"How the Grinch Stole

Christmas" continues to be the big hit of the holiday season and

keeps raking in the dough after five weeks in the theater.

As of last Monday, "The

Grinch" had earned $195.5 million, blowing past "Gladiator"

to become the second-highest-grossing film of 2000. It appears the

movie will easily surpass "Mission: Impossible 2's" $215

million take.

Directed by Ron Howard, the

movie stars Jim Carrey as the Grinch, who in a very mean-spirited way

attempts to snuff out the Christmas spirit for the residents of Whoville.

However, Dr. Seuss' Grinch

doesn't come close to comparing to the Grinch found in the first Christmas

story. The biblical Grinch is named King Herod. Found in Matthew II, Herod

was the ruthless, paranoid king of Judea. He was the consummate politician

who did everything he could to gain favor with Rome. He also did everything

he could to spoil Christmas. He was a mean one.

How can you be a Grinch

this Christmas? Just make the mistakes Herod made, and you'll probably

make Christmas a little more difficult for those around you. What were

those mistakes?

If you want to be a Grinch

this Christmas, then push Jesus right out of your life.

Herod was not interested in

hearing about any Christ child. He wasn't concerned about prophecy being

fulfilled. Herod already claimed to be king of the Jews. His country didn't

need another king. So in his rage he ordered all male babies age 2 and

below to be executed in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas. Herod's problem

was that he thought he'd have to give up his throne if Christ came

into his life. He didn't want to share his life with anyone, and he certainly

didn't want Jesus telling him what to do.

A lot of people have that fear.

They push God away because they are afraid He'll want too much of their

lives. They won't allow anyone to interfere with their plans, position,

authority, pocketbook, ambition or lifestyle. They already have a king

­ themselves. So they don't need any help from anybody else.

Oh, they'll enjoy the holiday.

They'll sing the carols, deck the halls, and even go to church. But they

may just be going through the motions. They may have even accepted God's

gift of eternal life, but they refuse to accept God's leadership. Does

that describe your life? Are you keeping God at arm's length?

Also, if you want to be a

Grinch, make Christmas a hassle instead of a celebration.

Herod brought a lot of unnecessary

and unfair pain to families Christmas season. In his fear he massacred

innocent infants. It didn't have to be that way. He could have rejoiced

that Jesus was born. He could have celebrated with his countrymen, but

instead he made Christmas a hassle.

Do we? Christmas becomes a

hassle when we expect too much, eat too much, spend too much, and try

to do too much. Then we stress out over trying to meet everybody's expectations.

We create our own Christmas crisis when we take on too much and fail to

set limits. We can't do it all.

So what should we do?

We should do what we can and no more. We should eliminate the unnecessary.

We should go less and enjoy what we do get to do more. We should

try something new. We should forget about creating a perfect Christmas

and enjoy it one day at a time. We should find a way to help the needy.

We should simplify.

Also, if you want to be a

Grinch this Christmas, then trade kindness for rudeness.

We've already seen that Herod

didn't care about anybody but himself. He was cruel. He sounds like a

lot of shoppers I've seen during the Christmas buying season. It happens

every year. There's some toy that is the hottest purchase of Christmas

and parents go all out to find this scarce item. It's not unusual to hear

about some near-riot as shoppers wrestle in the aisles over the last item

in the store. Normally sane citizens exchange harsh words as they race

through the store. You've heard of "road rage." At Christmas,

we have "retail rage."

Instead of getting caught up

in the festivity of the season, we get sucked into the Christmas rush,

and before we know it we've misplaced our kindness. When that happens,

we've lost our focus on what Christmas is all about anyway.

The interesting thing about

Dr. Seuss' story is that the people of Whoville still had their Christmas

spirit. The Grinch could steal their presents, trees and decorations.

He could steal everything about Christmas, but he couldn't steal Christmas

because Christmas was in their hearts. Don't let some Grinch affect your

Christmas. You can't control how others are acting and you can't choose

their attitude, but you can affect how you feel and how you

respond to Christmas. Maybe you can share some Christmas cheer with the

Grinches that come your way.

One final thought: Herod had

to take Christ seriously. He could not avoid Him or ignore Him. He either

had to follow Him or attempt to destroy Him. Christmas reminds us that

Jesus is for real and that the Father sent the Son to be the savior of

the world. How do you respond to Jesus this Christmas?

On behalf of the McDonough

Road Baptist Church family, we wish you God's richest blessings this Christmas

season.

(The Rev. Dr. David L. Chancey

is pastor, McDonough Road Baptist, Fayetteville).