What offends you about Christmas? Does it bother you when someone says, “Happy Holidays”? How about when someone wishes you a “Merry Christmas”? The notion of a baby being born in a barn with animals and shepherds all around is kind of cute. Tinsel, presents, trees with lights? That’s the fun stuff. What’s to get offended about?
It’s pretty clear that all of that, even the baby in a manger, is pretty harmless stuff. Doug at Parchment and Pen absolutely nails the essence of the offensiveness of the Christian holiday of Christmas – the need for and the act of the incarnation of Christ:
The incarnation of the second member of the Trinity is an event so glorious, so mysterious and so wonderful we should celebrate it everyday. It should radically transform our lives and affect everything we do. But in addition to being glorious, mysterious, and wonderful, the incarnation is a powerful indictment of every person who has ever lived. Jesus’ birth is a judgment that says we are all guilty before a holy, righteous, and just God, and that we can do nothing to save ourselves from his wrath. Without Jesus we are lost, utterly without hope, condemned. We are in desperate need of a savior. And the idea of a defenseless infant being our savior sprinkles our indictment with a bit of humiliation.
Quite frankly, that is pretty offensive. Being told your are wrong, lost, helpless, hopeless, and condemned doesn’t exactly make you want to celebrate by running out to buy presents for your friends and family and trimming up the tree. At a time when Christianity in America has been so focused on seeker-sensitive services and has gone to great lengths not to offend anyone, Christians have forgotten a very important truth: the Gospel is offensive.
In fact, if the offensiveness of the Gospel is removed then there is no Gospel left. Without an understanding of what we need to be saved from we would never recognize or even look for a savior. For Jesus to come into the world as a savior without offending anyone makes no sense. Jesus didn’t come into the world as a good example, he came to do what we could not do for ourselves. A drowning man must understand his circumstance accurately to recognize the hand that will pull him to safety and give him a reason to grab it. The offensiveness of the Gospel is what makes it Good News since it reveals what we are saved from and why we need a savior, as well as who that savior is.
Now that’s what Christmas is about. Merry Christmas!
December 23rd, 2008 05:55 am
can you help me
December 23rd, 2008 07:19 am
Hoang,
If you’re struggling, I can certainly bring you before the Lord in prayer. He promises that if we seek Him, He is faithful to be found by us. that’s Scripture-speak, for “He is listening, always, to those who genuinely seek Him.”