But if mixture alone is the problem, how could any of us gather in our church fellowships and call it the “House of God”? How can we sing hymns, read the perfect words of the Covenant and then listen to and perhaps participate in (God forbid) gossip, or slander and accuse one another, or perhaps denigrate unbelievers (often called “aliens” in the Old Covenant) for being what they are, namely they are “Strangers” to the Covenants of promise. We often think of them as the problem (the Thieves, Murders, Lovers of Self, Etc.) when actually they are the people that the Lord came to rescue. Jesus said that HE did not come for the “well”, but the sick. You see the spirit of Pharisee-ism (?) is a slippery and deceptive thing that is constantly seeking to slip into our thoughts and our definitions about what is “right” and “wrong” as far as looks, habits, culture, and such. I do not advocate that Sin is acceptable, but I do advocate that we must keep a spirit of Humility, reverence toward God, and an attitude of reconciliation and correction that brings Healing toward other people.
If your family gathers for Christmas and you all give gifts, but I do not, that should not be something that causes division; neither should it be the measure of our holiness or the purity of our hearts toward God. These are customs that can have real merit, and we are certainly free to establish family and/or community customs to bring this marvelous historical event to our memory. I am not here to argue the origins of Christmas, or engage in a “What we should and should not do” list for our customs and holidays.
But I DO find it curious that the season of Christmas that is huge in the Church – pageants, outreach events, charitable drives, singing, feasting, gift giving…even higher attendance stats for our meetings – is not ever mentioned or suggested as an event in the Bible, the Book of the Covenant.
So I say again – Why didn’t God invent Christmas?
Can you see my puzzled look? I am wondering, trying to figure out why I am thinking so differently from God. It doesn’t make sense to me.
Isn’t this the event that divided Time? – We have BC, before Christ and AD, or After Christ, so it seems reasonable to mark out the day that time was (and still is) divided.
Or perhaps I am missing something?
Let’s take a closer Look….
Sometimes you can find out a lot in scripture by what scripture says, that is by what is clearly spoken or described. On the other hand, you can also find out a lot in scripture by what it does NOT say about a matter. The absence of words can speak volumes as well.
