IF YOU’VE EVER HAD the enjoyable (and chaotic) experience of being involved in a children’s Christmas play, you probably remember the scene at the inn. Perhaps you were cast as the stern innkeeper whose first-century version of a Motel 6 was full for the night. Eventually, his reluctant generosity overtakes him and he makes space for the young couple out back with the animals. Or perhaps you were cast as a sheep. (“There are no small parts,” they said).

It’s almost a throwaway verse for Luke, helping to explain why the Savior of the world ended up in a feeding trough for his first night on the planet. But attentive readers of Luke’s entire gospel will see that he takes great care throughout his narrative to highlight the state of contrasts (rich vs. poor; proud vs. humble) that surround Jesus, and in particular the contrasting responses to Jesus. Luke 2:7, then, is no throwaway. 

Not only does it highlight the incredible humiliation that Jesus and his family endured (and which Jesus continued to choose throughout his life and ministry), but it hints at something else—something that would also be a continued theme throughout Jesus’ life: Rejection. 

Consider that Joseph and Mary were returning to their hometown, Bethlehem, where there no doubt would have been extended family still residing, and many more returning for the census. It would have been customary (if not an absolute given) for Mary and Joseph to be invited to stay with relatives. Most houses had guest rooms of some kind, for situations just like this. For context, Luke uses the word translated “inn” in the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:3 when referring to an actual commercial inn, whereas the translation here seems to refer more closely to a guest room. Are we to assume that all the guest rooms in every home of any relative of Joseph’s were full? Wouldn’t priority have been given to a very pregnant relative? 

The answer would have likely been “yes,” unless there was a stigma associated with this pregnancy. Unless Mary and Joseph arrived in his hometown under the whispers and cuteye of a shameful situation. 

The fact that the Son of God was born in a cave set aside for animals instead of a warm, safe, and much more sanitary guest room, surrounded by a doting and loving family, is not simply a product of a busy night on the motel strip. We should read this as another prophetic foreshadowing of just how difficult life was going to be for Jesus and his parents. The stigma, shame, and resulting rejection by extended family and friends made clear in this manger scene is a recurring theme in the Gospels. 

The manger represents not only the humility of Jesus but also his humiliation. The manger in which he was laid is as much a symbol of rejection as is the cross on which he died. It tells us that from the beginning to the end, our Savior’s life was marked, scarred, and difficult. 

And yet, we cannot miss what immediately follows verse 7 in Luke’s account: At the same time that he was being shamed and rejected by the ones he came to save, all the hosts of heaven were declaring his honor, his glory and his reign. Indeed, the shepherds who also felt a sense of rejection and ignominy would come running to see and worship him, caught up in the great mystery, the great conundrum of humiliation and glory; of weakness and power. 

Vijay Krishnan is the lead pastor at The Well in the Greater Toronto Area. Vijay, Jennifer and their 3 boys love being a part of what God is doing through the local church.

This article is part of A Time for Wonder, a 4-week devotional to help individuals, small groups, and families journey through the 2024 Advent season. Learn more about this special issue that can be used Advent, or any time of year at http://orderct.com/advent.

The post Away in a Manger, Humiliated appeared first on Christianity Today.

According to a recent survey conducted by Alpha Canada and the Flourishing Congregations Institute, 65 percent of church leaders say that evangelism hasn’t been a priority for their congregations over the last several years. Fifty-five percent say their congregations do not equip Christians to share their faith.

Shaila Visser, national director of Alpha Canada, said she was somewhat surprised by the numbers because she sees so many opportunities for Christians to share their faith. The pandemic, in particular, has caused people to ask significant questions about the meaning and purpose of their lives.

“The opportunity before the church in Canada is to meet them and their questions with the person of Jesus,” she said, “to show them that Jesus is very good.”

The survey asked Canadian leaders across Christian denominations, “As you think about your local congregation/parish over the last several years, to what extent would you say your congregation/parish has given priority (or not) to evangelism?”

More than 2,700 church leaders responded between May and July 2021.

About 20 percent said evangelism was a moderate concern. Only 9 percent said it was a high priority for members of their congregation to share their faith.

Respondents included a few leaders from the mainline United Church of Canada and just over 20 percent from the Roman Catholic Church. The majority, though, came from evangelical traditions, including leaders from Baptist churches, Pentecostal churches, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Evangelical Free Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Foursquare Church, and the Salvation Army. The tendency not to emphasize evangelism appears to be widespread.

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Steven Jones, president of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, said he was “deeply concerned” by the numbers. He notes they reflect the continued decline of evangelical Christianity in Canada.

Historically, about 10 percent of Canadians have considered themselves evangelical. Today, according to the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s quadrennial census, only 6 percent of Canadians are evangelical. These are the lowest numbers on record.

