Sometimes I wonder why we Christians get so bent out of shape when folks who don’t care about Jesus want to try to “remove Him” from Christmas.
Imagine that your birthday is declared a national holiday. YOUday. Businesses and schools close, parades are held, songs are written, and gifts are exchanged, all to celebrate the gift of YOU.
“This is kinda cool,” you initially think. “But…wait a minute. Most of these people don’t even KNOW me.”
It then dawns on you that it’s not really you they are into at all on YOUday. It’s the day off, the parties, the parades, the presents. Feels wrong, doesn’t it?
So why do we expect people who don’t care about Jesus to honor His birth? For them, it’s always been about the day off, the parties, the parades, and the presents, and we’re living in times when some folks are not afraid to brashly say that out loud.
I don’t presume to know for sure how Jesus feels about that, but I do know that when He physically walked on earth, Jesus expected most people to reject Him. I think He still does.
“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it,” He said (Matthew 7:14).
Jesus didn’t whine about the secular laws of His day. He knew the path to men’s hearts had nothing to do with politics. It still doesn’t. Forcing people to acknowledge His birth doesn’t cause people to yield to Him their hearts … and their hearts are what He’s after.
Is Jesus worthy of being honored? Absolutely! Worthy beyond measure, whether we acknowledge that fact or not.
Jesus said that if we refuse to praise Him, “the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). He is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, and He will be worshipped, whether we do the praising or not.
We’re the ones who lose when we choose not to honor Him.
Do I wish everyone embraced and celebrated Jesus? Sure I do. Is that going to happen in this fallen world? No.
It’s futile for Christians to expect unbelievers to think or act like Christians – at Christmas or any other time of the year.
As Scottish theologian Samuel Rutherford said, “God hath called you to Christ’s side, and the wind is now in Christ’s face in this land; and seeing ye are with Him, ye cannot expect the leeside or the sunny side of the brae (hill).”
Let the world be worldly. It’s what they do. Jesus, I think, simply wants His followers to…well, to follow Him.
So how about if we who call ourselves Christians stop wrangling about nativity scenes on the courthouse lawn and whether the greeter at Stuff-Mart says “Merry Christmas” or “Seasons Greetings,” and instead give Jesus a few gifts He really wants? Here’s a start:
· Read the Bible and pray. Prayer is simply a conversation between two people who love each other. If you love Jesus, talk to Him, and listen to what He has to say to you in His Word.
· Care about the people Jesus cares about. (And, by the way, that’s everybody.) Forgive them, visit them, help them, love them.
· Don’t do in secret what you’d never do if Jesus were physically in your presence.
God isn’t nearly as concerned with the Christmas around us as He is the Christmas inside us. He came to this world so He could come to our hearts…and make them like His own.