For Unto Us a Savior is Born - But Do We Still Need Him?

In its purest form, Christmas is the celebration of God sending his son Jesus into this world in mortal form to live a perfect life, making him worthy to give his life to save the human race from sin and death.  It was God’s amazing plan to bring reconciliation after Adam and Eve brought sin and death into the world by disobeying God.

But we now live in a world that has doubled-down on the grave mistake made by Adam and Eve.  They may have brought sin into the world, but we have embraced it, or worse yet, denied that it exists.  Some of us have made it a lifestyle choice, throwing parades for it.  Others maintain it as an unspoken, but ever-present part of their lives.

We all sin, that is why Jesus admonished us not to judge others.  But the absence of judgment is not intended to be a system of enabling, where I help to make you feel more comfortable in your sin and you in turn help me feel more comfortable in mine.  Sin is separation from God and there is nothing worse than being separated from God.  There is no greater harm you can do to your neighbor than to assist in the act of separating him or her from God.

Some would argue sin is an arcane concept, unfit for our modern world.  I would submit that God’s rules all serve a purpose, whether it be to protect our health, our relationships, or the well-being of society.  God is not a killjoy who punishes us for breaking his arbitrary rules.  His rules are not arbitrary.  They are intended to prevent us from suffering harmful consequences.

But now too many of us have decided which rules should continue to apply and which are outdated.  If some sins are no longer sins, then why should anything continue to be called a sin?  Perhaps your particular sin just has the misfortune of not having a compelling enough PR campaign or has yet to reach the point where it can be exploited for political gain.

And as we continue to give ourselves absolution for our sins by simply agreeing among ourselves that something is no longer sin, we diminish the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross.  If your sins really aren’t sins anymore, just the nature with which you were born, then did Jesus really do anything of value for you?

If we can lobby each other to erase the stigma of sin, do we really need a savior?  And if we don’t need a savior, what is left to celebrate at Christmas?  One could even say that the Christmas message is harmful, for it implies that some people have lived in a way that requires a savior.  Perhaps it would be better to ignore Christmas altogether so that we don’t run the risk of making each other feel uncomfortable.
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Or maybe, just maybe, we can agree to stop fooling ourselves and each other and truly embrace the message of Christmas – that we all need a savior and God graciously provided us with one.