licentious revelry. We instead have an eight-day celebration of God’s victory over evil to remember during this same time, where we consider resisting assimilation into the world, and His ongoing plan of salvation history yet to unfold.