It’s that time of year again. It’s the time where people take political
correctness to extremes. It happens at
the mall. It happens at the gas
station. It happens at school. If you listen to people say goodbye over the
next few weeks they now add something.
Happy holidays! What holidays are
they referring to though? Is it Hanukkah,
because that last for 8 days? Is it
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day since a lot of businesses close for both of
them? Maybe it’s New Year’s Eve and New
Year’s Day because we are celebrating the end of a year and the beginning of a
new one.
Not too long ago people would be very clear about what
holiday they were referring to. Merry
Christmas! Some people/songs took it a step further and said “We wish you a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” I
think when people started saying Happy Holidays that they were probably
referencing Christmas and New Year. It
was probably an innocent attempt to add something to a goodbye. However, in recent years it has been taken as
a way to be politically correct.
Apparently it is now a symbol that you have “respect” for everyone’s
views and opinions. Now if we say happy
holidays people can assume we are talking to them about whatever holiday they
want. Maybe I’m really excited about Trivia
Day and National Bird Day, which take place on January 4th and 5th
next month. Maybe I’m still celebrating
Thanksgiving. Maybe I’m really excited
for college football bowl season and I treat it like a holiday. Someone might even think that I’m celebrating
a holiday for the crime of trespassing.
Isn’t that what Santa does when he climbs down your chimney (kidding)? Now we aren’t offending anyone.
Is that what the Bible tells us to do? Did Jesus travel around speaking to groups
and being extremely careful not to offend anyone? This is not at all what Jesus did. Jesus offended a lot of people because he
went against a lot of the laws they had put in place. Let’s look at Matthew 5:17-20:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law
or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any
means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least
of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be
called great in the kingdom of heaven.20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly
not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus directly calls out the Pharisees for not being
righteous enough to get into Heaven. So
who were the Pharisees? They were a
major religious group in Israel at the time of Jesus. They were committed to obeying all of God’s
commands and were often admired for their piety, or devotion. Then why do you think Jesus would say people
needed to be better than the Pharisees? Although
the Pharisees were focused on following the laws they often failed to
understand that God also had a message of grace and mercy. They may have followed the laws, but they
failed to let God change their heart.
Also, even though they focused on following the laws, they often placed
a greater importance on the laws they created than the laws God created. This is an area that I still think is
dangerous today. We are so concerned
about the laws and rules, whether written or based on political correctness,
that we lose the message of Christmas.
Even in families and businesses that are still bold enough to say Merry
Christmas, we often celebrate Christmas without including Jesus in it. Christmas has become about having a day off
of work, opening presents, giving presents to people who already bought the
things they really wanted, and eating too much.
That doesn’t sound much like what we think Jesus was all about.
I’m going to leave you with 2 challenges for the next two
weeks. First, I want you to say “Merry
Christmas” to people because of the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:18-20 we read:
18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me.19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
If we are going to make Disciples of Christ we first have to
be willing to talk about Him.
The second challenge is to watch the people around you, at
school, at home, at the store, or anyplace else you go. Do you see someone that has a real need that
you could help with? Remember, this doesn’t
always include spending money. It could
be they just need someone to talk to or a hug.
Remember the love part of Christmas, because Jesus came because of God’s
love.
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