Gift Unparalleled: Christmas Thoughts

Have you ever received a Christmas gift you found excessive? Maybe someone gave you a very large gift you weren't expecting or a card with a high-dollar check in it -- a lot higher than you anticipated.

Unfortunately, such gifts are often met with anxiety, since you perhaps didn't do the same. Sure, you bought that person a gift, too. But chances are yours didn't have the same value. All of a sudden you feel inadequate or embarrassed. How will you make up for the incongruence?

It's strange that this circumstance in a sense highlights the beauty and truth of Christmas. For Christmas, as we should know, is the celebration of God's Son, Jesus entering space and time -- an entrance, and finally a death (crucifixion), necessary and sufficient to wash clean our sin and moral blemishes. With this gift, sin and death lose their sting. With this, we escape the darkness.

But what have we given God in return? Indeed, what can we give? Our time? Our treasure? Surely, we can give those -- and many do -- but they pale. Compared to God's brilliant gift of forgiveness and sacrifice, ours are faint and fleeting. Indeed, the gift of Jesus is essentially unequaled.

We have, then, the epitome of unequal gifting. God presents Himself to us; no return present can come close. But here the similarities to the opening paragraph end. For while we often stand shamed or self-conscious when we can't match large gifts of money or goods, feeling that way when receiving God's Christmas gift has no point. For it was Jesus Himself who said that He came not to condemn the world, but to save it. As we wash our sin in Jesus's blood and revel in our new, eternal life, God too revels.

God, then, is the paragon of giving. For upon our utter inability to match His ultimate present, we feel not embarrassment or anxiety. Alas, those are vanquished. Peace and rejoicing instead enter in.

Apologetic Myths

Myth #1: "If there are no good arguments for Christianity, it's not a rational belief."

Reply: This is a sentiment often believed by even the most dedicated Christians, especially those trying to do apologetics. However, it's simply a misconception. The book of Romans clearly states that we come to know the living God via His Spirit testifying to our spirit that He is the Truth. But surely God can do this even if we have no good arguments for Christianity. We can therefore know Christianity is true even if we have good external evidence (or even if there were good evidence against it). But then certainly if we know it to be true, we are rational in believing it so.

Myth #2: "We have to be highly aggressive in our claims and arguments for Christianity when approaching the skeptic."

Reply: Popular apologists often reflect this understanding when they attempt to make big claims like, "Jesus's Resurrection has as much evidence as Napoleon's existence." While this may be true, nothing this strong has to be claimed in order for us to present a good case for the faith. All we'd have to say is that there is enough historical evidence for the Resurrection that it can be established as a fact based on historical measures alone. This more modest claim is both easier to establish to the skeptic (thereby giving us a higher probability of success in establishing it) and sufficient to prove the event evidentially.

Myth #3: "If someone isn't a Christian, we should do our best at presenting a rational case for the faith to them right away."

Reply: But what if they are simply in need of the Gospel message? Many people simply see the compelling truth of the Gospel upon hearing it or meditating on it. For these, an apologetic isn't needed and may act as a hindrance or distraction to this person's newfound relationship with Christ. It's best to simply give people the Gospel first. If they object, bring on the apologetic.