‘As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God’. (Psalm 42:1)In the lead up to Christmas an Australian Drive Time radio presenter, himself an atheist, was criticised for including a seven minute segment on his show titled: Do you know the story of Jesus’ birth? Listeners complained that it was inappropriate and offensive for him to cover the topic of religion and Christianity. One person tweeted, ‘We are a secular country, and the national broadcaster is supposed to be too.’
This is not just an Australian problem, this week The Times, in an article titled: Losing our Religion: Christianity poised to become a minority, reported that the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed that only 51% of people in England and Wales described themselves as Christians.
Like Australia, we are becoming an increasingly secular society where people want to ‘keep Christmas’, but any mention of Jesus is regarded as ‘inappropriate’ or ‘offensive’. Yet the Christian message is that God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ, without losing his divinity, in order to save people from their sins (Matthew 1:21)
. This message may seem foolish to some and be a stumbling block to others (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23)
, yet it is the hope of the world and the reason for our rejoicing.
Christmas is a good time to find our religion, not lose it. It’s a time to find our voice and tell people the good news about the Saviour, Jesus, entering our world for our salvation.
Why not give it a try?
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Barry
