A Festivus Miracle

"What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to." 1 John 3:1 (The Message)

I don't know about other Christians out there, but I often get frustrated when the world doesn't understand me. Like, when I tell a friend, "I'll pray for you," and they stutter and stammer, "uh, yeah, um, thanks. I can use all the good thoughts I can get."

Last night, I attended a Winter Chorale Concert at a local high school. Great music, good production, overall well done. There is no doubt if you only listened to the music, that this was a Christmas production- not a Winter production, a Christmas production. Silent Night was sung. Christmas trees were everywhere (as opposed to Festivus poles). And as the choir belted out the "Halleluja" chorus from Handel's Messiah, more than half the crowd stood in reverence and worship. But, here's the thing. Why not call it a Christmas Concert? What's the harm? Why wouldn't one of the teachers mention, even in passing, that Christmas was coming? Would it really be out of place given that the 180 students on stage were singing "King of Kings - Lord of Lords" at the top of their High School Musical lungs?

Some people are too politically correct for Christmas. Some people are constrained by their environment. But, the truth is, my real annoyance comes when people I talk to don't immediately see the benefits of following Christ like I try to follow Him. I just want to point to my family and how He's blessed me and say, "Don't you see what it's like to follow Christ? Don't you see how you can be blessed?"

But the truth is, and John wrote it, they don't. The world doesn't understand because they don't know what He's up to. And as long as the world doesn't understand Christ, they won't be on board with Christmas. And that has to be okay with me.