The Culture of Christmas
A few years ago I spent quite a bit of time in the West African country of Liberia. Liberia is a war-torn country. The land, the people, and the culture have been scarred by going through years of civil war. But one thing seems to remain untouched: Christmas.
I remember we were driving in our little pickup truck back in the bush, on a dirt road where no goes by accident. This road is not on the way to anything. And as we pulled up to this little home with a grass-thatched roof where a pastor and his family were living, there were Christmas lights. Liberia had no electrical service, so it was run by a generator. Where no one could see, where no one would drive by, this one Christian family wanted to celebrate the birth of Christ by lighting up their little hut.
Our street is full of lights. People who don’t know Jesus will still celebrate Christmas by putting lights all over their houses. In Germany last week, I went to the Christmas market in Frankfurt. Hundreds or thousands of people were milling around, celebrating Christmas.
This little baby, born in Bethlehem, still lights up the world. Oh, I recognize that not everyone who puts lights on their houses and celebrates Christmas has a personal relationship with Jesus, and I also recognize that the culture has dumbed down the meaning of Christmas into a consumer holiday. I recognize all that. But the fact still remains that the world comes to a stop on the birthday of our Lord and Savior, and those of us who are Christ-followers have a great opportunity to say to the world, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her King!”
Christmas is an amazing time, celebrated universally around the world. I pray that we will take this opportunity to share our faith.
RSS