Keeping Christ in Christmas

Once again, the Christmas season is upon us.  The stores are adorned with red and green; the radio stations fill the airwaves with our holiday favorites and children everywhere are dropping not-so-subtle hints as to what they might like under the tree.  It is also time for people to break out their Keep Christ in Christmas pins and car magnets.  Driving back from Florida last week I noticed several vehicles with these magnets strategically placed for others to see.  It made me wonder, “Exactly how would one take Christ out of Christmas?”

As “all things have been created through Him and for Him…and by Him all things hold together (Col 1:16–17) it seems unlikely that we could ever take Him out of Christmas – or anything else for that matter.  I’m sure the point of these car magnets is that we should (especially during Christmas) acknowledge Christ.  Given the rampant secularization of Christmas, it is an understandable sentiment.  If A Charlie Brown Christmas were to be remade today, Linus’ presentation of the Birth of Jesus from Luke’s Gospel (2:8-14) would undoubtedly be omitted.  The Nativity has been replaced by reindeer and elves, just as the empty tomb has been replaced by bunnies and eggs.

Part of our problem might be that we have compartmentalized Christmas and reduced it to a story about the birth of Jesus.  It is so much more than that.  It was the moment when the Eternal interjected Himself into the temporal, when God took on flesh.  It is the moment in history when God put in motion His plan for the salvation of mankind.  The only way we can really understand the Baby in the manger is by remembering the Man on the cross.  It is in His death, burial and resurrection that His birth is shown in its true light.  This is the real Christmas story.

As Christians lament the current situation, we must face a hard reality – this decades long trend cannot be reversed with pithy sayings or bumper sticker theology.  If we are really serious about keeping Christ in Christmas it starts by making sure WE keep Him in New Year’s Eve, as well as Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, the 4^th of July, Labor Day and all of the other days that don’t have special names.  It's unreasonable for us to expect a secular world to acknowledge Christ in December if we are not intentional about acknowledging Him the other 11 months of the year.  They are just following our lead. 

However, if our lives don’t truly reflect our love of and submission to Jesus then our attempts to lead others will prove futile.  Face it, the “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” pin seems a bit insincere when we are obsessing over the accumulation of more consumer goods just like everyone else.  We are supposed to be different.  Our faith in Christ cannot be limited to simple catchphrases, it must be exhibited in the lives we live – every day.  We cannot simply tell others to “Keep Christ in Christmas” we must show them how.

Father,

I pray that I will be salt and light in a world that desperately needs to know the Savior; that I will show Your love and forgiveness, not my judgement and wrath.  Please help me to glorify You in my actions and words this Christmas season.  Allow others to see Christ in me that You might be glorified and others come to know how much You love them. Please forgive me where we have failed You.   

In Christ Name, Amen.

May you all have a blessed Christmas.

In His Service,

Giving Thanks

     From our earliest days in school we have all heard the stories of how the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in order to give thanks to God for His provision. While rarely mentioned in public schools today, colonial observances of Thanksgiving were clearly focused on God as their Creator and Sustainer. In his journal, William Branford, an early Governor of Plymouth Colony, wrote

          “And afterwards the Lord sent them such seasonable 
           showers, with interchange of fair warm weather as, 
           through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, 
           to their no  small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, 
           in time convenient, they also set apart a day of 
           thanksgiving…”

     It was not, however, until 1863 that Thanksgiving became an annual observance when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

     While we celebrate Thanksgiving today as part of the broader holiday season, over the last century we have changed the emphasis from giving thanks to being thankful. Many Americans might argue that the two phrases are synonymous, however the difference is significant and it can be seen in the verb of each phrase. To give is to make a present of, to grant or bestow to another. Being is the quality or state of having existence. While it stands to reason that in order to give thanks one must be thankful, one can be thankful without giving thanks.

     It has become commonplace in the days that lead up to the fourth Thursday in November to take time to name all of the things for which we are thankful. In some circles it’s known as “The Thankful Game.” Most often family, friends, health, and favorable life situations top the list of the things that inspires feelings of thankfulness. Unfortunately it quite often stops there. We are content in our thankfulness and are satisfied in feeling grateful.

