Making Memories

I love studying the subject of missions. I think you could call it one of my passions in life. I have witnessed firsthand how much confusion has been created when missionaries try to pass on their own culture instead of the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ. So I work hard in my ministry to examine what I am passing on, and I talk with the people I am discipling about what is Gospel and what is culture. But I know we all have blind spots, and I am sure that no matter how careful I am, I will still somehow pass on my own culture without realizing it. (Just an example: one of our students from Sri Lanka said that men in their villages normally wear a wrap-around sarong.  But the village men were all under the impression that if they decided to become Christians, they would have to start wearing pants.  One elderly man was quite interested in the story of Jesus, but he didn't own any pants, so he never visited the church!)

When Christmas time rolls around, I always feel this struggle even more. So much of the way we celebrate Christmas in the west has nothing to do with Jesus and His birth. I mean, what do Frosty the Snowman and Silver Bells have to do with anything? Many American Christmas traditions have been borrowed by Filipinos, and this adds to the confusion. It is hard to explain to a student from Vietnam why the mall in the Philippines has fake snow hanging from the ceiling and pictures of reindeer painted on the windows, while we celebrate the birth of our Savior born in Bethlehem!

So today, I invited my IGSL discipleship group to my home. We had lunch together and then talked about what we see on Christmas cards. (I always save all the Christmas cards I get, and use them for times like this!) We looked at the cards, and talked about Christmas symbols that are biblical, connecting them to the Christmas story in the Bible. Those were easy: the star, the manger, the shepherds, etc. 

Then we talked about the symbols that western Christians like to use, like evergreen trees (representing eternal life) and candles (representing Jesus as the Light of the World). These are not found in the Bible, but they have a spiritual meaning for us. And we also talked about Rudolph and Frosty and how they got into the mix--it was fun! Then we recycled the cards and made some Christmas decorations of our own. The commercial aspect of Christmas has found its way into every corner of Asia, so they were glad to be able to understand the symbols so they can explain them to their friends and neighbors in the years to come.

We had a lot of fun, made good memories, and enjoyed each other.  I pray they will be able to find ways to create their own symbols and traditions to share the story of Christmas with people in their own countries when they go home.