According to recent surveys, more than 90 percent of your neighbors plan to celebrate Christmas this year (at least if you live in America). They are unlikely to observe the Muslim Ramadan, the Hindu festival Diwali or Buddhism’s holiest day, Vesak. But every year, 300 million Americans still choose to celebrate Christmas, despite 75% of them not being able to accurately explain what Christmas means.
They will meet up with friends and family. They will enjoy hearty meals and fancy parties. They will decorate trees, string lights, give generous gifts and perhaps join in a Christmas carol or two. They might even be among the 50 percent of Americans who say they plan to attend a Mass on Christmas Eve or Day (Pew). But for three out of four Americans, it will be a hollow holiday, a Christmas without Christ. Unless, of course, the other of these four chooses to introduce them to the One who can heal them and fill them with hope, peace and joy.
At Christmas, Jesus “came to seek and save those who were lost” (Luke 19:10). Will you join him and use one of the most useful times of the year to be part of Christ’s mission? The harvest is still plentiful, but are fewer and fewer Christians willing to work the Christmas fields and enjoy the Christmas harvest? Christ said, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest” (John 4:35).
Consider twelve ways we might sow and reap this Christmas.
1. Host
The holidays offer a myriad of opportunities to welcome people to your home. You can invite others to family meals, dinners, work parties, dessert parties, neighborhood functions, or school holiday celebrations. Christmas gives you the opportunity to come together for everything from a Secret Santa to ugly Christmas sweaters to a good Christmas movie.
The presence of a Christian is powerful; our aroma is perceptible (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). God can impart His knowledge to others through your marriage, your family culture, your decorations, your library, your artwork, your language, your face, your kindness, and, most explicitly, your words.
2. Say grace
As you host, consider how you might follow some of the normal rhythms of your home, such as praying before meals. Whether in front of a crowd or at your table, you might say something like, “Well, thank you for joining us and being our guests.” Before the evening gets away from us (or before we start eating), let me give thanks to God for you, this food, and this Christmas season.
I can’t imagine anyone balking at a prayer that asks for hope in life, asks for help in times of illness, and thanks God for the joy and love that comes through Christ. Take the opportunity to share the good news of the Gospel through a Christmas prayer. And as you pray for them specifically, expect God to answer!
3. Invite personally
Many of us have asked a friend or neighbor, “Would you like to come to our Christmas Eve service?” The focus of this question is on the event itself and their desire to attend. Instead, consider asking: “Would you like come with me at our Christmas Eve service? The focus of this last question is on the relationship, not the event, and on their availability, not their desire.
Invite them personally – without texting – face to face, with card in hand, to a Christmas Eve service. with youor at a Christmas dinner with you and other Christians, or to attend your child’s Christmas play with you. Connect the invitation to you, not the event. Jesus invites us into relationship. When we say, “Would you like to come with me?” we use much the same tone as Jesus when he said, “Come and you will see” (John 1:39) and “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19).
4. Ask with interest
One of the ways we manifest the mind of Christ is by paying attention to others (Philippians 2:3-8). Our questions, our sincere attention, and our offer to pray with others in times of fear, uncertainty, hurt, or joy destroy distant, lifeless visions of God and help communicate a warm, welcoming, safe Heavenly Father and intimately known.
Ask someone if the Christmas season is a time of pleasure or pain, or a mixture of both. Are the holidays an easy or more difficult time for them? Ask them what their childhood Christmas was like or if they have any lasting Christmas memories – good or bad. Christmas is a time to show how much God cares about them and about them.
5. Give meaningfully
Can you think of a gift you could give a neighbor, co-worker, or family member that communicates thoughtfulness because you remember something that person said or did? Explain why you thought of him. Most often, the best gifts are personal. God gives this kind of gift. Consider gifting an ornament, framing a photo, purchasing art, purchasing a book, signing a Bible, or printing a poem. Attach a handwritten note. They will perhaps never forget it and never part with it.
6. Respond thoughtfully
Sometimes asking thoughtful questions means we will receive questions in return. “What are you doing for Christmas?” “What are your Christmas traditions?” » “What will Christmas Eve or Christmas morning be like?” » “How do you celebrate Christmas?” Be prepared to take your turn or answer their questions as well.
How will you talk about reading the Christmas story from the Bible? How will you talk about attending a Christmas service? How can we explain Jesse trees, Advent wreaths or Christmas nativity scenes? Your answers can shatter superficial cultural conceptions of Christmas and replace emptiness with real, heavenly hope. Be prepared to give “the reason for the hope that is in you” this Christmas (1 Peter 3:15).
7. Pray faithfully
Consider praying each day between now and Christmas for a neighbor, co-worker, family member, child, sibling, or parent. What could God do in you and others during three weeks of concerted prayer? Prayer keeps friends and loved ones before God, but it also keeps them in your mind and then in your plans as God establishes them (Proverbs 16:9). May this Christmas not be without prayer.
8. Share the story
Christmas is often a particularly inviting time to share the gospel story. Tell others that God created us for relationship, that our distrust and disobedience has broken that relationship, that Christ was born and died to restore that relationship for all who trust in Him, and that one day the people of God will be reunited with him in heaven and on the new earth. Share the gospel story of the bad news, the good news, and the future news. This is the best news!
9. Forgive fully
You will inevitably be wronged or disrespected this Christmas by your spouse, children, friends, co-workers, neighbors or even strangers. When you are, you have two options: take them hostage in your bitterness, or forgive them as you have been forgiven (Matthew 6:12). Each time you pray the Our Father, you ask to be forgiven as you have forgiven others. Don’t be a Christian Scrooge, but release all resentment into the loving hands of Jesus. Don’t just talk about forgiveness, but show it. When you do this, others may realize they need it too.
10. Ask for forgiveness
Apologizing and asking for forgiveness can guide us toward the gospel. The three phrases “I’m sorry. I was wrong. Will you forgive me?” are powerful and rare. When we say it to another, we acknowledge our sinfulness and our need for grace. At Christmas, when you see your sin, recognize it, admit it, apologize and ask for forgiveness. Those asking may have never heard someone apologize so sincerely. God can use our words as a model for them to pray: “Have mercy on me, a sinner” ( Luke 18:13).
11. Serve selflessly
The Christmas story reminds us that Jesus “came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45). If Jesus served you so sacrificially, are you not free from yourself and free to serve others? Serve by washing dishes, throwing away wrapping paper, baking, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or serving a family in need. Jesus came as a suffering servant, and we can reflect that by serving and relieving suffering of all kinds.
12. Visit the emergency room on Christmas Eve
Jesus spent time with those who were suffering. He healed the bleeding woman, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, offered assurance to the sinner, and restored ability to the disabled. He reversed the effects of the curse wherever he traveled. No one wants to end up in the emergency room on Christmas Eve. But what if caring believers gave them a hand, a hug, or a prayer to help them through this ordeal?
Christmas is one of the most celebrated times of the year. May these twelve ways of Christmas give you ample opportunity to invite others to your celebration.