What Is Christmas?

I'm becoming more convinced all the time that there are really two Christmases. They just happen to be celebrated around the same time of year.

The first is that one we celebrate by putting up manger scenes, singing "The First Noel," and talking about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Then there's that other one, the one we celebrate by having lots of family we can barely stand over, singing "Jingle Bells," and maxing out credit cards in an attempt to buy a few moments of the illusion of love. (What, me, cynical? Nah.)

For the longest of times, I didn't realize they were two separate things. Fundamentalists have either been opposed to them both or viewed the secular one as a corruption of the sacred.

But I'm thinking more and more that they are two separate celebrations. One is God's people celebrating an immensely important Scriptural event with representations of that event (like manger scenes, gifts, and songs about the nativity). This one strikes me as a lot like the Jewish people celebrating Purim. There's no command in the New Testament that we celebrate Christmas, and there is no example of believers doing it. That doesn't make it wrong to commemorate such an important event in Scripture. God didn't command the Jews to celebrate the feast of Purim, yet they did it to glorify Him for the deliverance recorded in the book of Esther. (Of course, this means that if a believer doesn't want to celebrate Christmas, there's no obligation to do it, either - the Apostle Paul made that pretty clear.)

The second Christmas is not a Christian thing - it's a cultural thing. It's a celebration of family, winter, and goodwill. This strikes me as being a lot like the 4th of July. There's nothing in the Bible about July 4th. There are lots of people who go beyond what I think is Scriptural in their celebration of this great nation. Some use it as an excuse for drunkenness. Some go way too far in glorifying an earthly nation to the detriment of their true allegiance to the Kingdom of God. Some have turned the event into an exercise in bad theology, applying promises and commands to the United States that were really only given to the nation of Israel. Yet there's also nothing wrong with thanking the Lord for the nation He's placed us in, supporting its troops, and remembering its heritage. Just because some people abuse the holiday doesn't make it wrong for me to use it. That applies to Christmas - even the social aspects like the sleigh bell songs - just as much as it does to the 4th of July.

Of course, then we have to have a cage match, no holds barred, in 15 rounds over what to do about Santa Claus. Is it okay to tell the kids he's real when he's not? Is it better to encourage them to sneer at their poor misguided and deceived friends led astray by their parents?

I'm going with the "It's a bad idea to deliberately deceive your children" theory - but I don't get irate about a picture of Santa any more than I do a picture of a troll in a children's book. They're both pretend conventions of our society. Treated rightly, they're not wrong. The fact that they can be abused doesn't mean they should never be used.

So whichever Christmas you celebrate, I hope you enjoy it. If you celebrate the version of Christmas most Fundamentalists love, I hope you remember that Christ was born (though almost certainly not on Christmas day), and I hope you remember why He was born. I hope you remember that His birth has nothing to do with hot chocolate, Christmas trees, and how much money you spend on each other.

If you celebrate society's Christmas, have fun with your family, laugh at the clean shows, and leave your credit cards home when you go shopping. Just don't turn liberty into license, abusing that which you've got every right to use.

We Want God's Power... On Our Terms

The call came in around 2:30 AM. When the phone rings at that time of morning, as soon as the grogginess passes enough to realize that it's the phone, not the alarm clock or the fire alarm in a dream, even as the pastor stumbles out of the bed to grope for the phone, his heart is racing. His stomach feels like an alchemist's experiment in turning flesh to lead. It's never a good thing when someone calls much after 10 or much before 7.

In this case, the man on the other end was desperate. He was out of town, he'd been in a drunken brawl, and he had narrowly avoided getting put in jail. His drinking was wrecking his marriage and his life. I had only met him a time or two, but he had family who went to our church, and when he called them in the middle of the night, they told him that I truly wouldn't mind if he called me. His wife had been urging him to get into church and let God help him with the drinking, and he was finally ready to quit fighting the battle alone.

We set things up for him and his wife to come see me, and it became immediately apparent that the drinking wasn't the only problem. The dynamics of the relationship were unhealthy from top to bottom. We established that both of them had trusted Christ for salvation in years past, but they hadn't been in church or doing anything for the Lord in quite some time.