     It seems that today our focus is more on what we are thankful for rather than to whom we should be thankful. We appreciate the gift far more than the giver. This Thanksgiving let’s take a moment and give thanks to the One from whom all blessings flow. Let’s give thanks to the Creator and Sustainer of all. Without Him there truly would be nothing for which to be thankful, in fact without Him there would be nothing at all.

Hallelujah!

I will praise the LORD with all my heart

in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.
The LORD’s works are great,
studied by all who delight in them.
All that He does is splendid and majestic;
His righteousness endures forever.
He has caused His wonderful works to be remembered.
The LORD is gracious and compassionate.
He has provided food for those who fear Him;
He remembers His covenant forever.
He has shown His people the power of His works
by giving them the inheritance of the nations.
The works of His hands are truth and justice;
all His instructions are trustworthy.
They are established forever and ever,
enacted in truth and in what is right.
He has sent redemption to His people.
He has ordained His covenant forever.
His name is holy and awe-inspiring.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow His instructions have good insight.
His praise endures forever. Psalm 111

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

In His Service,

The Song Remains the Same

Twenty years ago, the nation was horrified when two gunmen entered Columbine High school and assassinated 12 of their classmates and 1 teacher before the pair committed suicide.  At that time, it was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. Since then, hundreds have lost their lives in mass shootings in this country.  32 were killed at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, 20 elementary school students and 6 staff members at Sandy Hook, and 58 concert goers at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas.  This month another 32 were killed in Dayton and El Paso, which brings the total to 672 people who have been killed in mass shooting incidents this century.

Sadly, these tragedies have become so common that, while unsettling, our sense our outrage quickly dissipates.  In fact, we have become so accustomed to these appalling events that we skip over any sorrow or compassion and jump immediately to our political position.  As surely as night follows day, Democrats argue for "gun control," Republicans fight for “gun rights” and ultimately nothing changes.  The Christian community also responds as expected.  We condemn the act, point out that it is the result of the sinful condition of mankind and offer prayers and condolences for the victims and their families.  And that’s where it ends.

Seven years ago, after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting I wrote, “the problem is that we are sinners and we desire sin. There is no law that can correct it; there is no law that can contain it. There is only one cure for this condition – the Gospel.”  Only Jesus can change our sinful nature.  This is the only way to effectively address the rampant evil in our world.

The problem is the majority of Christians still refuse to share the Gospel.  The only words we are willing to speak are words of condemnation or in defense our 2nd amendment rights.  It seems that somewhere along the way we lost our passion for telling others about Jesus.  If we won’t tell them about Jesus, how will they ever know?  If Jesus is the only way, then how will they ever find the way if we are unwilling to show them.  We are content to simply sit in our sanctuaries and watch the world spin out of control.

The truth is that this unabated violence will continue as long as Christians choose silence.  Jesus said, “No one lights a lamp and puts it in the cellar or under a basket…”(Lk 11:33), yet that is exactly what we have been doing.  We are hiding the gospel away while our country experiences the effects of our negligence.

Jesus told His disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt 28:19) and that they should “preach the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mk 15:16).  These are commands, not suggestions.  If we continue to remain silent then we not only condemn the world, we disobey our Lord.

As always, we should continue to pray, but we are commanded to do more.  We are commanded to be His witnesses.

In His Service,

(NOTE - Many of these thoughts were shared in previous articles - after the Sandy Hook and Marjory Stoneman Douglas shootings - yet, The Song Remains the Same)

Intentionalty

Like many people, I really don’t enjoy meetings.  In my opinion most of them are not very productive and I often leave them feeling as if nothing substantial had been accomplished.  Occasionally I will attend a meeting that proves to be the exception to the rule.  We will really accomplish something or (if I’m lucky) someone will say something truly profound.  Such was the case in one of our executive team meetings.  The guest speaker posed a question that really hit me. “What is the key element that is missing in the disciple making process today?” The answer, while short, was profound – “Intentionality.”

            The church isn’t intentional in its mission to make disciples.  We plan, promote and execute events without ever giving much thought to what we want to accomplish and hope that somehow something good will happen. I call this “ministry by accident.”  We continue aimlessly doing church the same way we always have and every now and then ministry occurs.  We rarely take the time to analyze what we are doing to determine if it is effective or not.  This is probably why one of the most familiar phrases uttered in a Baptist church is, “that’s how we’ve always done it before.”

