Are You Afraid to Say “Merry Christmas”?

        Last week I had lunch with Ernie Dawson, a Gospel singer, and a man with a wonderful testimony.  Ernie came from a tough background, never knew his father, and was raised in a home with a lot of children, and not a lot to eat.  He was telling us about an experience he had in which he had seen a child standing by the road next to a rundown trailer.  Outside the door was a large pile of beer cans.  He felt led to stop and talk to the little boy who told him his father was a drinker who kept the family in poverty.
        Ernie gave the little boy some money to give to his mother, and later he saw the father, and stopped to confront him.  Ernie gently but firmly told that father that he was wasting his life, failing his responsibility to his family, and that he needed Jesus Christ in his life.  The father got angry, but a couple of weeks later, when Ernie checked back, the trailer had been cleaned up, the little boy was dressed in new clothes, and the love of Jesus Christ had started to transform that family.
        Ernie had shown the two faces of  Christian living.  To that little boy, he had been kind, tender, supportive, and helpful.   To that irresponsible sinful father, he had been firm, truthful and uncompromising in speaking the truth.  As I see it, that is exactly how Jesus conducted His ministry.   To the victims of His day, He was gentle; He healed, fed and loved them to the point where they saw His divinity.  To the sinful of His day, He confronted, told the truth, and said the things they did not want to hear.  Ernie said that that father reacted angrily when he was confronted.  Many of Jesus’ listeners did not like what they heard.  But Ernie was courageous, and without his courage, that family would not have changed; that father would have never repented. 
         What is wrong with our churches today?  In fact, what is wrong with much of  organized Christianity today?  We want only to be one face or the other.  We want half the Gospel, but not the Whole Truth.  We need to be Christians who love without hesitation, who give to the point of sacrifice, and who truly care about those who are in need.  But we also need to be tough in our love.  We need to be confrontational sometimes, and we need to not be afraid of “offending” or making someone angry. 
        I see liberal pastors who are afraid of confrontation in the face of  sin.  I see conservative pastors who are legalistic and loveless toward sinners.  I believe Jesus can teach us how to be effective in our ministries if we will remember that there are two faces, the face of compassion, and the face of confrontation.
       Christians have surrendered much in our nation.  Many Christians have become timid, and have bought the lie that we must avoid “offending” others at any cost.  Remember Peter by the fire, who out of cowardice  denied his Lord three times?  Many have chosen to deny their Lord to the point that even saying “Merry Christmas” is cause for them to be embarrassed.  We need to be bold and confident in identifying with Jesus Christ.  Without Him, we would be lost. 
       At this Christmas Season, celebrate Him!  This is a wonderful time of the year;  it is more than a “holiday;”  it is a time to give thanks to God for His Son.  We need to be loving, and we need to be bold in asserting our faith and our beliefs.
       The controversy about whether one should say “Merry Christmas” for fear of “offending” would have seemed absurd fifty years ago.  It is only because Christians have surrendered, and tried to be “one-sided” Christians, that this situation is even possible.  Love, as our Lord loved, but be courageous and bold as He was.  A timid Christian life is not much of a life at all.
        Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, from all of us at the Radio Bible Hour.