This is War

"What I beleive about God is the most important thing about me." - A.W. Tozer

To be honest, I am not much of a Tozer fan, altho I can't profess to have read tons of his writing. However, that having been said, I do think that this is the sort of quote that you have to sit up and take notice of. The sheer scope of it demands a thoughtful, lingering response. 

I have been thinking about it lately, particularly as it relates to Christmas. What do we really think of the Jesus who's birth we are preparing to celebrate? Sure, there are the normal, stock answers: he was a teacher, he was a prophet, he was a good moral guy. And, the fact is that the responses to these sorts of claims are well written and easy to find. 

A few years ago I was sent an article by a good friend entitled, "Putting Herod back in Christmas." (I tried to quick google search but couldn't find the original, altho I noticed a number of other entries of the same title). The point of the article was simply this: Jesus wasn't a little child in a manger, "no crying he makes." Rather, he was born to unwed parents, was dirt poor, was born in backwater Bethlehem under anything but stable conditions, was welcomed by low life shepherds and religious leaders of anything but what we would consider stellar religious pedigree. Then, to top it all off, Jesus parents knew poverty fear and lived with the Son of God in hiding for the simple reason that when he was born Herod tried to assassinate baby Jesus by murdering every male child under the age of two in the whole region. 

In short, Jesus arrival wasn't idyllic. It was ANYTHING but Hallmark. It was a messy, ugly, gritty entrance into a world that evidenced the brokenness in profound ways at his birth.

So, I find myself drawn to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0RbWg0UCKE&hd=1

It's not the sort of thing most of us want to see at Christmas. Most of our suburban senses would be offended and pastors will resist showing this sort of a video because they will fear the emails and letters they will get. And yet, it seems to present to us a way of thinking about Jesus that is left out of Christmas. That said, is it all right? Are all the theological nuances there in the video - nope. Nothing's perfect. But, lack of perfection/ completeness shouldn't preclude us from considering that there is more than one way to look at this Christmas season we are approaching.

Merry Christmas