A Christmas Bridge

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!”