As much as it tends to surprise people when I tell them, Christmas really isn't my thing. I generally despise the entire season between October 31st and February 14th. I hate the cold. I hate that it gets dark before I've even had a chance to walk my dog. I hate the bad memories brought back by the smell of the air, not to mention the Christmas lights, as I merely step outside my house. In my eyes, Christmas sucks.
There are a few notable exceptions. Aside from the obvious focus on the birth of my Lord and Savior, I absolutely love The Grinch, and A Christmas Carol. These two stories are untarnishable, because I relate to the redemption element. Christ has thawed my icy heart and taken me in by the warm glow of His love, and I can't help but rejoice when I see such things portrayed. Setting aside the abysmal theology of four ghosts trying to save Scrooge from a fate that in no way reflects the actual afterlife, these two tales will always be one of my favorite aspects of this otherwise unbearable season.
A relatively recent variant of A Christmas Carol is the Apple original "Spirited" (2022). Now, as can be expected from any show starring big names like Will Ferrel and Ryan Reynolds, there is enough worldly humor (and, yes, more bad theology) in it that I feel Christians should be cautious if they choose to watch it. But frankly, nothing compares to the music. Octavia Spencer absolutely crushes the song "That's The View From Here". "Good Afternoon" will stick in your head and have you singing it for months. Even the villain song, "Bringing Back Christmas", is the epitome of a good show tune.
But my favorite song from the show is "Unredeemable", in which none other than Ebenezer Scrooge reflects on his life, wondering if the good he did at the end of his life was even worth it, given how much time he wasted being the flesh embodiment of greed. Let's look at the first verse:
"Spent every waking minute
Taking all that I could take
Never stopped to reckon with
The ruin in my wake
With all the bridges that I burned
The wounds I didn't mend
All the worth I thought I earned
It turned worthless in the end
What was it for?
Well is it possible I'm meant for something more?"
As a Christian, I would of course contend that yes, Scrooge, as a human being, is meant for something more. Now of course, he's not a historical figure, so not even an atheist can deny he was quite literally meant for something more. But human beings, in general, are designed, by a far greater author, for far greater things than just hoovering up silver, gold, and paper.
People tend to have the wrong ideas about money in Scripture. "Money is the root of all evil", right? In truth, wealth is seen as a good thing, and enjoying it, so long as it is earned legitimately and used responsibly, honors God. But we must acknowledge two things. First, we must acknowledge that we did not bring anything into this world. Any wealth we have, it ultimately comes from God. Second, we must acknowledge we can't take anything out of this world. When we stand before God, we will do so as naked as the day we emerged from the womb.
Even the world recognises this concept. "You can't take it with you", they say, either to remind the rich, or to convince themselves to part with their own wealth. But this concept does not apply only to money. Rags or riches will stay here when we die, but so will literally everything else. If "you can't take it with you" is valid reasoning for parting with our wealth, should we not also use it to devalue everything?
As a Christian, I would say no, absolutely not. Reflecting on the futility of this world, Solomon concludes "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). So does it matter what you do before you perish? Absolutely. The things which perish leave everlasting echoes. Our deeds are forever before God, and He will repay accordingly. Therefore, the focus of this life is on Him, and not its pleasures.
But what if you're an atheist, and don't believe in an afterlife? You die and just rot in the ground forever, not remembering a single good or bad thing about this life. The pain is forgotten, but so is the joy. Everything you held dear, you will never be concerned with again. Your memories perish, the memory of you will perish, you take nothing with you. Not your wealth, nor anything else you hold dear.
So is it worth it? It probably feels like it at the time. So does gathering wealth. If we're being entirely honest with ourselves, if this life is all we have, money is the most valuable thing there is, only because nothing is valuable. It's all just a case of subjective opinion and desire, none of which will follow us to the grave.
In "Unredeemable", Scrooge's reflection carries with it the assumption of an afterlife. Indeed, one in which he is currently existing. In his worldview, our choices have value because they do last. But a far more critical flaw in the song is its endless search for an inward solution. "Can I be a man who breaks from a lifetime of mistakes". "...someone who makes up for all they've done". "I've got to go and find If it's true that there is truly good in me".
But Scrooge is looking in the wrong place. Ironically, he wouldn't even know he needed redemption had it not been for the ones who came to redeem him. Had it not been for Jacob Marley, he would not have known his need of change. Had it not been for the three ghosts of Christmas tense, he wouldn't have seen the possibility. Yet he still looks to himself for the solution to the problem.
We repeat this folly in our own lives. Even while committing sins in the present, we seek to atone for the sins of the past. We try to borrow our way out of debt and wonder why we never truly escape it. That is, until we find the one who paid our debt. Rather than being unredeemable, we have been redeemed. We break from a lifetime of mistakes because Christ has broken those chains. Someone has made up for all we've done. The thing that is truly good in us is the Holy Spirit who makes His home in our hearts on the day we confess faith. We can be redeemed, not because there is anything redeemable within ourselves, but because Christ bore our sin on the cross. He, therefore, not only ensures we are protected from the wrath we are owed, but actively works within us to ensure we begin to resemble Him.
A Christmas Carol is filled with bad theology, but if you have a Heavenly mind, you can draw many personal lessons from it. As the season draws on, and we enjoy these tales, may our eyes be drawn from the screen to the Lord, our perfect redeemer.