I drove past my local city hall this week and noticed that someone had placed a nativity scene on the front lawn. There they stood, in plastic and primary colors—mother, father, child, animals, and wise men surrounded by a little white picket fence to keep the scene neat and tidy. This seems to be the season for carefully crafted images of holy family tranquility and serenity. Perhaps there's something we just can't resist about a strong, silent Joseph standing guard over his family, a Mary with face aglow as she gazes down at the manger, and a cuddly baby Jesus who, if we are to believe the hymn, doesn't so much as cry as he looks up with innocence at his mother.
In contrast, many of the youth in our churches come from family lives that are much more complex and untidy. The teenagers in the youth ministry I serve live in blended families, divorced families, single parent families, and adoptive families. Some have gay parents, unemployed parents, Christian parents, non-Christian parents, or parents living with depression. Their home lives are fraught with worries over the fragile economy, teen sex and drug use, and just simply finding time in their busy schedules to eat even one meal together a week as a family. I wonder then what message we send to teens when we lift up such a picturesque image of the holy family.
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