Christmas is a weird time for Christians. We spend the whole year trying to get Jesus on the agenda, and then before our eyes the mass-media machine has hijacked him, and turned him into a sales tool.
For many years I resented Christmas. Maybe it was because I had a repressed episode with a 'bad Santa' somewhere in my childhood.
Or, more likely, it was the fact that every man and his reindeer seemed to want to own Christmas, when I felt they really had no right to. Christmas is for Christians, not pagans. It's about baby Jesus who grew to a man, who died for our sins. Not some Westfield pageant.
But, I was wrong. Christmas is a profound opportunity to find common ground with a society which has, remarkably, continued to adopt this religious symbol as a common denominator for its primary festive season.
Yes, they might be saying that Jesus is all about presents (not life), but at least they're talking about him, and (some of the time) singing about him.
So, this means that Christmas is vital to the life and times of our ministry. We're nuts if we don't jump on board this annual media frenzy and redeem all that is evil.
But here is the extra problem. We want to make our Christmas events evangelistic. We want to use them to preach the good news to those who know little, if anything, about the practical implications of knowing (and not knowing) Jesus.
Yet, in the process, we often miss the opportunity to remind those in Christ about the profound miracle of the incarnation, and its impact upon our life and ministry. If we're not careful, we'll turn Christmas into a strictly evangelistic event, and miss the opportunity to blow the minds of believers about this stunning event.
So, how can we do both? How can we minister to believers about the profound impact of the incarnation, whilst also ministering to unbelievers about the need to worship the baby who grew to the man who died to save the world?
This is the same issue that faces youth ministers and leaders every week. How do we minister to both believers and unbelievers at the same time?
The answer I've been telling youth leaders for years and years is that they simply need to preach the word of God, and it will achieve both mission and nurture at the same time.
That's why in 2 Timothy 3:15-16 we see that the Scriptures will not only "make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus", but they are also useful "for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training and righteousness". The same Scriptures are useful for both mission and nurture, at the same time.
It's just like anti-dandruff shampoo. When you apply it to your hair, it will both clean the hair and heal the scalp at the same time. You can't separate the two actions, even if you wanted to.
For, when we preach the word of God properly, we will declare that Jesus is Lord. Our job, as we package that message, is to say to the hearers something like this:
"Today we're going to look at the miracle of the birth of Jesus and its impact on the world. Maybe you're a person who trusts in Jesus and follows him as your true king. If that's the case, then today I pray that God's Spirit will show you again the miracle of how the person who created the stars in the universe lowered himself to become a human so that he could rescue us. Or, maybe, you're a person who hasn't yet followed Jesus, and is joining us today to enjoy celebrating the Christmas miracle. If that's you, then my prayer is that as you hear God speak today by the Bible, that you'll want to worship Jesus as king, just like the wise men in today's story. So, turn with me to Luke chapter 2."
Then, when you've finished telling everyone about the birth of Jesus, you can then challenge believers and unbelievers separately, either to continue to follow Jesus as king, or to begin to follow Jesus as king.
The worst thing you can do is turn up to a Christmas event that is 90 percent full of Christians, and treat everyone like they're not yet believers. Do it right and you'll help the Christians be blown away by the incarnation, and you'll lead the non-Christians to come to know Jesus for the first time.
For more on this topic, visit these earlier columns on sydneyanglicans.net:
http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/archive/missionthinking/even_sex_talk_can_be_gospel/
http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/archive/missionthinking/far_reaching_with_dual_action_preaching/
Jodie McNeill is the Executive Director of Youthworks Outdoors.
photo: Strigo