The man seemed serious about living for the Lord, and there was an immediate difference. He stepped away from the drinking completely, and he got into church. He started attending regularly and talking about being involved.

Then his wife put on the brakes. She'd wanted God to stop her husband from drinking. But she hadn't really wanted God to take over his life. Quite simply, she still wanted to run his life. She just wanted to use God as a tool to change something she wanted changed. She'd just signed up for a non-drunken husband, not one who wanted to go listen to God's Word and hang around with other Christians more than once a week. Why couldn't he just show up one Sunday morning a month for his God fix to keep him off the booze?

The guy was trying, he really was. But he adored his wife, and he'd been going along with her for the sake of peace and harmony for a long time. So when she wanted to go to a country music concert instead of church that time, he went along. And when she put a beer in his hand, he drank it. She decided she would rather take her chances with the alcohol than risk ceding control of her marriage and her husband's life to God.

I don't think they've been back to church since that concert. He is back to drinking, of course. The marriage is struggling, and I don't think either of them are happy.

God is not a tool. Yet so often, we think of Him that way (and by extension, Christ's body here on earth, the church). We want someone to change - but we only want them to change this specific detail. Sometimes it's ourselves we want to change. But God isn't just interested in changing details. He's in the business of transforming lives. When we're ready for that, He's able to do it. But He won't be used by anyone. He doesn't just want our cigarettes or our beer - He wants us. If we want His power in our lives, we're going to have to be willing to let Him control what He does with it.

I've Had It Up to Here with Anger

Fundamentalists often seem like angry people, don't they? That's certainly the steriotypical perception, and I'm afraid I've met some who reinforced that steriotype.

In fact, some of us are even proud of our anger. We call that good kind of anger "righteous indignation."

We're righteously indignant about the President wanting to use our tax money to murder babies. We're angry about the Muslims and their thousandth mosque in the U.S. We're angry about the New Evangelicals being willing to compromise the identity and work of Christ in the name of Christ. We're righteously indignant about the drug dealers and the pornographers and... well, pretty much anything that makes us mad, so long as we can justify the anger by saying the other person or group is sinning. If they're sinning in what they're doing, it's okay for us to be angry about it. Hey, God gets angry at sin, so shouldn't we?

Sometimes I think our movement's key verse is Ephesians 4:26a, "Be ye angry, and sin not." So long as we don't actually punch someone in the snoot or blow something up, isn't it okay to be angry, especially over sin? To listen to our preaching, sometimes, you'd think we actually have an obligation to be angry.

There's a tiny problem with all this anger that's flying around: the Bible. In our rush to excuse anger we think is justified, we've grabbed a magnifying glass and expanded Ephesians 4:26a so large we can't see the rest of the page.

What's on the rest of that page? Ephesians 4:31-32. "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Wait... we're supposed to put ALL wrath and anger away from ourselves? Yup, that's what it said.

Is that an aberration we should explain away, doing a little exegetical gymnastics to reinterpret it? Um, nope. Psalm 37:8 says, "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil." In the preceding verse, it even tells us not to fret about people who bring wicked devices to pass. Rats... guess it's not okay for me to vent in anger over people, even if what they are doing is wrong.

In fact, as I perused the Scriptures, I couldn't find any situation in which God commanded an individual to be angry, nor could I find a case in which He commended a person for being angry, let alone acting in that anger.

Time and again, God warns against being hastily angry, acting in anger, or staying angry (that's the point of Ephesians 4:26 - we all feel anger sometimes, but we shouldn't let it linger or cause us to sin.) Yes, God acts in anger - God also enacts vengeance and seeks worship, neither of which belong to us.

Anger is fundamentally wanting to right a wrong, I think. It's being upset the world didn't work the way we thought it should, that someone didn't act the way we knew they should. But I'm not sure we have a "right" to that. Yes, people wrong us, sometimes. But ultimately, every sin is against God. He's the one who established the order of creation and gave the dictates of morality, not us. He has the right to be angry, to set right the wrongs, to expect the world to work as He desires. We don't. It's not our job to set things right - it's our job to do right.

We may experience anger as an emotion - but we ought not live in it or act on it.

