The Greek language that God chose to give us his written word is often referred to as “Koine.” It means common. It’s not the Greek of the high-brow classics; it’s the language of the marketplace. It’s the language in which husband wrote letters to their wives while away on military assignment. It was the language in which servants wrote shopping lists to take with them to the marketplace. It’s the langue that was spoken between neighbors and relatives and friends and acquaintances. It was the language which all understood and all could share in. One of the great challenges for us today in our English speaking world is to write our messages in the Koine of our day. We need to reach the world where they are with the message that God sent in His Son Jesus.

I’ve often heard Christians say they do not participate in the secularization of Christmas. The lights, the stores, the parties, the presents, the glitz, the glamour, etc. etc., all detract from the true meaning of Christmas. But when we do that, withdraw from our cultural expression of this Holiday season we lose another opportunity to communicate the greatest message in the world. Mickelsen writes, in the Journal of Evangelical Theology (Vol. 9), “We must deal with a secular age which has a secular Christmas in terms which confront that age with the true meaning of Christmas. But then, when we do it, is this a secular gospel? My answer, of course, is no.” I agree completely! The world’s observance of this season presents each and every one of us with the opportunity to make our message the message of love it was intended to be. It is a message that was delivered to the common people, in a common way, with a most uncommon effect.

Of all the gifts you could give to friends and loved ones none could compare to the Gift that God gave to us to share. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The greatest gift of all is the gift of eternal life that is what God has given us through His Son and wishes for us to pass along to others. Peter made it clear in John 6:67, that only Jesus has this gift. Jesus asks Peter if he too will leave him as many others had done. But Peter says, “To whom would I go? Only you have the words of eternal life.” There is only one “true meaning” of Christmas. Let the cultural glitz and glamour open up doors of opportunity to share it with those you love.