Merry Christmas

I wrote previously concerning (indirectly) Steve Jobs and the cult of personality that seems to (have) surround(ed) him. I thought it amazing that people were able to look past his faults as a human being all because he gave them something shiny. Then I came across this post from a Christian blogger titled "What Steve Jobs Can Teach The Church." Now he admits that as a person, he can't teach it much, but he looks at one aspect of the way that Steve ran Apple.

Another reason that Apple eschews market research is that in Steve’s opinion, “people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” This to me is a much more telling reason and one that can help inform how the church “does business.” While it may strike some people as elitist, the message of the Christian gospel is exactly the kind of thing that “people don’t know they want until you show it to them.” Perhaps they may feel that something is missing in life, but apart for divine intervention, non-Christians aren’t specifically looking for the truth of the gospel. The gospel simultaneously tells people they are far worse off than they think they are and yet the grace of God is far better than they could ever imagine. It’s just not the kind of message you could “guess” or that any kind of market research would reveal people are looking for.

It is presently three days before Christmas. A time when people look to spend copious amounts of money that they don't have on gifts for the people in their life. Its a time when people look to celebrate by going to as many parties as they can and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Its also a time when many people are hit by bouts depression the most and suicide rates rise. Christmas, or at least how we in the modern western world have taken to celebrating Christmas, is rather a sad time. We talk a good game about love, joy and peace towards our fellow man, but don't get in the way of that frantic shopper on the hunt for the last 'toy of the year' or the person who's had a bit too much egg nog but still decides to drive.

I have no problem with wanting to share things with your loved ones. I have no problem with the idea of having a drink or two while celebrating Christmas. But Christmas is not about shopping, the headaches of overspending or to focus on what we don't have. These are the things that the world tries to shame us with, to make us feel inadequate and incomplete.

No, Christmas is (supposed) to be about celebrating the fact that God loved mankind so much that he sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to live as a man and then to die for the sins of the world. This is the time when we can remember and rejoice knowing that God has intervened, that he has acted on our behalf and that we are loved by our creator. Christmas is a celebration of Christ and because“people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” I want to show you the Gospel of Christ Jesus, for as the Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Romans "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).