God told us in James 1:20, "For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." Yet I hear sermon after sermon that seems fueled by anger and wrath, rather than by compassion and love. Is it any wonder that people don't seem moved by the preaching at times, despite the energy poured into it and the eloquence exercised in it? When the energy is man's, the work accomplished is rarely God's.

Another Thought-Provoking Post

This from Jon at Stuff Christians Like. He's got some great insights, especially in his Serious Wednesday posts. You don't have to agree with them all to get a lot out of some of them.

A Deceptive Fundamentalism

As a pastor, I say very little about politics from the pulpit. In general terms, I decry the deceptiveness and immorality of many in our political system. In moral terms, I preach against things like abortion and homosexuality. But the followers of Christ are never called upon to change laws in their political system to make other people be moral. We ought to be salt and light in a dark world, but our primary role is bringing people to Christ. If enough lives are transformed by Christ, society will change. Thus, I use my pulpit to speak on and from Scripture, with social and political commentary only when a social or political issue concides directly with the passage of Scripture I'm preaching from.

That doesn't mean I don't have political views, nor that those views are not informed by my Biblical convictions. As an involved member in our society, this post caught my eye. For quite a while now, the advocates of global warming as a manmade phenomenon seem to me to have been acting more like steriotypical fundamentalists than most of the Christian Fundamentalists I know. I don't approve of what was done to gain the information revealed in that post - but I'm well aware that God sometimes uses one wrong to expose another.

We Love Being Scared

The other day, a man came to talk to me. He was vastly concerned about the new hate crimes legislation signed into law by President Obama. His concern was that we would no longer be permitted to speak openly about what the Bible says about homosexuality. It seemed that he was worried that if we would get in legal trouble for speaking the truth, we might stop speaking truth.

I have come to the conclusion that we Fundamentalists like being scared more than horror movie junkies.

At a preacher's fellowship recently, we were warned that the government already has numerous concentration camps built and being readied for Christians. Any day now, secret police might come along and snatch us up for unspeakable torments and death. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes. There were supposedly hundreds of these camps, but no one had seen one or knew where one was or knew anyone who had seen one or knew how all this construction had been funded. But it sure was fun to be scared by those elusive camps for a couple minutes before we headed out to eat fried things.

Now, I'm a cynic. I know that. I'm not even really ashamed of it. Although I give individual people the benefit of the doubt because that's what love does, on the whole, I believe that human beings are just plain messed up. I know that Christians in many places are abused, persecuted, and even killed. I suspect that if I live out my natural days, before I'm dead, we'll see that here in the United States. I'm not blind, and I can see the writing on the wall - we're heading into the limitation of free speech in the interests of protecting the feelings of special interest groups.

But I'd rather have truth than fear. The hate crimes legislation is, in my opinion, a betrayal of justice. All victims of crime should have the same legal protections, regardless of their gender, race, religion, and yes, even morality. To give some groups extra protections is to create an inequality in justice, for the unprotected now have less protection from violence than the protected. In that, I think this legislation is a foolish, short-sighted thing. (And why in the world is it still attached to a defense bill?)

However, this hate crimes legislation specifically states that freedom of speech is protected. I am free to oppose homosexuality, telling the truth about it as sin and a moral choice. I'm simply not allowed to go assault or steal from a homosexual - but if I break the law, committing an act of violence or theft against anyone, I should be prosecuted for that, anyhow. This legislation allows for extra penalties if I select a homosexual victim because he's homosexual, but typically, I think the penalties for violent crime are too lenient, anyhow. I'm sorry to drizzle on the fear-parade... but this law does not forbid us to speak truth. It merely adds extra penalties for things we shouldn't do anyhow. It takes blind justice and gives it a peep show sponsored by special interests - but it doesn't limit my free speech or the right to exercise my faith.

If we Fundamentalists intend to be taken seriously when we trumpet legitimate messages of impending doom, we need to be careful to get our facts straight and be able to support our statements. Truth needs to be more important to us than the rush of momentary fear. (Or the sense of bravery we feel when we determine to stand up to the scary thing, no matter the cost.)