Christianity has increasingly been viewed in a negative light in secular Canadian culture, particularly in the wake of sexual abuse scandals and light being shed on the role churches played for decades in residential schools for Indigenous people in Canada. Dozens of churches were spray-painted, vandalized, and burned following the discovery of mass graves at several residential schools this summer.

That negative view was clearly seen in the responses to the Alpha survey. The number one challenge to evangelism, leaders said, was “perceived antagonism toward Christian values and the Christian church.”

According to David Koop, pastor of Coastal Church, a large urban congregation in Vancouver, British Columbia, a lot of younger Christians have accepted the secular Canadian criticisms of the faith.

“The next generation has a really different narrative that they’re listening to,” he said.

Because secular society views church as a problem, he said, many Christians seem to shy away from sharing their faith. At the very least, they’re more averse to traditional methods of evangelism. For much of the 20th century, evangelism meant passing out tracts or knocking on people’s doors. Today, Koop said, there’s more emphasis on relationships and showing people how you live out your faith.

When the survey participants were asked to list the three most common methods of evangelism encouraged among their congregation/parish, the most common answer was “showing one’s faith through their actions.”

In some ways, Koop thinks that’s a positive shift.

“I think the most effective way is still just to do what Jesus said in Luke 10,” Koop said. “Go to people’s homes. Get to know them. Live in a community relationship. Pray for them.”

He’s found the pandemic has created roadblocks in that effort with many churches looking inward rather than focusing on evangelism.

“There’s a weariness,” he said. “There’s a sense I need to keep my own fences mended and stay strong.”

Jeff Eastwood, who lives and pastors a church on the opposite end of the country in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, sees the same thing. Broad cultural changes have made it more difficult to speak about faith when antireligious rhetoric abounds.

“When the majority—or it seems like the majority—are giving assent to this ideology, it becomes more difficult for Christians to speak into that, especially in a nuanced way,” said Eastwood, who pastors Grace Baptist Church.

Eastwood encourages Christians to do what Jesus did, though, and connect with people where they are, engaging them and speaking to their specific situations.

“The best evangelism comes out of relationships,” he said.

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The survey was done during widespread lockdowns in Canada because of the pandemic. Christian leaders say they’re not clear what effect COVID-19 has had on evangelism.

It may have exacerbated the problem and made evangelism harder. Outreach became more difficult, with gatherings prohibited and many people limiting contact to a small “bubble” of people. Eastwood’s church, for example, had to cancel its Vacation Bible Study.

Plus, church leaders who were already working as hard as they could were overwhelmed trying to adapt to changing conditions. It became easier for churches to focus on themselves and not the broader community.

“COVID has given a great excuse to be very selfish," said Vijay Krishnan, who pastors The Well, a church in the suburbs of Toronto.

Krishnan believes that this tendency is something that believers have struggled with since the New Testament period. The early church was content to stay in Jerusalem rather than carry out the Great Commission. It took persecution, he said, to scatter them to the ends of the world as Jesus had commanded.

At the same time, Krishnan said, the pandemic has created opportunities for people to be more open about their struggles. Most people have been impacted in some way by the pandemic, and that shared cultural experience can open doors to talk about more personal matters.

When people share their struggles, he doesn’t just tell them he’ll pray for them but prays for them at the moment.

“It’s like you’re inviting them to a spiritual encounter with a God you know,” Krishnan said.

Visser has also had opportunities to pray with people because of COVID-19.

“What it provides is an encounter between two people with God in the middle, regardless of what they believe,” she said.

The best way to share your faith is to listen to people, she said, and then “run toward their pain and meet them in the messiness of their lives or in the beauty of their lives.”

In a time when many are suffering from loneliness, providing opportunities for human interaction can be a powerful form of evangelism.

“The world is longing for in-person connection around meaningful conversations, and inviting them into spaces where they can have that connection and encounter God is increasingly important,” Visser said. “It’s more important than it was before the pandemic.”

In a pandemic, though, that may mean going online. Visser ran an Alpha program on Zoom for friends spread across Canada. She said she probably wouldn’t have done that before COVID-19.

“We have never met in person as a group, and we have formed some of the deepest, most wonderful supportive community opportunities you could even imagine,” she said. “All on Zoom.”

Jones said a lot of evangelical churches are embracing online opportunities and looking for opportunities they wouldn’t have before.

“I think all our churches need to be live streaming because we are reaching people who would never go through the door of a church or facility, but they will go to your website,” he said. “It’s a good first place.”

And the need is urgent. Canadians are looking for meaning and purpose, struggling with loneliness, and dealing with the tragedies brought by COVID-19.

“People are hurting, and they’re confused,” Eastwood said. “We have an opportunity to speak into that in a real way.”

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