The Christmas season is upon us. I love everything Christmas
– I am like a little kid. My favorite movie is It’s a Wonderful Life. I love Charlie
Brown’s Christmas, How the Grinch
Stole Christmas, Rudolf the Red-Nosed
Reindeer, and almost every version of Christmas
Carol (even the musical version). I love Christmas trees, Christmas music,
Christmas cards, Christmas dinners, exchanging gifts, manger scenes and red and
green decorations.
There is no doubt that many of our Christmas customs were
based upon pagan influence and that Christmas in America has become commercialized.
I have asked myself, “How should we as Christians celebrate Christmas in this
pluralistic post-Christian society?” Christmas has become an integral part of
American culture.
Some Christians say that we should not celebrate Christmas
because of its worldly attachments. The
Bible does not tell us to or how to celebrate the birth of Christ. There are
some who get angry at department store clerks who wish them Happy Holidays.
Some feel that we should have no tolerance for anything that appears worldly
and we should withdraw from society to protect ourselves from spiritual
defilement.
Christ saves and converts people within their own culture.
We are called to bring revival, restoration and reformation to our society. We
are called to make a difference in our communities, jobs, families and culture.
We are called to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world and to be
ambassadors to our culture of the Kingdom
of God. We are not called
to separate ourselves into monastic clubs with our own language, culture,
literature and events.
Many of us speak about our need for credibility and
relevance in our culture. I began to wonder how we can apply this to the
Christmas season. One secular radio station started playing Christmas music in
early November. Christmas advertisements are coming earlier each year. Our
culture is talking about Christmas for at least two months each year. How can
we use this as a bridge rather than as a barrier?
Some things cannot be separated: God’s greatness and his
goodness (Ps 62:11-12), faith and works (James 2:14-17), grace and truth (John
1:14), love and holiness. James 1:27 says that we must do two things at the
same time: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep
oneself from being polluted by the world. Because of God’s love for us, he
became flesh and walked in our midst (John 1:14). God entered into our culture
to live and share the message of the gospel. He was able to do this and remain
holy. He was called a friend of “sinners.” Philippians 2:6-7 in referring to
Christ Jesus reads, “Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality
with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
I have often wondered why there were so many angels at the
birth of Christ (Luke 2:13) and only a couple at his resurrection (Matthew
28:2). I have speculated a reason. This is in no way to minimize the importance
of the resurrection; the Resurrection is our hope (Titus 2:13) and without it
we are still in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). To the angels, the raising of
Christ from the dead was expected and foretold clearly by Jesus. There was no
way that Jesus would not have been raised from the dead. But I think that they
were utterly amazed that the Word that was God, was with God and had been from
the beginning had become a little baby (John 1:1, 14). How could the fullness
of Deity live in bodily form in Christ (Colossians 2:9)?
As Linus of Charlie Brown fame quotes Luke 2:14, “Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” The
sovereign, transcendent, holy, all-knowing, eternal God of the universe had
entered into our time, space and culture in order to redeem us and his
creation. They were awestruck as are we.
One of my favorite verses on evangelism is 1 Thessalonians
2:8. It reads, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you
not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so
dear to us.” In order to bring others to Christ, we must be willing to share
our lives with others who do not know him. This involves risk, walking in
transparency, speaking in their language and within their culture. We have a
ready-made bridge to walk over with the Christmas season.
How do we make this practical – Talk to people at work, in
your neighborhood, at the supermarket, at Christmas parties, as you serve in
the community, through Angel Tree and other caring programs and everywhere we
go. Let us be people sharing the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians
5:18-20).
Start up conversations about Christmas. Talk about Charlie
Brown, Scrooge, the Grinch, It’s a
Wonderful Life, Christmas carols, some of your Christmas memories, some of
your Christmas traditions, and listen to some of other people’s traditions and
ways of celebrating the birth of our Lord. Remember, listening is an important
part of conversations and relationships. Listen to the hearts of others around you;
share your life with them and how knowing Jesus has added to your understanding
of Christmas.
I am reminded of the last line of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – “And it was always
said of him (Scrooge), that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man
alive possessed the knowledge." May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And
so, as Tiny Tim observed, "God bless Us, Every One!”
