The Characters of Christmas: Why the Nativity Is More Disruptive Than We Remember | Dan Darling

Christmas is often wrapped in nostalgia, warmth and familiarity—but what if the real story is far more disruptive than we remember?

In this episode of Uncommon Sense in Current Times, I sit down with author and theologian Dan Darling to uncover the subversive power of the Christmas story through the lens of his book, The Characters of Christmas. Far from a sentimental backdrop, the Nativity is a declaration that God has entered a broken, violent world—not to affirm earthly power, but to overturn it.

By examining the lives of Joseph, Zachariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, the Magi, and even King Herod, this conversation reveals a consistent pattern: God works through ordinary, faithful people—often on the margins—while worldly power reacts with fear.

Christmas doesn't ignore pain. It confronts it with hope.

💭 A different way to reflect this week:

• What if the Christmas story isn't meant to comfort our routines—but to disrupt them?
  
  
  
• Where might God be working quietly in your ordinary faithfulness right now?
  
  
  

📌 In this episode, we explore:

✅ Why Christmas is a deeply subversive and world-changing event

✅ How familiarity can numb us to the power of the Incarnation

✅ Joseph as a model of quiet, immediate obedience

✅ What Zachariah and Elizabeth teach us about faith during long silence

✅ Why shepherds—not kings—received the first announcement

✅ How the Magi model genuine truth-seeking and humility

✅ King Herod as the timeless picture of fear-driven worldly power

✅ Why Christmas offers hope without denying brokenness

✅ How God still works through ordinary people today

📢 TAKE ACTION:

📖 Re-read the Christmas story slowly and intentionally this season.

🕯️ Resist autopilot faith—lean back into awe and wonder.

🙏 Bring both your joy and your grief to Christ this Christmas.

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