Dr. Tony Beam Christian Blog and Commentary

Get guidance on Bible study from C.S. Lewis - Free Course!

Let the True Meaning of Christmas Light up Your Life

  • Tony Beam Dr. Tony Beam's Weblog
  • Published Dec 20, 2005

Do we really know what Christmas is all about?  Could we, like Linus in The Charlie Brown Christmas, eloquently and simply quote the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2?  Simply, and in a very straightforward way, Linus tells Charlie Brown along with millions of children and adult of all ages who have watched this wonderful cartoon for decades just what Christmas is really all about.  It is a television moment that would not be possible in today's totally secularized, postmodern culture.  It is a good thing this episode has become immortalized as a classic or it would have been long ago sanitized of every religious reference.

It would be good for everyone in this world gone made, to take a deep breath and heed the words of Linus as we consider the true meaning of Christmas.  Our world seems to be spinning out of control as all pretense of an objective moral understanding is cast aside in favor of an anything goes subjective morality that is based on public opinion rather than eternal truth. 

Politcally, we have lost the art of debate as it was long ago swallowed up in the acidic partisan incivility that has gripped Washington during the Bush White House years.  Janie B. Cheaney recently wrote a brilliant piece published in World Magazine that because many people choose to walk around in intellectual darkness they are most often found, "gravitating in the direction of the sounds that appeal most to them."  She goes on to say, "They adopt and repeat the phrases that resonate, adding embellishments of their own."  This perfectly describes any kind of debate that focuses on the depth of the darkness rather than attempting to discover the light.

The real Christmas story is about the coming of the Light of the world.  When Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist opened his mouth after being mute because of his lack of faith, he said that Jesus would come, "To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Lk. 1:79 NASV).