–move away from the materialism of Christmas, urges Pastor McGowan

CHRISTIANS globally celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25; but even though it is a traditional celebration, the secular world has removed the significance of the observance by focusing on material things.

Pastor of the South Road Full Gospel Church, Dr. Winston McGowan, believes there needs to be a diversion from materialistic values to the observance of the “real meaning of Christmas”.

“Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ; and for Christians, Christ is a very special person,” said Pastor McGowan. He explained that Jesus Christ is not simply a “good man” or prophet, as many would refer to Him, but is the Son of God, “a unique person”.

“But today’s secular world, especially the developed world, has been trying to divert from Christ as much as possible, to marginalise Him,” Pastor Mc Gowan said. According to the pastor, the diversion began with persons referring to Christmas as “XMAS”, something he does not subscribe to. McGowan told Guyana Chronicle that X is an unknown quantity in mathematics, and Christians believe that Christ is known, and is special and unique.

“People are saying, ‘Happy holidays!’ and all kinds of things, but that doesn’t say anything about Christ and the true meaning of Christmas,” he noted. He reminded of the common cliché: “Jesus is the reason for the season”, and noted that Christians are trying to maintain the significance of the occasion.

“We see Christ as a Saviour who has come to save mankind from all the evil consequences…the things that make life unpalatable: sickness, sorrow, death… Christ came in the world to die [for us]… We are interested in putting back Christ in the Christmas; He is the real reason for the season,” the Pastor explained.

Pastor McGowan stressed that Christmas is about Christ, and moreso the celebration of His birth, rather than the extensive shopping that occurs during the season.

Asked to explain how the Christ can be restored in Christmas, Pastor McGowan said restoring that which has been lost will not be an easy task.

SPIRITUAL, AND NOT SECULAR
He said it is important for focus to be restored on Christ. Emphasis must be placed on Him, Pastor McGowan said, and whenever the word Christmas is mentioned, it should be spiritual, and not secular.

“…so you have got to reverse what the world has been doing — trying to substitute Christ. It would be difficult, because if you follow the developed world, it would be [hard to break away]. The developed world economically is stronger, they are ahead of so many things, and so you are fighting against a world which is advanced.”

Pastor McGowan admitted that the fight would be one against “strong odds”, but he said Christians like himself must not give up. He argued that under-developed countries like Guyana must look away from the developed world if they are to maintain moral and spiritual values.

“You won’t find it in the developed world,” he stated, while noting that developing societies tend to adopt the cultures of developed countries easily, based on the influence. The Western world dominates and has a “hold over the world,” he said.

“In the under-developed world it would be harder, because you are fighting against the influence of the developed world. That’s who we look to for guidance, and we don’t understand that there is no guidance where spiritual things and moral things are concerned.”

McGowan made it clear that nothing is wrong with following the lead of the developed world when it comes to technology, economics and the like; but taking their lead in moral and spiritual matters are of no use, he said.

“You have to distinguish the source of influence… If you want technology, ideas for the economy and strategies, you can get it from them; but if you’re talking about spirituality and morality, we’ve got to delink ourselves,” he said, reminding that it is the developed world that finances under-developed countries.

EMBRACE CHRIST’S TEACHINGS
Pastor McGowan’s Christmas message to Guyanese is: Enjoy Christmas insofar as the enjoyment is an exaltation of what Christ stood for.

“Insofar as we understand the reason for the season; so we won’t say, for example, drink until you’re drunk; that is not what Christ would have stood for. We could enjoy it in a healthy way. A way in which we help each other, we love each other, and be good to each other won’t do any harm to each other,” he remarked.

Christmas has become commercialized, and according to the Fully Gospel pastor, it is a spiritual season wherein God gave His son, the Greatest Gift to humanity (Christians).

“You have to see what the focus and motive is. People do the right thing sometimes for the wrong reasons. Every businessman, no matter what faith he belongs to, he’d want to capitalise on Christmas.” However, the season is far removed from commercial and materialistic activities, Pastor McGowan said.

He described Christmas as a joyous season, because “Christ came to do what nobody else did…it gives us a feeling of joy. This is a season of joy. He came to bring joy, peace, and that is Who the world needs badly.”

Asked whether he believes that youths ought to be targeted for the reversal of the secular culture associated with Christmas, Pastor McGowan said “yes”.
But he said youths are part of the wider culture, and he noted that there is need for the older folks to change the national culture.

He posited that the challenge is great, but noted that the actions of the young often mirror that of the adults in their lives. “They learn what they see (in) the wider society,” he told Guyana Chronicle.

The world is becoming increasingly materialistic, and according to Dr. McGowan, dealing with an age that is materialistic is not an easy task.
His advice is to “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things (material things) would be added”.

“Materialism is a philosophy that says what is important is money and what money can buy, and that is the philosophy of the world. So when young people become materialistic, they are just embracing a wider philosophy that they have gotten from the world, that older people embrace but the manifestation may be different from young to old and so on,” McGowan added.

He said that narrowing the focus down to youth is not going to be effective if the values of the old are not being maintained. He said that with the advent of varying kinds of rights, the children and the young have more freedoms.

“God has made the world as one, with responsibilities; but [now] everybody has rights. There is nothing new about this, but it is becoming progressively worse, and the world is becoming more and more secular — more materialistic, more a world of pleasure,” he said, as he expressed hopes that, overtime, the significance of Christmas would be recognised by all.