What is the essential Christmas message? The first century writers who chronicled the life of Christ were not bound by the accumulated power of cultural religion and tradition. And yet they faced the same challenge that we do of how to communicate the true essence of Christ to a very diverse global community, a stewpot of contrasting cultures, philosophies, religions and traditions.

The writers didn’t hail from theological seminaries, research think tanks, or corporate marketing and communication functions. They were ordinary working professionals who had deeply integrated their understanding of Christ into their everyday lives and had passionately devoted their lives to communicating this message effectively to the world around them. To examine what they did is an eye-opener in learning what the essential message is and an instructive challenge to us as we live out our faith in a flat world. They didn’t use formulas or campaign talking points, but with a thorough grasp of the message, they communicated, powerfully and relevantly.

Each of the four writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – wrote to different audiences. Each crafted a unique approach. And yet they each accomplished their purpose without contradicting each other or compromising the essential truths.

Writing to a Religious Culture

Matthew was tax collector. (Not exactly an esteemed profession then or now!) His primary audience was the Jewish people. His audience was well aware of the age old prophecies of a coming Messiah who would be their King and who would restore their kingdom. And so Matthew lays out a topical rather than historical account of the life of Christ to address the concerns of this religious culture. He anticipates the questions that would be asked and then lays out the details of Christ’s birth and life that answers the questions. For example, if Christ is the Messiah, the king of Israel, he would be of the lineage of King David. And so Matthew lays out the lineage to show that this is indeed true. Or if he is the king, then he would be given a royal birth, acknowledged as king, and given gifts fit for a king. Again, Matthew shows the coming of the magi to acknowledge him as king and to bring him gifts befitting a king. And Herod, the king, is threatened by the birth of a king. Only Matthew brings out these details, so relevant to this audience, but not to others. And going beyond the birth of Christ, Matthew anticipates question after question, in this fashion, blending in the prophecies of old and then commenting that these had been fulfilled in Christ.

Writing to a Culture of Power

We don’t know the profession of Mark, the next of our writers. But he was well traveled throughout that world. We see evidence of him in Rome, Jerusalem, Ephesus, Babylon and possibly even, Egypt. Mark writes to a Roman audience. The Roman culture was a culture that obsessed with power, action, and accomplishment. And so Mark skips the birth of Christ altogether. No Christmas story here. Not many sermons and philosophical notes anywhere. He begins with John the Baptist’s announcement of the coming of “One who is mightier than I”, and then quickly proceeds to the testing of Christ in the wilderness, the recruiting of followers, and then successive vignettes that demonstrate his power and authority. And yet, Mark demonstrates that this man of power is ultimately a servant, not a tyrant.

Writing to a Culture of Humanism

Luke is a physician and accomplished amateur reporter and historian. His writings include the kinds of details that a doctor would notice. Luke writes to a Greek audience whose philosophical orientation sought the perfection of the human. They sought the perfect man. And so Luke writes about the man, Christ Jesus, to demonstrate that he is the prototype perfect man. He vividly provides details that highlight the humanity of Christ. For example, Luke, too, has a genealogy but it traces the line all the way back to Adam to demonstrate that Christ is fully human. There are no magi coming to see the newborn, but rather shepherds to emphasize the humble human beginning. Luke’s Christmas story is about the birth of the man whose perfect humanity would eventually become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

Writing to the Next Generation

Along with the challenges of globalization, our day and age is challenged by huge generational and demographic shifts. In the U.S., for example, there is the possibility for the first time for four distinct generations to be present in the workforce – the Silent Generation, the Boomers, the Gen-Xer’s, and the emerging Millennials. Beyond the symbolic events that represent these generations – the Greatest Generation’s last gathering at Pearl Harbor or the first Boomer entering retirement – there are real demographic and cultural shifts. As Boomers retire and turn over the reins of business to a far smaller Generation X, companies struggle with having enough talent and leadership for the companies to continue. And we’re only just beginning to see the unique influences and contributions that the Millennials will bring to the marketplace and culture.

