You know what makes me smile a lot?  When I get emails from from people I would normally never expect who love the concept of [AC]. Recently I’ve been receiving an unusual amount of emails from atheists who love what this movement represents.  Yesterday I talked with a person online who wrote me this note. She gave me permission to post it:

I love this movement, the Advent Conspiracy movement. I’ve been trying to get my family to do this for the last two years, long before I heard about this. A few years ago, I told my family that i think we should refrain from buying gifts for each other on Christmas, and instead donate the money to charity. My family all thought it was a terrible idea, and even called me a Godless heathen. (In jest, mind you, but still I found it quite ironic). For the record, I am a former Catholic who drifted comfortably into atheism some ten years ago, although I still celebrate Christmas out of family tradition. Over the years, I became more disgusted with the commercialization of Christmas and realized that it had become a Hallmark Card holiday, having little to do with the core values of Christianity and more to do with retail sales figures all wrapped up in marketable Pagan imagery. The greatest thing about Christianity to a non-believer like myself is that, even after you strip away the more miraculous elements of the faith, you are left with a central figure in Jesus Christ, who preached love and forgiveness and charity and goodwill to his fellow man. At its best, Christianity is a religion about love and peace and I believe that message is all but lost among far too many of today’s Christians. Anyway, I just want to tell you I think you’re doing a great thing and I hope that more people follow this movement. I’m going to forward this video to everyone I know who celebrates Christmas (including Christians, Catholics, Protestants and even Godless heathens like myself, still bound to the holiday by tradition)

Keep up the great work!
And Merry Christmas!

Now here’s the deal. I know that [AC] isn’t the only thing that’s wooing people back to God. I know you have stories where His love reached a person in your life in ways that is nothing short of a miracle. I just celebrate that this thing is, in its own small way, spreading the Gospel to people who have given up on God. It’s telling people that maybe there’s still hope. That maybe God isn’t finished with their story yet. That maybe the sum total of God’s grace isn’t wrapped up in a bad experience they had years ago. Will this person come back to her faith? I hope so. But I’m thankful that God gave us a small part in redeeming her story. I am personally dealing with a similar situation with a very close relative of mine. She really wants to know Jesus, but she has SO much baggage from her past. For some time I use to feel like I was responsible for saving her. I felt like I had to “sell” Jesus to her. I was so wrong. I had to step back and simply love her, and be ok with that. Is she a Christ follower yet? No. But she and I have had some beautiful conversations. That’s largely happening because I’m no longer an “on the clock” Christian with her. So here’s my challenge: This season, as you hang with families and friends who may not agree with your faith, sit and hear their story. Love them genuinely; don’t feel like you have to punch in the spiritual clock and “sell” God to them. Let God be God, and then see what happens.