The world often changes or misrepresents the Christmas story. Should this ruin Christmas for us? Jon Noyes answers no and encourages us to use these occasions as opportunities to share the most important truths about Christmas with others.
Transcript
Let’s keep in mind that people are expecting to hear about Jesus during Christmas. So, let’s make use of this information. It’s a great conversation starter. When they say, “Well, Jesus wasn’t born on December 25,” I know! It’s so crazy. But he was born. That’s the most astonishing part. Yes, we don’t necessarily know the day he was born. There’s lots of stuff we don’t know.
This is a great conversation to have with your friends or family who may not totally align with you in worldview. Just say, “Hey. You know what? There’s a lot from these movies that we’re watching that are not just misrepresentations, but they’re just flat out wrong. But we do know what happened. You know why? Because the events have been preserved in historical documents. We know them as the Gospels, but really what they are is they’re ancient historical records of the life of Jesus, and in two of them, we read about Jesus’ birth.”
It’s important for us to know what the Bible says. In looking at a few of the events, we see that Jesus was indeed born. I love this because when we look at the true picture of Jesus’ birth, it wasn’t surrounded by kings and all this pomp and all this celebration and glory. Jesus was born to humble beginnings. What I find even more incredible is that the first people to worship him weren’t the rich and the powerful. They weren’t kings and queens. They weren’t the magi from far off. But they were common men. They were shepherds. That’s who God chose to reveal the coming of the world’s savior to first. Mary and Joseph with family and shepherds celebrating what’s happened, and I love that. These were men who were considered low on the social ladder during that time, and it’s these men who were the first to see God in the flesh, and it’s these men who spread the word to the world that a Savior was born. That’s the message, and that’s the message that you and I can be sharing this Christmas.
Do the details people get wrong ruin Christmas for us? No. But it is important for us to know the truth. I love having these conversations with people. I presented this material once in my last church, where I was a pastor. Afterward, one woman came up to me and asked, “What am I going to do? This does ruin Christmas. You’re telling me everything I believed about Christmas is wrong.” I slowed her down. I said, “Well, not everything. What are the most important parts?” Well, Jesus’ birth, surely. Right? His virgin birth. His location and then the proceeding events of what happens.
The most important parts are preserved in truth, and it’s important that we pursue truth in all things. We don’t want to be furthering a Christmas lie or myth just because it feels good. We want to tell the truth. But let me say this, too. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy “Little Drummer Boy.” It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your nativity scene, because the truth of the matter is that 2,000-some-odd years ago, God provided the world a Savior, his only begotten Son, as the second person of the Trinity took on flesh to die for sinful men, and that’s the important part.