The last writer is John, a fisherman by trade, but unlike the first three, he writes, not to a different global culture, but to a different generation. John is in his eighties. And he writes as if he is sitting down with his children and grandchildren, holding open on his lap a family photo album. He is aware that even in the span of one generation that essential truths are being lost and that erroneous thinking is creeping in. And so, with some introductory explanation, he proceeds to pull out a small handful of his favorite photos that best explain who Christ is and what he has done. Each snapshot conveys a special point. The Christmas story is implied in his introductory remarks. He makes no mention of genealogies, mangers, shepherds, kings, and angels…no Mary, no Joseph…not even a birth. The simple essence is conveyed in poetic terms and with details that he has cherished in his heart over the past half century. John is lovingly overwhelmed that God became man so that we could see the glory of God, full of grace and truth. John tells us, “Do you want to know what God is like? Then look deeply at Jesus.”

Our Turn to Tell the Story

We live in a global society where many are deeply immersed in living a religious life. Others are absorbed in a world of power and accomplishment. Still others strive for the humanistic perfection of body, mind, and spirit. And we all face the responsibility of mentoring the next generation. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John challenge us this Christmas to have a deeper, more thorough grasp of what we say we believe and celebrate. They challenge us to be more intimately aware of the audiences around us and their questions and longings. The more we grasp the essence, the more we can be prepared to share the story skillfully and persuasively to the cultures around us and to the next generation.

What are the stories you will be sharing with your friends, colleagues, and family this Christmas?

In 2005, Hallmark estimated the annual number of Christmas cards sent at 1.9 billion (that year, President George W. Bush got in hot water with some of the 1.4 million supporters who received a card from the White House because the card failed to mention Christmas by name).

Increasingly, Hallmark and American Greetings are being cut out of the deal and I am getting electronic versions of the greeting card or an email containing the annual letter. Quite a few of these carry reminders of the meaning of these holy days in the form of a comment or a selection of text from the Bible. Here’s one from our good friends John and Ruth Ridgway . . .

CHRISTMAS is when we reflect on Jesus’ entry into the human race and into human history.

God went for the jugular when He sent His own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In His Son, Jesus, He personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all.
— Romans 8:3, The Message

THE NEW YEAR is an opportunity for us to live differently and to let God shape our lives to be like Him.

God knew what He was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son.
— Romans 8:28, The Message

I love that. It’s the kind of intervention I need at the closing of this year. How about you? What kind of intervention do you need?

Trying something different to help communicate layoffs at work, we’ve been posting articles on our intranet. So far, two have been posted, one about a layoff I experienced 10 years ago at another company, and the other about how my family reacted.

The response so far has been, well, what you might expect it to be. Both posts have been read. A lot. I’ve had people stop by my office, call on the phone and send emails. Several have posted comments on the blog. One person said that the first post had “gone viral” in their 1000+ department. One employee posted a heartfelt response and then accepted our invitation to write his own blog post.

The real understanding came yesterday afternoon, when I was called by one of the company switchboard operators, who was asking the right place to direct a reporter who had called. I told her, and then she said, “I read your blog post.” She hesitated, and then said, “It was good. Thanks.”

The important thing the blog posts have done have been to say it’s OK to talk about this, that we’re all feeling the same concerns and fears. They also underscore we have management that’s not typical.

Employee response to the articles set records for the greatest number of employee visits in the shortest period of time in the company’s history.

Glynn Young is a public affairs executive and writer living in St. Louis.

One of our number ask the rep if there was any one question she was hearing from senior executives of member companies, any particular issue or concern or desire for information. In other words, “What’s on the minds of American corporate leaders about communication right now?” My first thought was that her answer would be “social media,” the current hot button in corporate communications. But I was wrong.

She said that there was one question that was coming up over and over again. And the question was—how do we get employees engaged?

