December 2017
Christmas Celebrating Diversity
Mrs. Haema Henry, Chennai
Christmas is widely perceived as a
celebration that involves snow, gifts,
decorated evergreen trees, parties and so
on. The truth is, many of us celebrating
Christmas have never, ever seen snow!
Christmas is celebrated in so many diverse,
culture-specific ways around the globe and
we naturally get upset over this irreligious
stereotyping. big, some small. Some needed to talk. Some
had to stay quiet. Some were visible and
noticeable. Others were inconspicuous.
The only common factor was that they had
to OBEY. They had to say YES. Yes to
different jobs, different responsibilities.
However, they were diverse roles requiring
different actions.
While we disapprove of this
stereotyping, sometimes, we Christians are
guilty of the same mind set. Some of us feel
that Christmas should be celebrated in a
sobre manner, and complain that those
who have flashy celebrations are not 'good
Christians.' Going beyond Christmas, we
tend to believe that ministry should be done
in one particular way, that our way of
worship is the only acceptable way, our
church doctrine is the only one to get us to
heaven, and so on. We find it difficult to
appreciate ministries which operate in a
manner completely different from ours. We
worship a God who has created each
individual uniquely. Having created us
uniquely, He has placed us in different
cultures and environments. So, the way we
minister or worship may be entirely
different from another, and yet, each of us
sould be doing exactly what God intended
for us. Spotlights and Backdrops
Let us look at the different individuals
whom God had picked for various roles in
the Christmas narrative that unfolded two
millennia ago. Each of them was given a
particular responsibility. Some roles were
Luke begins his narration of the events
surrounding the first Christmas with the
account of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Their
service involved being faithful through
years of barrenness and the associated
pain. They come into the spotlight with the
events of Luke 1, and then just retreat into
the backdrop, having to raise their God
given son in the way they were asked to.
Raising a child, who would be a mighty
servant of God, may be the great
responsibility given to a certain believing
couple. It is easy for us, who are active with
various ministries to say that the couple do
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