I was just thinking to myself yesterday how silly I think those inflatable Christmas decorations are. My apologies if you love them and they’re your favorites, but let’s be honest, when they go down in the morning it looks as if some neighborhood hooligans just spent the night using Frosty and Santa for a little target practice. (In fact, the first time I saw a lineup of deflated Christmas inflatables I was sure that juvenile delinquents were to blame for their demise.)
But after what I’ve just seen (online thank goodness, not in person … yet), I vow to never EVER again complain about inflatables—or possibly any other Christmas decoration—because of what has just appeared on the holiday scene. Meet the Hipster Nativity Set from Modern Nativity:
Image via modernnativity.com
For a mere $129.99 you can order a nightmarish scene filled with all your favorite hipster characters. Instead of Wise Men bearing gifts for the newborn King Jesus, this nativity set features hipsters on Segways delivering brown Amazon boxes (what, no UPS guys? Are they anti-union or something?). The lone shepherd (who’s busy peering at his device) is tending a 100% organic cow and a sweater-wearing sheep (???). The cow is eating gluten-free grain (no, really).
The centerpieces of this Christmas stable wreck are (allegedly) Mary and Joseph along with their newborn baby in the (of course) solar, cage-free stable (because there was no room in Bethlehem’s sustainable eco-resort). Joseph, denim-clad and barefoot (but with just the right amount of facial hair), is taking a selfie of his new family while a spaced-out looking Mary (with red fingernails and bra hanging out) flashes a peace sign at the camera with one hand and clings to her half-caff soy latte with the other. At least they had the decency to leave Baby Jesus relatively unscathed.
The most notable thing about this scene? No one—and I mean no one, not even the cow—is looking at Jesus.
If for no other reason, we ought to stop and pause at this snapshot of the nativity and consider whether it’s a picture of our own hectic lives in 21st century America. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, this is actually a great visual reminder that we should spend time in the presence of Christ, “in whom God was reconciling the world to himself.” But more, we need to be present and in the moment when we’re singing the hymns, reading the stories of the birth of Christ, and thanking God for the precious gift of his Son.
On second thought, I don’t hate this as much as I originally thought. Hats off to the hipsters for the needed reminder in my life.
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