Putting the Christ back into Christmas

It’s that time of year again when charities put the finishing touches on their Christmas fundraising campaigns – and for some Christian fundraisers, this season can feel bittersweet.

A recent Donor Pulse study by Enthuse found that more than 70% of people in the UK are planning to donate over Christmas, with more than 43% saying that they are actively looking for chances to donate, and 31% saying that they will donate in response to campaigns that ask for contributions – all of which should ramp up the Christmas joy considerably. 

At the same time, however, the secularisation of Christmas, for Christians, looks like the key figure of Christmas presented as that avuncular, white bearded figure who drives a brightly lit Coca-Cola lorry across our festive TV screens. And the narrative around Christmas has been appropriated by the likes of John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Aldi, whose ads of the last few years have featured animated bears, a lonely old gentleman camping out on the moon and cute children giving gifts.

Where the nativity does sometimes get a look in, the story is romanticised and sanitised and lacks resemblance to the reality of that pivotal moment that changed the history of humanity. For example, the Bible makes absolutely no mention of heavily pregnant Mary riding on a donkey or any other animals in a stable. In fact, Mary more likely gave birth in a ‘guest room’ and the three kings didn’t find Jesus until he was about two years old. The Christmas story, when it does feature in Christmas marketing, is often more myth than fact.

Bringing the authentic story to life

Christian charity fundraisers can play an interesting role in bringing the authentic and scriptural Christmas story to life and deepening the significance of giving. This doesn’t necessarily mean trying to create a separation between an authentic scriptural Christmas and the tinsel bedecked ‘holiday’ of the 21st century. We can’t avoid the reality that this is the version of Christmas that most of the UK population have come to expect.

Even if the myths of Christmas may be all they know, it may be possible to introduce a reality that we believe is far more wonderful. We can create a bridge between the secular and the sacred experience. In media training, one is taught not to ignore a difficult question from the interviewer but rather to ‘bridge’ to the key message you want to convey – and the same principle can be applied to Christian fundraising.

Make the connection

So what does this look like? Firstly, most people probably don’t understand why they feel the urge to be altruistic at this time of year. Perhaps this impulse is a deep-seated response to the God “who so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We can make a more overt link between our Christmas goodwill and the generosity, kindness, grace and giving of our creator.

Secondly, there’s an opportunity to make the connection between the recipients of this altruism and the Christmas story. The Enthuse Donor Pulse report found that the two most popular cause areas for support at Christmas are charities focusing on children (50%) and homelessness (43%). There is a link. Jesus, God incarnate, experienced all the vulnerability of childhood and went on to make children a special focus of his ministry. And when it comes to homelessness, there is perhaps an opportunity to explode the mythological account of the heartless innkeeper and to explore the real story of Jesus’ birth (including his flight into Egypt as a refugee).

The element of surprise

Thirdly, we should take the opportunity to surprise donors. Christmas surprises don’t just come in crackers and gift wrap; in fact, everything about that first Christmas came as a surprise. The Israelites were awaiting a military leader who would help them reclaim the promised land from Roman occupiers, but instead God subverted expectations by coming to earth in the form of a helpless babe, born not to nobility but to ordinary people. So we also need to be willing to subvert expectations.

It isn’t enough to slap a suitable scripture passage onto a heart-rending campaign about the needs of beneficiaries, or heart-warming story about how donations have helped to transform lives. We need to be willing to engage with some of the myths of Christmas and brave enough to make an overt link between the modern consumerist view of Christmas and the extraordinary reality of the Christmas story. We need to put the Christ back into Christmas.