The time will come when that bravery is needed. The time will come when some of these scary things will be realized, and that time is now for some believers around the world. But our weapon then is the same as it is now - truth.

Let's just be careful to speak the truth as accurately as we can. We don't need lies or misinformation. If we are to well represent He who is love and the Truth, we best do it with careful, loving truth.

Keeping Our Balance

Wisdom is the principal thing, God tells us in Proverbs 4:7. Principal means number one. Numero uno. The most important quality a person can develop. (Yes, more so even than faith, hope, and love - all of those are guided by wisdom and without wisdom will swifty go astray.)

But what does Godly wisdom look like? A high IQ? Lots of post-grad degrees?

"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." (James 3:17-18) There's God's answer: real wisdom is first pure, then peaceable.

Fundamentalists have latched onto the first of those characteristics of godly wisdom. That's why I'm a fundamentalist - purity of doctrine and life is essential. That comes first. Any peace we have must be a peace in purity. Any unity must be a unity of agreement with truth, not an agreement to ignore truth.

Time and again the Scriptures tell us to separate from both wrong doctrine and wrong behavior. The refusal of the church at large to obey our Lord's commands about separating from those who preach a false gospel or live like the unsaved is one of the great blemishes upon the cause of Christ in our age.

Wait, the Bible says we should refuse to associate with people who live in blatant sin but call themselves Christians? "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no not to eat." (I Corinthians 5:11)

But what about working together with unsaved people for good causes? "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (II Corinthians 6:14-18)

But what about people who call themselves Christians, but believe that salvation works differently than what the Bible says - surely we can associate with them, even if we don't agree with them, so long as there is some benefit to it? "As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:9) "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." (Romans 16:17)

The wisdom that is from above is first pure - there can be no peace between the true gospel of Jesus Christ and any false gospel. There can be no peace between the righteousness of Christ and the filthiness of sin. The followers of righteousness in Christ ought not to fellowship with the followers of a different gospel or of unrighteousness, no matter whether the people call themselves Christians or not.

Different people draw the line in different places, but a line must be drawn, and that line must not be drawn short of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ - otherwise, we disobey God, arrogantly thinking our wisdom is superior to His.

But there is a second characteristic of true wisdom.

In this characteristic, many who call themselves Fundamentalists have failed miserably. Once purity is assured, peaceableness should be the next concern. Even in our purity, we ought to seek peace. The point of all that separation is not to inflict harm on those we separate from, nor is it to assert that we are better than they in ourselves - it is to restore the erring brother to right living and to bring the person who has misplaced faith to genuine salvation in Jesus Christ.

While many Fundamentalists point at the blatant disobedience of many evangelicals (particularly the so-called "New Evangelicals") to the commands for separation and purity, I fear that we have often just as blatantly disobeyed plain commands of Scripture. "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themsleves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." (II Timothy 2:24-25)

We have ignored for ourselves the warning that only by pride comes contention. We have excused our lack of gentleness with proclamations of purity. We have attacked our brothers instead of lifting them up. We have assaulted the people most in need of help. We have become the brawlers and strikers that pastors are forbidden to be. We insult, though Jesus condemned it. We act in anger, though we were told to put all anger and wrath away from ourselves. And in doing these things, we neglect godly wisdom. We have refused to seek peace, instead choosing to disobey our Lord and embrace conflict.

Many Fundamentalists find smaller and smaller things to argue, fight, and separate over. We went from separating over the fundamentals of the faith to separating over any major doctrine to separating over any doctrine clearly taught in Scripture to now separating over human interpretations and applications of doctrines taught in Scripture. In our prideful pursuit of purity, we have lost our balance. (Yes, I suspect that much of this is rooted in pride, because only by pride comes contention, and only through pride does it seem likely that men who know so much of Scripture would so plainly disobey the commands to be gentle and seek peace.) Too many no longer care about being peaceable.

Many Fundamentalists are bold speakers of truth. We need that. But we need to remember to speak the truth in love.

We cannot compromise our purity of doctrine or life - to do so would be to disobey our Lord. But we need to remember in our pursuit of purity to also seek peace and to be gentle. It can be a difficult balance to keep. But the wisdom that is from above has precisely that balance.