I just finished reading the chapter titled "God Incarnate" in J.I. Packer's classic book Knowing God. Packer referred to 2 Corinthians 8:9 which states "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich".
Then he stated something that I had to re-read a couple of times... it packs a good punch.
It is our shame and disgrace today that so many Christians - I will be more specific: so many of the soundest and most orthodox Christians - go through this world in the spirit of the priest and the Levite in our Lord's parable, seeing human need all around them, but averting their eyes, and passing by on the other side. That is not the Christmas spirit! Nor is it the spirit of those Christians - alas, they are many - whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle-class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bringing up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the sub-middle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian to get on by themselves. The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those, who like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves porr - spending and being spent - to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others in whatever way there seems need. (pg 71)
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