I have never heard that natives have a problem with it. In fact this term seems to have been around for a very long time..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-mas

However Wiki mentions that "Many people believe that the term is part of an effort to "take Christ out of Christmas" or to literally "cross out Christ";[citation needed] it is also seen as evidence of the secularization of Christmas or a vehicle for pushing political correctness, or as a symptom of the commercialization of the holiday (as the abbreviation has long been used by retailers)."

Maybe thats's why?

Ich kann Dir nur sagen, warum ich es blöd finde: Weil ich der Meinung bin, dass solche Abkürzungen außerhalb von SMS nichts zu suchen haben. Gilt nicht nur für Xmas, sondern auch für CU, 2nite, 2L8 und was es da sonst noch alles gibt.

And also found this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4...

Ich weiß leider nicht woher diese Abkürzung kommt, aber

@Daragon

ich kenne sie schon seit über 35 Jahren, und wahrscheinlich gibt es den Ausdruck schon länger - jedenfalls weit vor SMS usw.

"Professional" Christians -- priests, theological students etc. -- have always used X or Xt. as an abbreviation for "Christ" (it's the Greek letter X). Xtian is another common abbreviation in such circles. They wouldn't of course think of pronouncing it thus.
Of course, once the proles get hold of it (as with Xmas) and actually say "X", the educated think it's infra dig.

For all who need to know where it comes from just follow the Wiki-link I posted. :-)

I agree with Dragon that it's just tacky and with escoville that it really shouldn't be pronounced as 'ex-mas,' except perhaps in fun.

Dragon's point about levels of formality may help explain why, as bluesky's quote shows, many people feel the abbreviation is sloppy or disrespectful. If you want to save time by writing 'Xmas decs' instead of 'Christmas decorations' on your own shopping list (or in your own txt msg), it makes perfect sense. (And there, the hyphen is really unnecessary, since the whole point is to save time and space.) But if you used the same style in a typed or printed text to be read by other people, it would just look bad.

Similarly, if your store has one of those big signs out front with three or four short lines for magnetic letters, and you normally put up abbreviations like '2 FOR 1 SALE ON LG PUMPKINS THRU NOV 22' (= large, through, November), then of course it's fine to write 'JUST IN: XMAS TREES & WREATHS' as well. But most contexts don't require such drastic shortcuts.

escoville is quite right to point out that X (= the Greek letter chi) has long been a shorthand symbol to shorten words like Christ, Christian, Christianity, etc. Of course the Roman and medieval scribes who used it also used all kinds of other fascinating little abbreviations and shortcuts that we no longer use, because we don't have to write entire books by hand.

However, things like 'Xtian' and 'Xty' are still convenient for taking handwritten notes on topics in religion, art history, etc., just as 'C13' is a convenient shorthand for '13th century.' (-:

Oops, beg your pardon, blueraven, not bluesky.

Das kommt daher, dass X in Amerika für "nicht Jugendfrei" steht. Daher kann ich mir schon vorstellen, dass es Personen gibt, die diesen Ausdruck nicht billgen.

I've never associated Xmas with X-rated, though that certainly wouldn't work in favor of the abbreviation. I don't like Xmas because, whatever its origins, it seems to be used primarily in the kind of commercial situations hm describes or on cards that are trying to be edgy or funny or whatever. The holiday's name is Christmas and Xmas just seems like a cutesy spelling such as thru, donut or nite, though I have to admit I've gotten used to donut. It's probably only a matter of time before I accept thru, but you won't catch me using thru, nite (except when I type NiteMite) or Xmas any time soon. The old spellings work perfectly fine for me.

I suppose if a Hindu or a Jew wants to celebrate Xmas by putting up an Xmas tree and buying Xmas presents for their friends, family or coworkers, well, that doesn't bother me. Christmas begins for me during Advent as we prepare for His birth and is celebrated in church. For me it is primarily a Christian holiday and is only one part of the Christian year and certainly not the most important part. Let anyone who wants have Xmas, I am content as long as I can celebrate Christmas the way I want.

And then there's this version, seen a couple of years ago in the windows of a clothing chain store in Italy:
Merry X-Mess.

hm--us hat recht: X ist das griechische Chi. In der griechischen Literatur wird Christus oft abgekürzt mit den griechischen Buchstaben XP, also Chi Rho, den Anfangsbuchstaben Christi eben. So wird dann aus Christmas eben X-mas.

@Amy-Mimi - You've spoken straight from my own heart - and if I still lived in the US, NO employer would succeed in forbidding me to wish people a Merry Christmas!