            Baptists are, for the most part, great event planners, but we are ineffective disciple makers.  Every year Baptist put together some pretty impressive Vacation Bible Schools, we send our youth on exciting mission trips and hold inspiring conventions.  Yet, for all our efforts, we see very few lives changed.  We see minimal spiritual growth.  We don’t see much discipleship.  Despite this uncomfortable reality, we continue to do the same thing, the same way, over and over again.  Given that we are steadily loosing ground, maybe it’s time to reevaluate our procedures.  Maybe it’s time to become intentional about making disciples.

            Being intentional about making disciples means asking questions.  It means setting objectives and goals.  It means doing things purposefully.  It means evaluating what was done to see how well it worked.  Admittedly, these are not things we are accustomed to or comfortable doing.  It is much easier to just put together really well planned events and let the chips fall where they may.

Our speaker said that he had once visited a church that was celebrating the fact that they had eighty-five men registered for a men's event.  He said, “That’s Great” and asked what they had planned as a follow up to the event.  Their response was, as often is the case, “Nothing.”  It seems their primary focus was on creating a great event experience and not necessarily on creating disciples.  No doubt they hoped that the event would serve in the disciple making process but with no follow up, with no reinforcement there would be no way to know.

It might be time for us to stop doing things simply because we have always done it that way before and start doing things purposefully. It might be time for us to be intentional.  It might be time for us to critically examine what we are doing and ask the tough questions.  What do we hope to accomplish?  How are we going to do it?  Is this the most effective and God honoring way?  Are we, as our Lord commanded, making disciples?

In His Service,

What Do We Really Care About?

     Yahoo! Sports ranks it as the 4th worst blown call in sports history. With the game tied and less than two minutes left, officials missed an obvious pass interference. The missed call prevented the Saints from running down the clock and kicking a short field goal to secure the victory and advance to the title game. The Rams would later win in overtime.

 

   As one would expect, the outrage among Saints fans was immediate and overwhelming. The excess energy created by that outrage was quickly turned to action. It was the lead story on every local (and some national) news stations. One local fan started a petition to have the NFL commissioner overturn the game, within 24 hours he had already amassed over 500,000 signatures. Celebrities and athletes weighed in on the missed call. Tens of thousands in the area vowed to boycott the Superbowl. A local car dealer purchased several billboards in Atlanta (the location of the title game) to express the city’s anger. A law suit was even being filed on behalf of the Saint’s season ticket holders against the NFL.

     That is the way it works. Injustice leads to outrage, outrage creates energy and that energy is used to take action to correct the injustice. As human beings, we tend to be passionate creatures and we get outraged by a lot of different things; be they sports, politics, work situations or our families. When we feel that an injustice has occurred or that something is wrong, we take action to correct the situation. Typically, the greater the injustice or the more important the situation is to us, the greater the energy created to correct the situation. We can consider it Newton’s Third law of motion as it pertains to human behavior.

     Now consider this, the world health organization estimates that approximately 153,000 people die every day. It is estimated that of the 5.04 billion people that live in the 10/40 window, about 68.5% are in unreached people groups. That means that no less than 68,000 people will die every day having lived their entire lives without ever hearing the name of Jesus. They will find themselves before the King without knowing who He is. They will face condemnation without a Savior. It is not because they denied Christ, it is because no one cared enough to tell them about Him.

     Where is our Christian outrage? Where is the passion and energy that compels us to act? How is it that we can be aware of this and still sit quietly, week after week, when blown sports calls, historic and national symbols or political debates will provoke us to fight?

     While there are a number of theories as to why Christians in this country are unmoved by the hopeless plight of those who have never heard the name of Jesus. I fear that the answer may be a simple one – they are just not that important to us. When compared to maintaining our rituals, traditions and comforts, their eternal destination really doesn’t stir our passions; we are not outraged.  We are not even moved.

     Fortunately for us, Jesus was moved. He was so moved by the overwhelming effect of sin that He willingly paid the price we owed for our salvation. And He cares about every man, woman and child who has yet to hear His name. Even now He is sending obedient followers into the dangerous areas of this world to proclaim His name. He is calling His followers to commit themselves to His global mission.

     Will we choose to be a part of that mission? Will we be moved by something more significant than our own comforts?  Will we be outraged by the reality that in time it took to read this article, 236 more died without ever hearing the name of Jesus?

In His Service,