I am not a man of controversy. I do not believe it does anyone any good except create hard feelings. This little writing has no intention of creating controversy but to explain some things from the heart of God speaking to the tradition of man.
We are coming up on a time of year where you will hear slogans and Christmas songs fill the airwaves about the birth of Christ. One such slogan is, "Jesus, the reason for the season." As a Christian that loves the Lord and heeds His word, let's examine and see if He really is the reason for the season.
Jesus had a strong teaching in Matt. 7:21, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." What is the point of our Lord? The will of God must be at the heart of a follower of Christ. That means there is no room to follow ones own desires and thinking. In Matt. 17:1-8, we have written for us the transfiguration of Jesus before the eyes of Peter, James and John. Upon seeing Moses and Elijah appearing with Jesus, Peter wants to make three tabernacles for each one. Peter was making Jesus equal to Moses and Elijah. God spoke up and said, "NO!" The point was being made that one doesn't make Christ common to blend with everyone or everything else around. We need to listen to Jesus and not bring him down to man's level. Paul reminded the brethren at Colossae, "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." (Col. 2:8) He says, "See to it!" Make certain we aren't taken captive by man and his thinking or traditions. We must make certain that our teaching, the will of God comes according to Christ, not men.
Having said the above, what about Christmas being tied to "Jesus is the reason for the season?" Where did we come up with that? Who invented the Christmas idea? Was it a teaching of Christ and His apostles or an elementary principle of the world? The birth of Jesus was never preached after the resurrected Christ! Jesus sent His apostles into all the world to preach the gospel, the death, burial and resurrected Christ (I Cor. 15:1-4) No man is saved by His birth but only through the resurrected Christ will anyone be saved. We are too easily caught up in man's traditions, the elementary principles of the world and Christ never taught or asked to teach on something made up by man. The tradition of men draws attention world wide to honor Christ twice a year: Christmas and Easter. What about the rest of the time? That should get our attention as we live for the Lord each and every day. Man is the reason for the season and to make the season look spiritual, man tied Jesus to Christmas. Even the word 'Christmas' shows us it is man originated! If one would think, you would find that Dec. 25 was not His birth because in that part of the world, they are having winter like we. They do not tend to flocks in the pastures as the sheep are put up in pens until the spring!
Someones asks, "Is it wrong to give gifts, have a Christmas tree and lights?" Those too are traditions of men. However, they are not religious! There is nothing wrong with enjoying a season. Romans 14 speaks of using days individually and they are fine. Just don't tie it to a religious service or to Christ! We need to do what we do according to Christ and hold fast to Him. To enjoy family times, gift giving and the twinkling of lights, there is nothing condemning in those. Keep Christ and His death, burial and resurrection at heart. Ignore the religious pomp of the world and whatever you do, do not be taken captive!
4 comments:
While we, as followers of Christ, want to believe that we are not impacted by the world following this specific tradition, we actually can be if we are not careful.
First, I would ask this of anyone reading this blog. How many of you are fearful, or maybe even just lukewarm, of supporting God's word over the traditions of man, such as this one? Stop and think about it. Are you willing to hold to God's word and abstain from things that appear spiritual, but are not? Do you find yourself just "going with the flow" when it comes to family and co-workers who know no better and are fervent in their support of this "season"? The reason I bring this up is that often times we fail to realize that even accepting any part of this tradition, originated by man, leads us down a dangerous path that could end up costing us our very souls. How often do we think a little bit of this or that won’t hurt?
Second, do you find yourself not wanting to “challenge” this tradition or other traditions of man? I’m not saying that we should in an absolute direct manner. Bear with me for a moment. When we “challenge” such things we often become labeled by the world as cold-hearted and non-religious since we don’t support the world’s way of thinking. (I personally don’t worry about what labels are heaped on me by the world.) Regardless, we must be aware of the traditions and how they originated in order to be able to understand the context the world is attempting to use them in. Now back to the meaningful part of this point. If we, as followers of Christ, hold to, teach, preach, spread, and live the Truth even during “this season”, then we do not have to “challenge” anything. The word of God will stand on its own and has no need of being defended in regards to these traditions. If we strive to be the light to the world (Matthew 5:14) and the example we are told to be (Titus 2:7), then we do not need to be worried the traditions of man nor should we become a part of them. Our challenge should always come in the form of teaching the Truth and spreading the Gospel and nothing else.
Finally, for those of you in Christ I would ask you to stop and reflect on what it means to worship God in truth and spirit (John 4:24). Does not the coming together on the first day of the week by the saints to worship God in all of His glory far outweigh the traditions of man? Personally, I find nothing more satisfying and fulfilling than to gather for this purpose every week. It almost makes you feel somewhat sympathetic to those in the world that only attempt to approach God during “these seasons”. If we seek God with all of our heart, mind, and soul then the traditions of man should have no place in us.
Please take the time to read the scriptures pointed out by Brent and study on them along with his original posting. I will say that I do appreciate Brent approaching such a difficult subject. His approach was not to “challenge” as I mentioned above in the second point, but rather to teach using God’s word.
Thanks for your words to encourage us Jim! I missed you and was wondering where you were!!
Sometimes pausing and taking time to listen, closely, is a worthy avenue when it involves teaching and lessons from the Word of God.
Even though I have not said much, I have not missed any of your Bible-based postings.
Thank you for blessing my life.
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