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Winning the War on Terrible Christmas

By Jeremy Myers
1 Comment

Winning the War on Terrible Christmas

Putting Christ back in Christmas?

Here is something Tia Lynn wrote on her blog recently about this whole war on Christmas:

Wouldn’t it come as a baffling shock if Christians everywhere put down their picket signs, ceased the boycotts, dropped the Christmas lawsuits, and instead, showered politicians, business owners, and ACLU workers that show disdain for Christmas/Christians with thoughtful gifts, invitations to OUR Christmas celebrations, letters of prayers, (not condemning ones), asking nothing in return?

What if Christians took all the money they are spending on lawsuits over Christmas and used it to serve the poor, the marginalized, and sick?

What if we stopped courting the approval and recognition of the rich and powerful and focused on the least, the lost, and the last of this world?

What if Christians recreated our Christmas celebrations and invited the world, instead of demanding the world get it right and include us?

How much harder would it be for the world to label us as judgmental, condemning, intolerant, superficial hypocrites, if we actually lead by example, by service, by radical, ridiculous, unconditional love?

See, Jesus is no naive optimist, He is a genius!

By responding to cruelty with kindness, insult with blessing, neglect with service, rejection with embrace, it proves our opponent wrong. It shows their true colors. It halts their accusations. It could inspire a rethinking of their assumptions. It makes us a people separated unto God. It clears the way for reconciliation, healing, renewal, forgiveness, and transformation.

When we take the bait and repay evil with evil, eye for eye, dollar for dollar, insult for insult, when we demand our DUE, we not only lose in the end, but we becomeour “enemy,” for we are guilty of the same offenses, tactics, and attitudes.

For what good is it if we only show love to those who love us? Do not even non-christians do this? Aren’t we called to a higher standard?

Thanks Tia for showing us how to be truly incarnational during this “holiday season.”

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Christmas, Discipleship, holidays

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My Traditional Christmas Movie

By Jeremy Myers
9 Comments

My Traditional Christmas Movie

Lonesome DoveOne of my Christmas traditions during the weeks leading up to Christmas is to watch the six hour movie “Lonesome Dove“ with Robert Duvall, Danny Glover, and Tommy Lee Jones. Last night, my wife and I sat down and watched Part 1.

Afterwards, as we were sitting on the couch, a little depressed from all the people who die, the women who get treated like trash, and the overall view in the movie that life is cheap, my wife said, “Of all the traditional Christmas movies, “Miracle on 34th Street,” “White Christmas,” or “A Christmas Story“ why do you watch this movie? It’s so depressing.”

I looked at her and said, “I have no idea. It’s just what I’ve always done.”

My Christmas Tradition

Upon further reflection, this tradition began for me around 15 years ago. I think that the local television station showed this movie on television around the Christmas season for two or three years, and then my mother bought me the tapes for my birthday one summer, and after that, it was just something I did during Christmas. Now I watch the movie at Christmas because it helps me “feel” the season.

Church Traditions

I think most of what we do in church is the same way. We do what we do because we’ve done it for a long time, and it helps us “feel” like a Christian. It’s not that what we do is mandated in Scripture, or that it helps us accomplish what Scripture does mandate (e.g., go and make disciples), but we do it because we’ve always done it.

Tomorrow we’ll look at a way to determine if a tradition is something that should be cut or continued.

What strange Christmas traditions do you practice during the holidays?

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Christmas, church tradition, Discipleship, movies, Theology of the Church

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