Christian Christmas Conniption

Much has been said and done in America this winter regarding the removal of religious connotations from the Christmas holiday--I have posted and commented on some of them. Some Christians are ready to fight for the right to be religious at the drop of the proverbial hat. There are legal proceedings, boycotts, and media presentations, among others, that are used by Christians to keep the religious aspects of the holiday in place. Others are content to let things slide by, understanding that we live in an evil world.

I have often wondered what the proper response is when society is seeking to remove those things which we hold dear. Perhaps a better question is, "is there a proper response?" Should the Church stand up and fight for our religious rights? Should individuals rally together to boycott organizations who reject our beliefs?

These are all good questions -- perhaps some day you can answer them for me .

Since I don't have the answers, I thought I would share with you a few personal thoughts regarding the matter.

1. We shouldn't be surprised when things don't go our way. God never promised us a free country with the religious rights that our constitution provides. Rather, we should understand that we live in a world directed by the enemy of God who seeks to remove Him -- even all reference to Him -- from this world. This should remove much of the emotionalism from the situation. If we know that it will happen then we will be expecting it.

2. We should understand that God designed it that way. God planned for the removal of "Christ" from Christmas? Well...yes and no! In my devotions this morning I came across the verse from Romans 9:33: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." The stumbling stone and rock of offense mentioned here is the Lord Jesus. This is actually a quote from the Old Testament (from Isaiah 8:14 and 28:16) that the Apostle Paul is using to show that God expected people to stumble over and be offended by Jesus...but even more, God planned it--the text says that God laid the stone in place! A parallel passage to this is 1 Corinthians 1 where Paul says that the message of the cross is a scandal and foolishness in the eyes of the world. Basically, we should understand that what we believe is foolish and moronic to those who do not believe. Question: what is the best way to win those who believe we are fools -- by taking them to court, boycotting them, forcing our way onto them, or by suffering as Jesus did?

3. We should understand God's method of working in our world. Did Jesus come to change Imperial Rome? Did Jesus come to make sure that the Roman world showed deference to the Jewish faith? Did Jesus take the Pharisees to Roman courts to make sure His beliefs were upheld? No, no, and no! Rather, Jesus came to change the world by changing people--one individual at a time. And He does this by working from the inside-out. He changes the heart to change the world. It appears to me that many Christians are seeking to change the world in order to change the heart.

4. Does all of this mean that we cannot take advantage of the freedoms allowed us by living in the United States? Again...yes and no. God, in His mercy and grace, has caused His face to shine upon us in that we have particular freedoms in our country. In my opinion, Christians have a right and even an obligation to use those rights and freedoms. However, those rights and freedoms must always come under the direction of God's Word. That means, as far as fighting for Christmas is concerned, our actions need to fall in line with items #1-3 above.