In A Relationship

I’m running out of opportunities to tell you Merry Christmas. December is quickly being swallowed by a new year, but the best part is still to come. I sure do love Christmas!

 It’s been an unusual December having spent 10 days traveling to Chad, Africa. Even in “winter” the highs reach the 90’s so most of my Christmas thoughts consisted of Mele Kalikimaka. The Chadian Christmas Season presented quite the paradox for my northern hemisphere, western mind, but in a good way. It was great to see the heart of Christmas from a new perspective.

Christmas in Chad is a lot like our Thanksgiving. There were few decorations, advertisements, or outward symbols that Christmas was approaching. There were no extended preparations of buying gifts or ironing out schedules. For many Christians in Chad, Christmas consists of an all-day church gathering and lots of food! I think I’m part Chadian! There is something special about a good meal and the ability of food to bring us together. In case you’re wondering what might be served, it will likely be fish, chicken, goat, rice, and a lot of fruit! The food in Chad is delicious, the epitome of farm to table!

Having spent several days in Chad, it was a sharp dichotomy in the Paris and NYC airports. Both had been turned into winter wonderlands with shops filled to brim. I was happy to see the shops. I like shoes as much as the next guy. It was the radical change of perspective that caught my attention.

Perhaps we’ve picked up a few extra wrappings when it comes to Christmas. We have a different perspective and that’s o.k., but the heart of Christmas is the same around the world. That’s my takeaway from seeing Christmas from a new perspective: the common ground.

What am I most excited about this Christmas? Seeing my children with their grandparents on Christmas Day. That is something that hasn’t happened to the Rush family in several years. It is relationships that are at the heart of Christmas and that stand out around the globe. The extra wrapping around our Christmas traditions may create challenges to maintain the heart, but it’s always there at the core.

Christmas is synonymous with relationship because it demonstrates God’s heart of pursuit! Relationship. Think about that word and the reality that God wants one with us! He doesn’t need a relationship with us, He doesn’t demand a relationship with us, He wants relationship with us. Even when we did everything possible to reject relationship with God, He wrapped on flesh and came to us in a manger. A totally selfless act, yes, to save us from sin, but even more, to bring us to Himself.

People are messy. Relationships are hard. We all are quite selfish. And yet God sent His Son, heaven on earth. If we take relationship out of Christmas, the essence of Christmas ceases to be. Christmas is about relationship. God sent His Son to be with us. He did the unthinkable so that we could be with Him forever.

The gift of Jesus is the ideal for our pursuit of relationships too. We’ll fall short, but in a world that encourages us to walk away from people when it gets hard, I would challenge us to lean in this Christmas. What are the relationships that we need to pursue?

Even when we had walked away, God sent His Son.

Craig Rush