The Nativity's Unsung Hero

When you picture the nativity, who comes to mind? Mary and Joseph? The wise men with their gifts? Maybe the shepherds or the angels? There's one character who carried the whole journey—literally—and never gets a mention in the credits.

This week at Crowd Church, Ade Birkby made the case for the most overlooked member of the Christmas story: the donkey. Yup. The donkey.

Why the Donkey Deserves a Second Look

The nativity donkey carried Mary on a journey of somewhere between 75 and 90 miles, depending on which route Joseph chose. Four to seven days through rough terrain, possibly hilly country or the sweltering Jordan Valley. It was hard, unglamorous work.

And when the job was done? The donkey stepped back into the background. No fanfare. No Instagram post. Just quiet, faithful service.

Ade pointed out something that feels particularly relevant in our age of "main character syndrome"—that social media culture where everyone's documenting their highlights and positioning themselves at the centre of every story. The donkey did the opposite. It did the hard work, didn't complain, didn't make a big deal about it, and when its task was complete, it simply stepped aside.

What Donkeys Actually Teach Us

In our culture, donkeys don't exactly have a great reputation. We associate them with stubbornness and stupidity.

But donkeys are actually highly intelligent. They work best when they trust their owner. They have excellent eyesight and are sure-footed—ideal for rough terrain. They'll lead and follow a path without needing someone in front of them. They have an incredible sense of predator detection and will position themselves between predator and prey. What we call "stubbornness" is actually a strong sense of self-preservation.

And in the Bible, donkeys appear repeatedly as symbols of humility, peace, and faithful service. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey—not a warhorse—as a deliberate symbol of humility.

Three Traits Worth Learning

From the nativity donkey, Ade highlighted three characteristics we could all learn from:

Dependability

"Whoever can be trusted with very little, can also be trusted with much." — Luke 16:10

Being dependable takes effort. It requires honesty and consistency. As Ade put it, we need to show we can be trusted with the little things before we expect to be trusted with bigger ones. It's not glamorous, but it matters.

Obedience

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." — John 14:15

Genuine obedience comes from love, not fear or duty. And it requires action, not just listening or talking. As the old saying goes, you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?

Humility

"God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble." — James 4:6

Ade made an important distinction here between two types of pride. There's authentic pride—feeling good about something you've done well. That's healthy. Then there's hubristic pride—believing you're better than others. That's the toxic kind that puts the focus on us rather than where it belongs.

Humility means taking the focus off ourselves and treating others as more important. It's asking, as five-time CrossFit champion Matt Fraser put it: "What are you doing when no one is watching?"

The Christmas Charity Problem

Christmas is when charities see record numbers of volunteers because everyone wants to help during the festive season. It’s part of the Christmas spirit.

But the rest of the year? Nowhere near the same interest.

Most of the real work gets done by people who show up all year round—in January when the skies are grey, in February when motivation has evaporated, in the ordinary months when there's no warm fuzzy feeling attached to helping.

What does that say about our dependability and humility as a culture?

Conversation Street - Putting This Into Practice

During Conversation Street, the conversation turned to practical application.

Who are the "donkeys" in your life?

Matt asked who does all the unglamorous work that makes everything else possible. The answers: people mentioned cleaners, those who set up chairs at church, the tea-and-coffee volunteers, and partners who hold things together at home.

Ade turned it around and called Matt a donkey (in the nicest possible way) because of all the unseen work that goes into making Crowd Church happen for people watching online.

The suggestion? Maybe Christmas is a good time to write a handwritten note or give a small gift to those people who do the unglamorous stuff. Just to let them know they're seen.

Main character syndrome

Josh admitted he's suffered from it. In today's culture, we're driven to be the main person—all the films, all the shows, that's where the attention goes. The people doing hard work in the background rarely get noticed.

Matt reflected on how autobiographies only capture the highlights or the low points—never the 90% of life that happens in between. It's the regular stuff that makes the biggest difference, yet we never celebrate it.

What's your equivalent of putting the chairs out?

Matt shared that he makes the bed almost every morning—350 days a year. Sharon never asked him to. He doesn't get thanked for it. He just does it because it's the right thing to do.

Josh talked about the teeth-brushing routine with three young kids—those small, unglamorous moments where you just step up.

Ade shared his journey from being a busy Christian musician (with his wife Sonia doing countless unseen things) to now being Sonia's primary carer due to her health. All those little things she used to do that he took for granted? He's now doing them himself.

Consistency beats intensity

Ade made a brilliant point about New Year's resolutions. Come January, people sign up for gyms and go on extreme diets. By the end of January, they're burned out.

What if instead, you just moved a bit more and ate a bit healthier all year round?

The same applies to faith. Ten minutes a day in the Bible, done consistently, beats an ambitious hour-a-day plan that falls apart after a week.

Small, bite-sized nuggets of consistency build up over time. It's boring. It's the basics. But the basics, done consistently, are really powerful.

A Question

As we approach Christmas, think about the one thing you could consistently do—whether in your faith, your community, or your service to others—that you won’t necessarily get credit for, but by doing it faithfully, could make a real difference?

It might not be Instagram-worthy. It probably won't make it into anyone's highlights reel. But maybe that's exactly the point.

The donkey carried the most important cargo in history and never got a mention. And yet, without its faithful, unglamorous service, the journey wouldn't have happened.

Perhaps the best Christmas question isn't "How can I be seen?" but "What can I carry?"