It’s here – the most wonderful time of the year.
For most, the thought of Christmas brings the excitement of family gatherings, work parties, and holiday sentiment. For pastors, the thought is typically eagerness, yes, but also a low-level fear that we aren’t doing enough to help people maximise the Christmas season.
The Christmas programming was good last year. How can it be better this year? What can we do as a church to go above and beyond this year—what extra events, special services, or over-the-top music do we need to pull off?
Members often expect a church to be at its best during Christmas, which is a heavy burden that pastors bear. With that in mind, here are four principles for pastors to remember as the Christmas season begins.
1. More is not always better
The basic rhythm of the Christian life is to work for six days and then set apart one day for worship and rest (Exodus 20:11). When properly understood, it is quite freeing for our people, especially us pastors. God did not intend our weeks to be jam-packed nor our Sundays to be an overwhelming load of programming and performance. God has given us a basic rhythm for our good. It’s good to remember that throughout the year, especially during the Christmas season.
Of course, you can add extra elements to bring special attention to the gift of the incarnation: a special choir, an evangelistic outreach in the city, adopting families in need, or special devotionals. All are great ways to highlight Christ and his love for us at his birth.
But there is a difference between a few added elements and creating a jam-packed schedule of Christmas events. Intentionally simple is often very effective.
Observe the simple rhythm of one day and six. Don’t alter it fundamentally at Christmas.
2. Don’t compare
Inevitably, there will be another church in your city that does Christmas better. There will be a church with a bigger budget, a bigger choir, and more resources to promote events through social media.
Praise God. We ought to be thankful for all the faithful churches trying their best to proclaim the truth of the scriptures this time of year (Philippians 1:18). In our age of declining church attendance, we ought to be more celebrative of others than ever before.
Give thanks for the larger church with more resources, and be content with what God has given you. Your church might have less, but God has given you everything you need to pastor your people this Christmas season. You know how to preach. You have people who can sing, though maybe not at a professional level. And best of all, you have the indwelling of the Spirit that testifies to the work of Christ in His life and death.
You might not have everything the mega-church has, but you have enough to pastor your people this month. Give thanks for that.
3. Tried and true
At Christmas, the traditions of the church are as helpful as ever (2 Thessalonians 2:15). You would need to be a real Scrooge not to love the gathering on Christmas Eve. Families and friends file into the pews. Often, children will open the service in song. You preach a simple sermon on a familiar gospel text. We sing “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.” People linger after the service over homemade cookies and punch in the fellowship hall.
Christmas Eve is a simple service full of evangelical traditions.
The Bible does not mandate traditions. There are no explicit verses about why we must sing in the dark holding a candle.
Traditions are not infallible. But the value of a tradition is that it stands the test of time. History has a way of sifting out the bad and keeping what is worthwhile. We don’t know what current songs churches will be singing 100 years from now. But we know that “Hark! the Herald Angel Sing” will likely be. Over time, we learn what is worth keeping.
Traditions are not biblical, but they can be helpful. When planning for Christmas, don’t feel the pressure of trying to reinvent the wheel. Trust the tried-and-true that the church has sorted out through helpful tradition.
4. Trust the story
Most importantly, keep the main thing the main thing this Christmas season. The birth of Christ is the story of the second person of the Trinity taking on flesh to become like us. Whatever additional trappings you add this Christmas season, make sure your firm confidence is not in your church programming but in the story itself. Let the story of all stories stand on its own.
From the Nicene Creed:
He (Jesus) is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; By whom all things were made, both in Heaven and on Earth; who for us and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made a man.
The incarnation of Christ is the glorious reason for the season.
Pastor, make no mistake. The story of the incarnation can stand on its own.
Do not feel the need to go above and beyond what God has already wonderfully done through a virgin mother in a dirty Bethlehem manger.
The work that our people need to hear this Christmas season began two thousand years ago in Bethlehem, not in your staff conference room. Make sure your work is testifying to that work, not yours.
Pastor, during this Christmas season, commit to godly simplicity that honours the glorious Saviour. Trust the tried and true traditions that have stood the test of time. The wonder of the incarnation is the glory of God comes to us in the humblest manner. The simplicity of the story only adds to its glory. It is the most wonderful time of the year, not because of busyness, but because of the incarnation. Be at peace and trust that God delights in using simple ministry to great ends.
© 2023 Jon Saunders. Used with permission. Originally published at TheFocusedPastor.org.