The rep said this was the single biggest issue for member companies of all sizes, and some were beginning to sound desperate. They had tried everything – town halls, small group meetings with executives, special newsletters, one-on-one conversations and internal blogs. They had “segmented their target audiences” and “refined their key messages”—but nothing was working.

So I asked her a question: how many of those companies had recently been or were currently going through layoffs?

“Oh, about 80 percent of them,” she said.

So here’s a learning we can all share, and maybe one day it will become a best practice: When an organization is laying people off, employee engagement—with the business, with customers, with suppliers, with market conditions and competitors—is going to suffer, and for a considerable period of time. Employees won’t get engaged until they know the answers to four questions:

1. Do I have a job?
2. Do the people I work with have jobs?
3. Is my organization changing, and what does the new one look like? And
4. Will I be expected to do significantly more work because there are fewer people?

Once those questions are answered and understood, then, and only then, can an organization realistically begin to entertain ideas of employee engagement.

When there are layoffs, answering those questions can take months, if not longer.

A more interesting question to me is, how could senior executives at so many companies not know this? After the conference call, a few of us talked about it. And there is at least one answer.

At many organizations, leadership defines “interacting with employees” as town hall meetings, email broadcasts, and maybe a video or two. When leaders of such an organization decide they must lay off people, whatever the reason might be (even substantive ones), they make the decision and then move on. Their thinking is often six months to a year down the road. They decide to lay people off, and assign Human Resources and people managers to implement the decision. For the leaders, it’s a done deal and time to think about everything else they need to do. (It’s also unpleasant and often messy.)

The affected employees, on the other hand, are at the very beginning of the process. Sometimes it’s quick. Usually it takes at least weeks, but more often months. So if your own individual status with your employer is unclear, and you could lose your job, you’ll be less prone to take risks, create new programs, suggest changes or innovations that could save money, or volunteer for anything. Why should you? In fact, there’s an argument to be made that it would be irrational for employees to do anything else except hunker down and wait it out. Or find another job elsewhere, if that’s an option.

So there’s the rub. Employees are in the here and now. Leadership is in the future, and mystified about why employees aren’t engaged. If leadership gets addicted to layoffs as a routine form of cost savings, the problem will never disappear.

The solution lies with leadership engaging with employees in the here and now. Routinely. Walking around. Talking. Drawing people into conversation. Challenging people. Not letting HR be your conduit for feedback. Listening.

Leaders engage first. Ask Jesus.

Glynn Young is a public affairs executive and writer living in St. Louis.

I have a friend who works in the Christian publishing industry. He was recently telling me how conservative it is, and for emphasis, he added, “We can’t even print the b-word.” I rolled through a catalog of words in my head, trying to guess which b-word he might be referring to. There were so many choices. Was it bitch, bastard, balls? Surely any one of those could be the vulgar culprit. Or, perhaps there was some other curse word that I hadn’t been exposed to yet; some urban street-slang that these publishers were on to, one that would soon be infiltrating our suburban high schools, possibly even making its way into the mouths of our church youth. I remained silent, not wanting to guess the wrong word or expose my lack of street cred regarding the youthful slang that the Christian publishers were so down with. God forbid, I certainly didn’t want to show my age. Not hearing a response, my friend volunteered the answer to this trivia question. “The word is ‘breast’.” He said. “Breast. Can you imagine that?”

No, I can’t. What I can imagine, though, is the abrupt and final termination of any misguided notions I had for snagging a book deal within the Christian publishing industry. I pictured myself sitting across the desk from a pastorly editor, who is suddenly infuriated upon reading the word “ass” in my manuscript. Enraged and offended, he pulls me up by the ear and briskly marches me through the building, shoving me out the door, back onto the cold, harsh streets of Grand Rapids.

