The place where I grew up is a wide spot in the road surrounded by Central Illinois cornfields. Whenever I would hear someone give directions to our little town they would inevitably say, “Don’t blink or you will miss it.” That wasn’t far from the truth. As a teenager, I was convinced life was happening everywhere but my hometown. After all, what could happen of any significance in such a small place? It wouldn’t be surprising if the people in Bethlehem once felt the same way.
Located about five miles southwest of Jerusalem, Bethlehem was described as small in both size and significance. In comparison to Jerusalem, Bethlehem didn’t have much to offer. In fact, Bethlehem was so obscure it wasn’t even named among the one hundred plus cities assigned to the tribe of Judah. Josh 15:21-23. Despite its insignificance, God chose this unremarkable village to serve as the birthplace of Christ. Matt 2:1-8
Clearly, the town of Bethlehem possessed nothing remarkable to be bestowed with the honor of serving as the site of the most significant birth in human history. But we see a consistent pattern throughout Scripture of God choosing people and places the world overlooks. In fact, it seems God takes great pleasure in doing so.
Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”
Today, Bethlehem has great significance and is universally known as the birthplace of Christ. People travel from far and wide to visit. You might say the birth of Christ put Bethlehem on the map. There is no question that Jesus made Bethlehem significant.
And so it is with us. Don’t we all want to be significant? Sadly, much of our society has lost its way in pursuit of significance. We live in a “Me Culture” that promotes the false notion that we gain esteem by how much attention we draw to ourselves. For some, self worth is measured by how many “likes” a post gets on social media, how successful you are (or aren’t) at your job, how much money you have (or don’t have) in the bank, or your reputation in your field of work.
For Christ followers, there is another way. Our significance was settled on the cross and we can live with the freedom that we have nothing to prove. Our identity is established and secured in our relationship with Christ. The world doesn’t have the authority to define us. Jesus defines us. Through our relationship with Christ we are children of the King, Romans 8:15, the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19 and fellow heirs with Christ Romans 8:16.
At times we all feel insignificant, overlooked, and as if we don’t measure up to our neighbor. But like Bethlehem, it is in our relationship with Jesus Christ that we find our identity, significance, and place in the world.
