“I Can Do Bad All By Myself.” Tyler Perry’s latest film title speaks for itself. William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies declares what humans can become, comes from what humans are—inescapably, terribly, dangerous. As Ralphie, the bespeckeled target of power gone mad, says, “I’m afraid of us.” As the cold war strategist George F. Kennan would put it: “The fact of the matter is that there is a little bit of the totalitarian buried somewhere, way down deep, in each and every one of us.”[1] Often I tell my students, pointing out around me, “The problem is not out there,” then pointing to my chest, “The problem is in here!”
“No man’s really any good until he knows how bad he is, or might be.” Father Brown knew what it was to be “inside a man.”[2] Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “Ascent,” one of the autobiographical sections of Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago, justly asserts that “the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between political parties—but right through every human heart.”[3] The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson demonstrates the titanic battle raging within humans: depravity triumphing over dignity.[4] How The Grinch Stole Christmas is Dr. Seuss’ classic tale about a hard-hearted creature whose life is obsessed with blotting out Christmas. Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” reminds the softened soul that indeed Scrooge lives in us all. Truth be told, we all have “bad hearts.”
But it’s Christmas! We do not want to dwell on such things! We would rather, with our culture, declare ourselves good simply because we believe in something. Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest, exposes the siren call of consumerism for what it does and how we follow. Describing what he considers to be the most awful marketing promotions
The winner of this year’s worst catch phrase is a tie: between Macy’s and Eddie Bauer. Macy’s shopping bags say, “A million reasons to believe!” In what? What does Macy’s want us to believe in? That Jesus is the Son of God? (Imagine that on a bag.) Nearly as maddening was the cover of this year’s Eddie Bauer catalog, which proclaims “We believe.” As with Macy’s, I was eager to find out just what Eddie Bauer believed in. The Council of Chalcedon’s fifth-century declaration that Jesus was fully human and fully divine? Not exactly. Page three professed the retailer’s creed: “We believe in the world’s best down.”[5]
What is meant to be tongue-in-cheek condemnation of marketers is really a poke at us all. Who “believes”? We do! Why do we “believe”? Because down deep we think we’re doing good by giving. However, the mandate of gifts on a holiday does not a heart change!
But it’s Christmas! Can’t we rest in our goodness for one day out of the year?! Back-story to our celebration on December 25th is an oft forgotten character: Ahaz.[6] In his day, the world’s superpower was Assyria, modern day Iraq. Ahaz was king of Judah. Judah was a small nation state. When a couple of northern neighbors rattled their swords, Ahaz went looking for allies. Ahaz bet the farm on human partnership with Assyria’s dictator Tiglath-Pilesir III. Neither Isaiah’s words of hope nor The Lord’s direct communication swayed Ahaz from his human-centered course. Ahaz’ small heart—the Grinch had one too for a while—brought a frightening, foreboding, yet fulfilling prophecy to earth in Isaiah 7.
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
These words changed history. But because Ahaz’ heart was proud, calloused, afraid, and shaken[7] he refused to give The True Sovereign his trust. The Christmas Story begins with king Ahaz who has forsaken the true King.
But it’s Christmas! Can’t we tell a positive story? Why must we be reminded of our corrupt hearts? Because it is our corrupt hearts that makes Christmas possible. Without our need for a Savior, Christmas would simply retain its original intention—the pagan celebration of winter solstice. The Grinch and Scrooge repeat what our hearts need.
Every year CBS runs the 1965 television classic “Charlie Brown’s Christmas.” And every year people who watch, hear Linus reading the Christmas story from Luke 2; the result of Isaiah 7. Tyler Perry’s movie is punctuated with preaching and ends with restoration. The Grinch is changed by good-hearted Whovillians who wholeheartedly believe in Christmas. Scrooge, confronting his past sins, falls on his knees in repentance. So I offer a simple poem to remind us of The Scrooge in us all—the possibility of change, because “It’s Christmas!”
Scripture informs,
Hearts are deformed,
Until Christ, the heart storms,
Salvation performed.
The faithful are warmed,
By hearts conformed,
When The Spirit reforms,
My life is transformed.
Mark Eckel, ThM PhD, Professor of Old Testament
[1] John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War: A New History. (Penquin, 2006): 46.
[2] G. K. Chesterton, “The Secret of Father Brown,” The Collected Works of G. K. Chesterton (Ignatius, 2002): 219.
[3] Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956. (Harper Classics, 2002): 312.
[4] Many other voices would concur with the general concern that humans are corruptible: “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, “The Lifted Veil” by George Eliot, “Rappaccini’s Daughter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Man That Corrupted Hanleyburg” by Mark Twain.
[5] James Martin, “Merry Marketing,” Wall Street Journal Online 17 December 2009. https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703757404574592752896254832.html?mod=djemEditorialPage
[6] Read chapters 7 and 8 in Isaiah.
[7] Isaiah “proud,” 9:9; “calloused,” 6:10; “lose heart,” 7:4; “shaken,” 7:2 (NIV).