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Frank Allnutt
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There are Christians who lament that the true message of Christmas reaches little of the unbelieving world because it gets lost in the secularization, commercialization, culturalization and hustle and bustle of the season. I count myself among them. I am deeply concerned also that many Christians miss the hidden meaning of Christmas. Now, most Christians will probably agree that the true message of Christmas is capsulated in the pronouncement of the angel of the Lord that first Christmas: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Indeed, Jesus Christ the Lord is our Savior! We hear that message not only at Christmas time, but throughout the year in our churches. Yet, there is more to the Christmas message than that. Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. And, after becoming a Christian and starting a family, celebrating the birth of Jesus made it all the more special. But, after a few years of hearing simplistic renditions of the Christmas story, I became restless in my soul. At first, I thought I was just getting bored with hearing the same story year after year. Then, I realized that the restlessness in my soul was not restlessness at all—it was a hunger. I hungered for something beyond what I had always heard and was experiencing in my Christian walk. But what was that something? What possibly could be missing? Or could it be that I had simply missed the point over all those years? But what was the point? By that time in my life I had written several Christian books, some of which became best-sellers. I was a Christian book publisher. I published a magazine for which I reviewed hundreds of Christian books. But I never found the missing message of Christmas. I’ve fallen asleep in front of TV while watching the umpteenth reruns of Bible epics such as “The Robe,” “The Ten Commandments,” “Ben Hur” and other cast-of-thousands costume spectaculars. One of my favorite Christmas movies is “A Christmas Carol.” And, yet, though Old Ebenezer Scrooge might have gotten into the spirit of Christmas, I don’t think he found the missing message of Christmas. I never found it either—not in “A Christmas Carol” or any other Hollywood offering. I’ve dragged myself from in front of a cozy, warm fireplace on blizzardy nights to attend Christmas Eve services. I’ve culled my kids from their presents on early Christmas mornings to hurriedly get them fed, dressed and loaded into the van for that frantic dash to make church on time. I’ve patronized reenactment after reenactment of the shepherds in the fields, the three wise men, and the manger scene, and gushed over my kids when they took part. I’ve politely sat through repeats of the same stories in Christmas sermon after sermon. I’ve dozed off at Christmas cantatas, grew warm and fuzzy over the spectacle of living Christmas trees, and sung Christmas carols and hymns to my heart’s content. But I never found the missing message of Christmas in any of it. Then I entered a period of my life in which I experienced great loss and anguish. Walt Disney had tabbed me for public relations. I was a best-selling author of several Christian books. I was happily-married and had three wonderful children. We had many Christian friends and a church home where I taught the Bible and served as chairman of the deacon board. Then I lost it all—an unwanted divorce, years of unemployment and under-employment, and finally, bankruptcy. My self-esteem hit rock-bottom. I had built my identity around those things that eventually slipped through my hands. Without them, I was lost. I didn’t know who I was anymore. At first, I did everything I was taught to do to live the Christian life. I confessed my sins, asked for forgiveness, read more of the Bible, prayed more often and more fervently, exercised more faith and tried harder—always tried harder! Where was God in it all? I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was on a do-it-myself roller-coaster that was getting me nowhere but up, then down. I believed that Jesus had forgiven my sins, had sent the Comforter to me, and had given me eternal life. I knew also that He had already won the spiritual war. But, I found myself on the losing side of a lot of personal battles. Every time I tried to soar on wings like eagles, and every time I tried to replace that which I had lost, I crashed and burned. Why would my loving Heavenly Father allow this to happen to one of His children? I never once blamed Him...but I was perplexed to my wits end. Another Christmas rolled around. Needless to say, I was not in the Christmas spirit. Christmas is when we celebrate the incarnation—God taking on human form. Certainly, I needed forgiveness, and I believed that Jesus mercifully met that need. But I needed something beyond forgiveness—I needed to learn how to get through the day! I needed something greater than my temptations, greater than my stresses, and greater than myself! Whoever “self” was. I didn’t know anymore. Something was terribly wrong in my life and I didn’t know what it was. Something was missing. Ah, yes!—the missing message of Christmas! But where was it hidden? The only place I could think of was the Bible (duh). But, I had already read it through several times, studied much of it intensely, and memorized many verses. But, I never found the missing message of Christmas. Even so, I was willing to delve into the Scriptures one more time. This time proved to be different. For, in short order, something extraordinarily wonderful came my way: a greater depth of insight into the scriptures, and the exhilarating anticipation that I was finally on to something! Yes—at last, I discovered the missing message of Christmas. Rather, I should say, it found me. And it wasn’t even at Christmas time. To begin, the eyes of my heart were opened by what Jesus said about the purpose of His coming: “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25, 26); “I give eternal life to them” (John 10:28). And, the Apostle John later wrote: “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true even in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). The “abundant life,” according to the temporal definition I held then, was gone. It was confusing to me at first—why would God give me an abundant life then take it away from me? It took me a long time to sort it all out, but I finally came to understand that the abundant life is not worldly abundance, but rather personal, spiritual abundance in the person of Jesus Christ. Indeed, Jesus is the abundant life! Up till then, I thought God had made my life eternal. But Scripture clearly tells us that Jesus “is the true God and eternal life.” Jesus is eternal life! There is only one eternal life, and Jesus is that life! I no longer have a life of my own, but the life I have is the eternal life of Christ that was shared with me at the time of my salvation. Like the Apostle Paul, I can proclaim: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of god, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). The birth of Jesus was not an end in itself—neither was the cross or the resurrection. I had to look beyond the manger, beyond the cross, beyond even the ascension if I was going to see Christmas from God’s perspective. What I needed to understand was that if God came to only forgive me of my sins, but left me coping in self-sufficiency, then all I became was a forgiven coper. And I didn’t need to pray more and pray harder for Him to help me live in my own kind of way. What I needed was for Him to live His life in me and through me. And that necessitated a change of heart on my part—from self-centered half-heartedness to Christ-centered wholeheartedness. As simplistic as a change of heart might sound, it is a deeply profound, spiritual reality. It’s not an event but a life-long process...a process involving you and the Holy Spirit...the process of your being conformed into Christ's likeness...a process of experiencing Christ as life...a process though which you can proclaim, as Paul did: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me...!” (Galatians 2:20). In retrospect, I know that everything that has happened in my life has had a place in God’s purpose—my futile attempts to create my own identity, and all my losses and pains! All of that served to break me of my fruitless, fleshly quest for self-sufficiency—of my stubborn pride and self-will. Brokenness lurks on the path of the cross many of us must travel—until we reach that lowest of low points along the way, as did a conrite-hearted David (Psalm 51), until we relinquish control of our lives and wholeheartedly yield ourselves to God. Or, to put it another way, when we undergo a change of heart that leads to giving up a self-centered life in exchange for a Christ-centered life. Chuck Swindoll, writing in his book, Improving Your Serve, expresses the process and blessings of brokenness so well: “Since my heavenly Father is committed to shaping me into the image of His Son, He knows the ultimate value of this painful experience. It is a necessary part of the preparation process. It is being used to empty our hands of our own resources, our own sufficiency, and turn us back to Him—the faithful Provider. And God knows what will get through to us.” Chuck goes on to quote “Empty Hands,” by an unknown poet. This poem has meant much to me, and I’ve placed it on the following page to share with you.
I pray that this message will give new meaning to your celebration of the birth of Jesus this Christmas...and that you will experience the fullness of Christ in your heart throughout the season and forever after. This article is available in booklet form (16 pages, 4" x 7", $6.00). _______________ |
