Sharing the Ultimate Gift this Christmas

God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and love and of self-discipline.  So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord.”     2Ti 1:7-8a

Immanuel… God with Us!  What a gift!  We have the privilege of experiencing the presence of the Trinity by engaging our Holy God, by the Spirit, through the Son.  We can rest in God’s very presence for eternity.  No matter what our circumstances, we’ll never be lonely as our Lord inhabits our hearts and renews our minds and purposes to work through us during our time in the flesh.  Our duty is to obediently share this reality with others through our testimony… what we say and do.  As those commanded to be His witnesses to a confused, hurting, and enslaved world, we have a wonderful opportunity this Christmas season to creatively share His gospel in personal, heartfelt ways.

The wise men of the east brought gifts to the baby Jesus.  We’re called instead to bring the gift of our testimony in Christ to others as a selfless act of His love.  Beyond simply being an eternal cure for loneliness, our union with Christ draws us into His eternal plan and parade of disciples privileged to share the Good News with family, friends, work associates, and others we meet along the way.  Every vacation and trip, errand to a local store, and restaurant meal is a “short-term missions” opportunity to greet others in the name of Christ, ask how we can pray for them, and generally share the hope that we have in Christ.  To act as Christ’s ambassador we must, of course, shake off the political correctness of our age and care enough for others to ‘risk something’ for what we believe.  In the process, we need to engage others not as if we have something we’ve earned, but as those thankful for Christ’s selfless sacrifice on our behalf.  The reality is that our guilt precedes God’s outpouring of grace – through Christ’s life, shed blood and resurrection – which prompts our gratitude.  

This Christmas, instead of fuming over our politically-correct public square, why not personally redeem this time by being intentional with sharing our testimony and greeting others with a warm Christmas greeting?  Rather responding with the customary “Merry Christmas,” how about something more likely to prompt reflection, such as, “Christ’s love to you.”  Most people, including many who are ‘churched,’ have never heard a heartfelt sharing of the gospel by someone they know and respect.  Many who ‘know us’ don’t really know that we trust in Christ’s completed work on our behalf and are thankful for an eternal relationship that couldn’t be earned by our own works or righteousness.  As business leaders, our standing with many we meet enables our testimonies to be heard and deeply considered, even by those who have long since tuned-out Sunday pulpit appeals.
 
During our Christmas celebrations and travels with work associates and family, we have many opportunities to reach others with Christ’s love and truth.   What are your plans?  A couple of questions:

• How can you share Christ’s love in interacting with retail, restaurant, and seasonal service providers?  [Beyond greetings and praying for them, there are inexpensive Christmas-theme gospel tracts from sources such as the Billy Graham Association].
• How will you reach family members who may not know Christ? [Beyond a Christ-centered family Christmas letter, consider gifting a gospel-sharing work of fiction (e.g., Randy Alcorn’s novels) or a fresh, gospel-centered apologetic written to both engage skeptics and disciple believers (e.g., Tim Keller’s NY Times bestseller The Reason for God, now in paperback).    
• How will you share the gospel with those you’ve been entrusted with in the workplace? [Ideas: (1) year-end Christmas letter and thank-you, and/or (2) personal gospel presentation at company Christmas party by CEO, chaplain or a staff member