No Matter What

MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS... Last week I shared some Information from the book The War on Christmas. Certainly there has been an attempt over a number of years to neutralize Christmas in our society. The activities of liberal activists, lawyers, politicians, educators, and media are usually cited as the primary source of this assault.

What about Christians? Do we USE Christmas for our own gain? There has been much publicized recently about the refusal of retailers to use the expression Merry Christmas. You will usually hear Happy Holidays , Seasons Greetings, Happy Holiday Season, etc. Well, if the expression offends people, the actual Christmas Holiday should be even more egregious. If these folks were honest about their political correctness then they would do away with the "season" altogether. But wait a minute, that would plunge most of them into bankruptcy.

That brings me back to the church. Do we USE Christmas in a way that is not unlike the retailers and political correct crowd that we openly chastise? Consider this - a number of Christians I have talked with recently share that their church will not have Worship Service on Christmas Sunday. There are several reasons given, but the obvious factor relates to inconvenience. When people tell me they are not having service on Christmas day I usually give a three word response. Are you serious? The Lord's Day...Is there a better day to celebrate the birth of our Savior? I wish Christmas fell on Sunday every year.

Our celebrations, cantatas, and pageants are also conducted at times of convenience. And what do they accomplish? What are we teaching our children? What impact are we really having on society? Perhaps society has become neutral to Christmas because the church has become ineffective in sharing the message or more accurately sharing the correct message. Have we contributed to the spiritual bankruptcy that is pervasive across our land. Let us remember that Jesus was born in a lowly, humble place. Jesus did not come to be served (given to) but to be a servant (giver). The Bible tells us that Jesus came to "seek and to save the lost".

Let us not USE Christmas for our personal gain and convenience. BE A GIVER (Servant) ...Go to a hard place ...Make a personal investment in someone's life ...Sponsor a child ...Work in a homeless shelter ...Share your faith ...Celebrate the "mission" of Christ! HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS -Craig