I never thought of the word ‘breast’ as risqué, really, not when it is used in an appropriate context. I mean, we are all adults here. And I bet most readers are either women or married men, which means that we either have them, or have had them in our sights at one point or another. Why work so hard to pretend that the breast is not a functional part of a Christian’s every day lifestyle? Read the Song of Solomon, for goodness sake.

It’s not that I am a foul-mouthed libertarian. I have always been fairly conservative when it comes to language. The Christian publishers’ attitude reminded me of my own conservative upbringing, and the taboo that was expressly reserved for any utterance remotely resembling a curse word. I never, ever heard swearing in my home, growing up. Even the words that were quoted during King-James bible stories in church and Sunday School, words like “hell” and “ass” (the animal ass, not the body part), were strictly verboten. However, with age, a more robust group of Christian male-friends, and quite possibly hanging around too much with my own teenage daughters, I have definitely loosened up my tongue a bit. Especially as I started writing, I developed a healthy respect and appreciation for the use of a salty word now and then to round out a story, or to drive home a point for emphasis.

Plus, it’s pretty much how we talk. “We,” meaning the friends from work and church who I spend time with, those with whom I fellowship and share my life with, even the most spiritually mature brothers and sister in Christ. We feel quite free to use an off-the-record reference now and then. Not every day, not usually in a crowd, and certainly not in every conversation, but occasionally, yes. I know several men, spiritual pillars of their churches, who will occasionally drop the word “shit” into their conversations with me. And hey, to me, it usually sounds just fine. Sometimes that is exactly the right word choice, just what the doctor ordered. “Golly, Brad, I think I just got on my pastor’s shit list,” one gentleman confides. Other times these folks are referring to the actual tactical meaning of the word, especially coming from those who are associated with the agricultural industries—those hard working men and women who till the soil and work with livestock. “I was out in the barn and got shit all over my shoes!” the godly Christian farmer will say to me, and he doesn’t even know that it was once a forbidden word in my Evangelical fundamentalist household growing up. None of these gentle folk are being vulgar, foul-mouthed, or inappropriate. We are just friends, talking to each other about our lives, in our own tongue.

So why can’t it be so in my own writing, where I am also sharing my self and spiritual life with my friends, you the reader? How we talk in real life is not at all like the Christian publishing market portrays. I’ve been a Christian for a long time, but sometimes I can not relate to the sanitized, simplistic, hyped-up and over-spiritualized language that is often passed for inspirational literature. Everyone is trying to out-motivate everyone else. I worry that these authors and publishers are more concerned with spiritually one-upping the reader, rather than getting down to the mat, revealing the messy truth of life, which is where the bulk of my real, normal life is taking place. It just doesn’t sound real.

Of course there are plenty of insights and inspiration to be gained from reading and listening to the pastors, motivational speakers, theologians, and writers who are out on the circuit today. And God knows we all can use some wisdom and guidance on our journeys of faith. But lately, for me, I am too often left with an awkward disconnect between their well-meaning spiritual advice and my real-world experiences. It’s as if these experts don’t quite get what my life as a “normal” person is like. I mean “normal” in the sense that giving spiritual advice is not my primary occupation.

I can understand the reluctance of Christians to print or speak words that may compromise or call their piety into question. Maybe they find it hard to know where to draw the line, and thus prefer to err on the side of caution. None of us wants to fall under James’ admonition of being unable to tame the tongue, “uttering both praise and cursing out of the same mouth” (James 3:9-10).

I try to imagine if Jesus ever used a cuss word. Especially the teenage carpenter-apprentice Jesus, after accidentally hitting his finger with a hammer. I doubt it. But what about the disciples?

Take Simon Peter, for instance. Well, no question there. Peter definitely cursed. He was the one with the potty-mouth, the one the other disciples had to keep apologizing for. “Oops, sorry Jesus, about my brother’s TRASH-MOUTH. He got into this bad habit of cursing when he was working in the Galilean Fish Workers Union a few years back. But he’s a good guy. PETER CAN YOU PLEASE JUST TONE IT DOWN? Goll-lee! Jimminy Crumpets!” Peter was probably no different from any other fisherman you might be acquainted with—you know, “salt of the earth” and all. He may have toned it down some after becoming a full-fledged apostle, but I can still see him dropping some Aramaic f-bombs when he got worked up—he did have a temper, after all.

