Our Christmas celebrations are full of stories. Families will gather to watch It’s a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street. You will probably hear “Twas the Night Before Christmas” at some point, and you may even repeat elements of the Santa story—reindeer, chimneys, a sleigh full of toys. And even Rudolph, a latecomer to the reindeer games, is going down in history as the best-known member of Santa’s team.

Every culture collects stories and shares them at special times. American culture has leveraged the Christmas holiday into a compendium of fanciful tales. Some of them even come from the Bible.

Back to the Bible Stories

As church leaders, we keep bringing people back to the biblical stories. Mary and Joseph being turned away by a Bethlehem innkeeper. Shepherds hearing an angel chorus singing of swaddling clothes and “goodwill to men.” Three kings riding camels and kneeling by the manger.

You’re already picking out the errors in that last paragraph, aren’t you?

We can spend a lot of time reminding people that there’s no innkeeper in the Bible’s nativity story, we don’t know how many magi there were, and the angels’ message is better translated another way. Whenever we do that, we enhance our reputation as scriptural experts—and perhaps spoilsports.

The confusion of details in these stories can be seen as good news and bad news. It shows us that these tales have been told for centuries—and celebrated in a host of creative ways. The innkeeper goes back to medieval times, the three magi even longer. This celebration, along with the creative extrapolation that goes with it, is a very good thing. Even today, we want people to enter the biblical stories with their imaginations and feelings as well as their critical minds. This is a major method of engagement.

The bad news is that the stories may have drifted from their scriptural moorings. People are sharing the nativity story from their memories of last year’s Christmas pageant or an animated TV special. It may have been decades since they actually read the text itself.

This is easily remedied. Open the Scriptures. Read the story. And be sure your people have access to the biblical text. In today’s world, we can’t assume that those who visit our candlelight services know where to find Matthew 2 or Luke 2. It might be helpful to provide a printout, or a hyperlink, so that families can read the actual account for themselves as they celebrate Christmas.

The Big Story

But there’s a larger story here, too. It’s written large through the pages of Scripture, from Genesis (3:15) to Revelation (12:5). The sin-inducing serpent of Genesis and the voracious dragon of Revelation are crushed by the child that is born. God makes eternal promises to Abraham, Moses, and David (Genesis 12:3; Deuteronomy 18:18; 2 Samuel 7:16). The prophets announce that a child will be born, a Prince of Peace, a ruler, a Son of Man who will share authority with the Father (Isaiah 9:7; Micah 5:2; Daniel 7:13-14). At just the right time, he was born of a woman, born under the Law (Galatians 4:4). This was the Logos, the eternal Purpose, who took on human flesh and lived among us, emptying himself of divine privilege to live as a servant, to heal the sick and proclaim freedom to captives (John 1:1,14; Philippians 2:6-8; Isaiah 61:1-4).

This is the story we preach, in one way or another, all year long. But let’s not let it get drowned out by the other Christmas stories, as enjoyable as they may be. There are many sweet, inspiring, morally uplifting tales being told in this season. Let’s try to connect them to the big story.

Even as I write this, I know that I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. You share this vision and this mission of prompting Bible engagement among those we serve, and you’re seeking effective ways to do that. I offer this as a reminder and an encouragement. Keep telling the big story.