And we don't celebrate the birthdays of people we dislike. Normal people don't write songs and exchange gifts to celebrate baby Hitler. Even if he'd had a miraculous birth, no one would celebrate it. Because the adult was so repulsive.

So why Jesus? If you don't like Him?

My parents took me to Disney World one year at Christmas time, and my mom insisted we had to see the Christmas Story program in EPCOT. Celebrity host who read the story from the gospel of Luke. Famous choir singing all the traditional hymns. During any other month of the year, if you were to strike up a conversation with these people about Jesus...or read a portion of the gospel of Luke from beyond chapter 3...or read some of the more poignant sections of a Christmas song (without the musical intonation so they wouldn't know it was the Christmas song)….they would shut you down. They don't want to know about the adult Jesus. 

Not only do they not want to know, what they do know, they're hostile about. My parents hate God. He's capricious and egotistical and mean, and Jesus is just a myth. Maybe, maybe an actual historical person who wandered around Judea but certainly not the person His followers made up stories about. I grew up as an atheist. But I loved Christmas. Not the secular Christmas either...we always watched the Nativity story on TV, sometimes went to Midnight mass,and had carols playing on the stereo all month. Myth though it was, my mother couldn't shake the traditions of her childhood even though she had rejected the message of its faith.

The first year after I became a Christian, I heard the words of those songs for the first time. Blew me away. "Fall on your knees" WHAT! "Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Til' He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."

What! The gospel was not appreciated in my house or mentioned. Ever. And yet, all those years, it was being sung in my living room. Joyfully blasting from my pagan mother's record player. But I never heard the words. Not really.

Because the songs were just the soundtrack to a sweet story. The story and the songs just went with the traditional holiday. It was a myth. 

Until it wasn't and my eyes were opened to the real Jesus.

Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

I celebrated Jesus’ birthday every year without believing that He really existed. Or believing that He is god. Or believing that God exists.

I enjoyed the Nativity Story (the middle of the tale) without ever understanding its context. Because honestly, there’s little drama to the story without the beginning or the end.

The fact that a Savior was born only makes sense when you understand why one was needed in the first place. I had never heard the part about God saying, “No, no. You’ve destroyed everything I made, but I haven’t given up my dream. Watch this!” 

The Savior’s mother being a virgin only makes sense in a world accustomed to stories of great deeds done by heroes and demigods. This narrative says, “No, no … this one is a real God.”

The angels rejoicing only makes sense when you feel the darkness of an illegitimate, evil kingdom and see the blinding light of the True King making landfall. It’s like, “No, no, Satan. You’re done. The countdown to your demise just started ticking.”

The holy toddler being saved from Herod’s massacre only makes sense when you see how scared God’s enemy was. “No, no…you can’t stop this. The clock’s still ticking.”

But even without understanding, Christmas snuck up on me and prepared me for the truth. I sang those Christmas carols every year and planted seeds of the gospel in my own unsuspecting heart. When I realized who He is, everything changed, and everything that I thought I loved about Christmas suddenly exploded into amazement. The gospel that I heard every year in song, that I was deaf to, became my life. 

During this season, remember the whole story. Pagans aren't the only ones who get caught up in the myth. If we’re not careful, even the faithful can forget how real it is. We can forget that it’s not just a sweet story that sets the backdrop for our holiday tradition. There's nothing wrong with tradition and ritual, but it's easy to get comfortable with them. It's easy to forget that the One we follow is a real person. It's easy to sing our songs without hearing the words anymore and to go about our business, unbothered and uninterrupted by a king, who should have our full attention. 

Never stop seeking Him. Earnestly. 

And never stop believing for those who say they don't believe. They think it's all a myth, but every Christmas season they’re surrounded by the Nativity story (whether they like it or not) and they sing the songs, planting seeds of the gospel in their own hearts. Pray those seeds are watered throughout the year. And take every opportunity to tell them the whole story.