The Courage to Speak Truth:
Why “Jesus Is The Reason for the Season” Still Matters
The college student’s words cut through the festive mall atmosphere like a blade: “That’s offensive. You can’t just assume everyone celebrates Christmas for religious reasons.”
The ministry partner hesitated, the gospel tract trembling slightly in his hand. The colorful pamphlet proclaimed boldly: “Jesus Is The Reason for the Season.” In that moment, we witness the enemy’s ancient strategy—silence the messenger by questioning the message’s appropriateness.
But here’s what we must understand: Truth doesn’t become less true because culture finds it inconvenient.
When the angel appeared to the shepherds, he didn’t begin with, “I hope this doesn’t offend your pluralistic sensibilities.” Instead, he declared: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). The Christmas announcement was never meant to be a whispered suggestion—it was a herald’s proclamation.
The Theological Foundation of Christmas
Let’s be absolutely clear about the theological reality: Jesus Christ is not a reason for Christmas—He is the reason Christmas exists at all. Without the incarnation, there is no holiday. The very word “Christmas” derives from “Christ’s Mass,” the celebration of the doctrine that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). This isn’t Christian imperialism; it’s a historical and theological fact.
The Apostle Paul articulates the cosmic significance of this moment: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5). Christmas marks the pivotal moment in redemptive history when the eternal Son of God took on human flesh to accomplish what no human could—our salvation. Every candy cane, every Christmas tree, every secular tradition attached to December 25th exists because the Church established this date to celebrate Christ’s birth. To suggest Jesus is merely one option among many reasons to celebrate is to fundamentally misunderstand both history and theology. The tract’s title isn’t presumptuous—it’s precise.
Consider this: if Jesus isn’t the reason for the season, then Christmas is merely a commercial enterprise dressed in sentimentality. But if He is the reason—if God truly “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)—then remaining silent is the cruelest act imaginable.
Charles Spurgeon once thundered: “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”
This is why that simple tract matters. When you extend it with genuine love, you’re doing what the shepherds did—sharing the extraordinary news that changes everything. You’re echoing Paul’s conviction: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
Yes, some will bristle. The apostles faced worse than awkward silences—they faced imprisonment and death. Yet they “counted everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8).
This Christmas season, don’t let cultural sensitivity become spiritual cowardice. Jesus is the reason—the only reason that transforms December 25th from another day into the celebration of eternity breaking into time. Hand out that tract. Speak that truth. For “how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14).
The gospel isn’t seasonal—but Christmas provides an extraordinary doorway. Walk through it boldly.