I just spent an afternoon in a mall Christmas shopping. I figured that if I went on a Thursday afternoon, I could get my shopping done before the weekend crowd hit the stores. Apparently, everyone else had the same bright idea. The place was packed. My equilibrium is still regulating after spending the entire afternoon walking sideways, ducking, weaving and spinning through the sea of bag toting shoppers. Kids were crying, retail workers were stressed, and I could feel my blood pressure rising.

Is this the way to prepare for Christmas? Is this how we prepare to celebrate the coming Jesus? After this afternoon, I don’t feel like breaking out in a "halleluiah chorus." I feel more like grabbing the largest, heaviest shopping bag within reach and swinging it around. Is it possible that this is how John the Baptist felt, as he wandered throughout the land of Israel, watching his Jewish brothers and sister’s suffer under the heavy hand of Rome and divide over the trivial rules and regulations decreed by the religious elite? Is it possible that he wanted to just scream and go postal on the entire system?

I wish I could have been there to see John the Baptist. I read the Scriptures and am struck at the thought of a guy who most likely never cut his hair, ate only locusts and honey and wore clothes made of camel hair. I can’t think of a sermon that I’ve ever heard from a guy with this description. Most churches today would tell a guy like this to take a shower, shave, get a haircut and get some decent clothes.

Yet this is the guy, THE guy, chosen by God, "in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to wisdom of the righteous-to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17, TNIV, emphasis mine). Is it not amazing the seedy characters God picks to carry out His plan?

So here is the wild, dirty, untamed vagrant named John, rocking the boat of the status quo. “He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3, TNIV). He proclaims: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him’" (Luke 3:4, TNIV).

He’s preaching a fresh, new message … one unrestrained by the usual superficiality, the homage to Roman policy, or the religious infighting. He’s preparing the people for the revolutionary mission and message of Jesus, the Word made flesh.

You might say, his message was raw, wild …. untamed.

But John didn’t stop after leading the people on an inward journey of repentance. His message of preparation was explicitly outward. The crowd asks him, “’Then what are we supposed to DO?’ ‘If you have two coats, give one away,’ he said. ‘Do the same with your food’” (Luke 3:10-11, MSG, emphasis mine).

The divide between John’s untamed voice and the ever present voice of our materialistic culture to "buy, buy, buy," now appears wider than ever. In light of such a compassionate call, my mall experience now seems ridiculous. Has our preparation to celebrate the coming Jesus been tainted? Have we been blinded by the greed, the chaos and the credit card induced frenzy of the Christmas season?

So what if this Christmas we spend less on the junk we don’t need, and more on fulfilling the call of John the Baptist to seek justice, righting what’s wrong in the world? What if we completely turned the holiday shopping season on its head and diverted the money to the poor, the suffering and the outcasts in our world?

Economists may balk—"Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving, when retail companies generally start to turn a profit for the year) would probably cease to be "black" and would be just another day. The economy would certainly take a hit, but I’m pretty sure our nation could adjust.

Consider the message we, the Church, could send to the world: Christmas is about fulfilling the call of John the Baptist—to prepare the way for Jesus—by taking care of those in need. Fueled by Jesus’ love, His truth and His grace; consider the power of answering his call to “care for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine” (Matt 25:40, TNIV).

This Advent season, consider liberating your Christmas preparation from the cash registers, the credit card statements and the Joneses (let’s face it: we’re all tempted to keep up with them). Consider the untamed voice of John the Baptist, challenging us to share our stuff with those who need it more than we do. It will certainly save you the hassle of fighting the soccer moms for the great deals …. and you just might change the world.

Drew Moser is a pastor of young adults in Ohio and is currently trying to stay warm.