Vicki Lynn with Franklin Graham at the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child Processing Center in Denver, CO. - November 2001.

   What a wonderful Christmas our nation has promoted this holiday season!  Mr. Potter would be proud!  First came the word that many retailers would not permit their employees to exclaim "Merry Christmas!"  Then a Memphis, Tennessee library banned the baby Jesus, the wise men, and the holy family from a poster depicting the nativity.  About the same time, a group of atheists filed a lawsuit to remove six large metal crosses from the highways of Utah.  (These memorials had been erected to honor six state troopers who had died in the line of duty.)  From the little town of Bethlehem to the hill of Calvary;  from His birth to His death and all parts in between, Jesus Christ has become an offense.  The spirit of Herod has risen once more seeking to blot out every vestige of His existence.  Happy Birthday, Jesus!  Sleep in heavenly peace indeed!

   However, followers of Christ could learn a lesson from all the holiday hullabaloo.  The world sees Jesus as a threat.  Unfortunately, the church often does not.  The Lion of Judah has been sedated and rests safely in the man-made denominational cage.  We trot him out for the three-ring-circus of worship and then lock him away until next week's performance.  In between, we silence His influence by ignoring His deafening roars.  We have Him all figured out and reduced to a deity we can tame....or so we think!

   In truth, the world is more honest than most of us who profess the faith.  There is a threat in the manger.  The One who had no place to lay His head is an affront to our American affluence.  The One who introduced the kingdom of heaven on earth is an enemy to the zealous pew warmer who makes new converts twice the sons of hell that they are.  The One who blew the lid off of the grace of God is a danger to the congregation that demands extra ritual before you can join their ranks.  The One who challenged would-be followers to "drop self, pick up their cross, and come on" is a loose cannon to all who want to sleep away their days on the deck of the good old gospel ship until they sail beyond the river Jordan.  Love and forgiveness are a threat to our animosity - compassion is a threat to our indifference - His mission is a threat to our success.

   In C. S. Lewis' classic The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the child Susan seeks to know if Aslan the lion is "quite safe."  Mrs. Beaver tells her, "If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."  "Then he isn't safe?" asks Lucy. "Safe?" replies Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

   So this holiday season, before you shake a forgiven fist at the retailer wrapped up in political correctness, before you shake your ransomed head at the Memphis library, and before you wag your self-righteous tongue about the American Atheists, thank them for reminding us of what perhaps we have forgotten.  There is indeed a threat in the manger.  And it is none other than the lethal Lord Jesus asleep on the hay!