WEEK THREE: GRINCH

Dr. Seuss created many wacky and whimsical characters in his children’s books, but I wonder if he could have possibly known or realized how famous The Grinch would become. I saw something online where some kids were pondering the name “The Grinch”… they asked questions like, is this his real name? Is his last name “Grinch?” Or is Grinch his species? Is he the only one of his kind? Or is “Grinch” an insult or derogatory name that the people of Whoville came up with to call him from afar? Either way, it seems strange that this character is only known as “The Grinch.” No matter where this name came from, it gives us this feeling that he is a character meant to be “other,” different from the rest of the town (more of a “what” than a “Who”). We all know how The Grinch started out in the story. I remember listening to the song from the original animated TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas when I was a child, and the lyrics describe in vivid detail what a terrible creature he was, with words like “Your heart’s a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots… Your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable mangled up in tangled up knots!” Every time I heard that song growing up, I couldn’t help but think, “Man, he must be really bad for people to say such awful things about him.”

But I feel like this dramatic description of what The Grinch was really like makes his transformation so much more impactful. It’s one thing to have a person make a change for the better or choose to do the right thing when they’ve previously done wrong. Those are examples of life transformation that are just as valid! But it’s rare to see the absolute worst kind of person become completely different—and the story says that The Grinch’s heart grew three sizes when he experienced the true meaning of Christmas. We see a person sort of like this in the Bible: if the early Christians of the New Testament are like the people of Whoville, Paul was the man who “stole their Christmas.” He caused unimaginable harm and terror in the lives of the believers, but then an encounter with Jesus caused him to miraculously turn his life around. But it’s not just the transformation itself that is so noteworthy. To me, the best and most unbelievable part of the story is how the people of the early Church ended up welcoming Paul as family and even as a leader after his change of heart!

We see at the end of the story of The Grinch that he is welcomed into Whoville and invited to share in the Christmas feast to celebrate the very holiday that he had previously worked so hard to destroy! He was even given the honor of carving the roast beast! I think this story (along with the biblical story of Paul) is a great reminder that, no matter how far from God’s grace you think someone may be, their story is not yet finished. Even if you yourself think that your heart is two sizes too small, there is hope for redemption. When God transforms a heart, he doesn’t just restore it—he makes it possible for our hearts and our influence and our capacity for love to grow past what we can even imagine!