OPINION:
Once again, Christmas has come and gone. Families have visited, gifts have been given, carols have been sung and countless Christmas movies have been watched on Netflix or Prime, including classics such as “Holiday Inn,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and perhaps the most iconic of all: Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
Have you ever wondered why this story from the horse-and-buggy days of 19th-century England is so enduring? What makes this short book, with its somewhat predictable plot, so timeless? What about this tale resonates with us? Why does it continue to inspire virtually endless remakes? And why do we keep watching it, even though we know nearly every line?
Maybe the answer lies in the simple moral of the story: that even the worst among us can become believers in Christmas if we are willing to change our behavior and start acting like it, in spite of our doubts.
The story of Ebenezer Scrooge is the tale of a selfish old wretch of a man who decides to start doing the good deeds taught in the Gospels even before he necessarily believes in the story of Christ. Dickens describes it this way:
After Scrooge was forced by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to recognize his mortality, he woke up on Christmas morning, “dressed himself all in his best and … went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurry to and fro. [He] patted the children on the head, questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchen houses and up to the windows.” Scrooge then went directly to Bob Cratchit’s house. “A merry Christmas, Bob!” he said. “A merrier Christmas, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! [From now on] I’ll raise your salary and endeavor to assist your family [in every way I can].”
Dickens concludes: “Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all. … He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, or borough in the good old world.”
Notice that there is no indication that Scrooge had an immediate change in belief. That’s not what Dickens emphasizes. On the contrary, the clear lesson here is that Scrooge knew he needed to change the way he lived. He needed to confess his sins and change his behavior. As a result, he cared for his family, was extravagant with friends, gave generous tips to vendors, was gracious to neighbors, helpful to strangers and kind to those he did not know.
This man, formerly known for his calloused heart to all who crossed him, started giving to everyone who crossed his path. The result was that Scrooge became known as the most ardent believer in all of Great Britain. In fact, Dickens tells us, “It was always said of Ebenezer Scrooge that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge [i.e., belief to do so].”
The lesson of “A Christmas Carol” is simple: If you struggle with belief, try behaving anyway. In other words, even if you don’t know if you believe, try obeying anyway. While your actions won’t save you, they may awaken you to the only one who can.
Another British writer of the same era as Charles Dickens says it well. In “The Curate’s Awakening,” George MacDonald writes:
”All I now can say is that in the story of Jesus, I have seen grandeur — to me altogether beyond the reach of human invention … [and] from [my] attempt to obey the words recorded as his, I have experienced a great enlargement of my mind … and a wonderful increase in faith. … Therefore, I now declare with the consent of my whole man — I cast my lot with the servants of the Crucified. … Impressed as I am with the truth of his nature, the absolute devotion of his life, and the essential might of his being, if I yet obey him not … I would draw ruin on my own head. … On such grounds as these, I hope I am justified in declaring myself a disciple of the Son of Man!”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was another one who summarized this synergistic paradox of behavior and belief. This preacher of the Reformation, who understood all too well that “it is by grace that we’re saved through faith and it’s not of works, lest any man should boast,” also said, “Only those who believe obey, but only those who obey believe.”
If you struggle with belief, maybe a good New Year’s resolution would be to try behaving anyway. The result might be that, like Scrooge, Bonhoeffer and all other followers of Christ, you will wake up one morning and be overcome by the words: “If you abide in my word … you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of “Not a Daycare: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery). He can be reached at epiper@dreverettpiper.com.
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