I don’t do this to be cheeky or malicious, but simply to get people talking—and thinking—about the spiritual meaning of Christmas as more than just a one-off. Generally, people of all religious stripes (even areligious), seem to find the discussion interesting. Here in the United States, few people know, and are even surprised, that there are an actual twelve days of Christmas—even though the song of the same name is heard on the radio or sung every year.

The bait is set.

Unwittingly, during the next week someone will inevitably ask me, “So, how was your Christmas?”

Little do they know they’ve stepped into my (quite harmless) annual Christmas trap.

Here’s how I’ll respond: “What do you mean how was my Christmas? The 25th wasn’t Christmas, but Christmas Day, the very beginning of the Christmas celebration known as the Twelve Days of Christmas that ends on January 5th, also known as Epiphany Eve. In other words, Christmas has only just begun! So the right question is, how is my Christmas?”

I don’t do this to be cheeky or malicious, but simply to get people talking—and thinking—about the spiritual meaning of Christmas as more than just a one-off. Generally, people of all religious stripes (even areligious), seem to find the discussion interesting. Here in the United States, few people know, and are even surprised, that there are an actual twelve days of Christmas—even though the song of the same name is heard on the radio or sung every year.

More disturbing, most evangelical churches seem eager to turn the calendar’s page to the new year, quickly moving on from Christmas. Yes, we have Advent. But would that more churches would recover a longer and richer Christmas season, more fully pondering and celebrating the staggering implications of Christ’s Incarnation.

So at the risk of sounding coy, I genuinely wish you and yours a joyous Christmas—now and well into 2014.

Oh yes, about my Christmas? Check back with me next year.

Michael L. Johnson lives in Minneapolis, Minn., a graduate of University of Minnesota and Reformed Theological Seminary, and exploring planting a new church in the North Loop area of Minneapolis. This article is from his blog and is used with permission.

[Editor’s note: The link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]