What about Paul? Rumor has it that if you look carefully at the original Greek manuscripts, you will find that he used a saucy word in one of the epistles, and not by accident. This scandalous idea was first presented to me over twenty years ago while in college, by a speaker at one of our InterVarsity Fellowship meetings. This gentleman was expounding on Philippians 3:8, “I consider everything a loss compared to the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” After the speaker preached on the magnitude of Paul’s commitment (”So should ours be,” he said), he went on to tell us that the word “rubbish” is not quite the literal translation. He continued on this tangent and with a wink and a sideways smirk told us, “You folks might find it interesting that the original Greek word Paul uses here is a slang word. It means something a little more explicit than the word ‘garbage.’ It actually refers to human excrement.”

“Whoa! Dude! All right, Paul!” That’s what most of us guys were thinking. But I never heard anything more about that translation again, and avoided saying that particular slang word for human excrement when describing my commitment to Christ, or in any other context, for that matter. Fast forward twenty-five years. A few months ago I stumbled across that same proposition while reading a book called The New Christians by Tony Jones. Tony makes the exact same point in a little sidebar—that the Greek word Paul uses in Philippians 3:8, skubalon, is the equivalent of our vernacular word, “shit.” Most bible translations will use words like “refuse” or “dung” or “garbage.” But the real translation from the Greek is a slang word for human excrement. You know what it is, so I won’t say it again.

Well, there you have it. Paul used a street-word for its shock value, to get his point across. But Paul wasn’t “cursing” just then, was he? He was using a slang word in a certain context to bring a punch to his very strong point. There are certain slang words that are actually appropriate at times, more relevant or at the very least functional. There’s a big difference between using slang and actually cursing. Cursing involves outright vulgarity with an intention of offending and condemning the listener. Which is not what I, nor my good brothers and sisters, ever intend when speaking. And, I guess that’s my point. Or my question. Just what exactly qualifies as a curse word anymore?

I serve on a Board with one of the pastors from a mega-church in our area. A couple of weeks ago we were about to receive a presentation from someone who wasn’t quite so polished in his use of language. Like Peter’s handlers, I warned the pastor that the presenter might accidentally drop a couple of off-color words into his presentation, by accident. Words not typically heard in his weekly sermons. This pastor replied: “So what. I think an off-color word can be refreshing once in a while.” This is actually code for “I am so effing tired of being censored by the Evangelical language police.”

Can you imagine that? A pastor who welcomes salty language as “refreshing?” Maybe I can someday imagine a world where Christian-oriented material is published with language that really sounds like me, my friends, my church, like we are having a real conversation about real life. Not that it would be nasty, irreverent or blasphemous, and certainly not cursing others, just talking. That’s quite a stretch, I know. But, dang-it-all, I can dream, can’t I?

Bradley J. Moore posts regularly on the challenges of business spiritually engaged at shrinkingthecamel.com. Bradley is an executive in a large corporation in the Northeast which shall remain nameless.

Honestly, it hardly matters what they do—they just seem like they would be a creative, high-involvement bunch to work with. My brother Dave was kind enough to send me the MashON internship posting at InternWeb.com.

Do you enjoy surfing through the series of tubes that is the interweb?  Sick of being told that your extensive online knowledge is of the useless variety?  Want to prove your parents wrong by benefiting from your interest in comic books?  Want to work with a group of people who genuinely like one another in an environment that encourages creativity, individuality, laughter and irreverence?  Want to make your friends jealous?  Want to work for MashON?

MashON is an exciting and unique company free of the cubicle-centric corporate mentality.  Our dart board, pool table, mandatory participation in company-wide Jenga tournaments, casual-only dress code and Donut Fridays, presented by our very own Ambassador of Fun, help create an atmosphere conducive to not sucking.  We focus on building a host of web-based tools which allow users to combine their own photos, videos and sounds with premium licensed content, to easily create multimedia comic strips, animated novels and e-cards. The resulting mashup can be shared with friends via email or posted to popular social networking websites.  Our partners include Electronic Arts, MTV, Marvel, TOKYOPOP, Virgin Comics and more!

MashON is looking for interns who are extremely computer & internet savvy, familiar with user-generated content and social networking websites (YouTube, MySpace, Facebook), creative thinkers, problem solvers and dont mind playing with websites and digital comic books all day.  Interns you may be but we will treat you like real live human beings.  You will not be forced to wear badges labeled “Intern.”  You will be allowed to make eye contact with MashON staff members, address us by our first names and speak prior to being spoken to.  Most importantly, we will respect, value and request your insightful opinion concerning all things MashON.  Our interns will support the day-to-day operations of the MashON Creative and Technical teams, with duties such as:

1. Creating User-Generated Content (UGC)
2. Providing Application Usability Feedback (QA)
3. Performing competitive industry research
4. Supporting the Creative team with production tasks (Photoshop, Illustrator experience required)

Please visit mashon.com

Qualifications:

Extremely computer & internet savvy
Familiarity with Mac environment
Knowledge of social networking websites
Knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator is helpful but not a must
Must be able to receive college credit for internship

Paid Internship Info:

Unpaid

Hours:

TBD

Length/Availability:

Duration of academic term

Seriously, doesn’t that make you wish for a moment that you had the qualifications and time to hang with these people for a semester?

What kind of feeling do people get from reading about your organization?

What does that tell you?

Or maybe you set up a nice out-of-office reply and promise to get back to everyone when you return…

Or perhaps you’re one of those who sends business emails during the holidays…

Email is a funny thing. Sending it to someone somehow sets up an expectation of receiving an answer. And as we receive piles of email, we can feel guilty about not answering everything to the highest standards. I’ve received emails that took someone all of 30 seconds to write and send, and I’ve felt compelled to take two hours to craft a response. This is crazy!

So back to the holiday in-box pileup. You’re back at work and have 500 messages. You know you will be trying to work through these over the next two or three days. Do you really read everything? Do you really respond to everything? Do you accidentally delete important items? Do you feel vaguely guilty about how you are handling all this, but hope the senders knows you are really sincere in considering their email important? You miss some emails totally. Others you don’t answer well in your rush to plow through. Others hang around in the box as you continue to think about how to answer. And before you know it, you are weeks into your return from the holidays doing rearguard action handling the frustration of those who sent email and expect a reply.

Email can set up a false sense of sincerity and obligation in the so-called “relationship” between sender and receiver. This is hilariously and bitingly described by Merlin Mann in The High Cost of Pretending. He is provoked by Danah Boyd who is going on a sabbatical and bluntly tells everyone that she is not accepting emails, period.

…I believe that email eradicates any benefits gained from taking a vacation by collecting mold and spitting it back out at you the moment you return. As such, I’ve trained my beloved INBOX to reject all email during vacation. I give it a little help in the form of a .procmail file that sends everything directly to /dev/null. The effect is very simple. You cannot put anything in my queue while I’m away (however lovingly you intend it) and I come home to a clean INBOX. Don’t worry… if you forget, you’ll get a nice note from my INBOX telling you to shove off, respect danah’s deeply needed vacation time, and try again after January 19.

We may not be able to pull off something like this with our friends and colleagues, but perhaps we should be clearer with them about your expectations and theirs rather than pretending that you are interested and on top of the flood of messages that will come in. It’s an act of respect for the people with whom we communicate. Let’s set sensible expectations and then enjoy a little time off without guilt.

Now about your email obsession…well, that’s another subject.