Let's Stop Celebrating Christmas

Let me ask you a question, what is the point of Christmas?

If you ask anyone with any concept of the Christian faith you'll most likely hear something along the lines of "To celebrate the birth of Jesus."

To that I ask this question, why was Jesus born?

Asking the same demographic as before you'll probably hear something to the effect of "To die on the cross and save us from our sins."

That's all good, but it isn't a complete answer. If Jesus' sole purpose in being born was to die then there is about thirty three years of wasted time between those two events. If the only point of the mission was to die then He could have done it differently. He could have shown up on the scene as a thirty three year old man and just gotten it over with. I've heard the argument that He had to be born in order to be fully man, but this is God we're talking about, He can do things however He wants to. And He chose to be born, and then to live for thirty-three years, culminating everything in His death and resurrection.

The birth of Christ, celebrated on December 25, is an important event. The death and resurrection of Jesus, on Good Friday and Easter, is the single most essential event in history. But, again, if that is the point, there is a lot of wasted time there.

Jesus' purpose in coming to earth was not solely to die on the cross. Again, it was the most essential moment in history, but it was the culmination of His mission, not the whole thing. Jesus came to earth not simply to die, but to live. As Mel Gibson said portraying William Wallace, "Every man dies, not every man really lives." Jesus came to really live, showing the world how to, and then died and rose again to make it possible for all to follow His example.

Christmas marks the birth of Jesus, not simply to die, but to live.

I think a big part of the reason that American Christianity is in the state it's in is due to the fact we have misunderstood the point of Christmas. For so long we have given the message of Jesus came to die, and we have left it at that. Jesus came to live. Jesus modeled for us what life was intended to look like. He lived a life of obedience and dependence upon the father. He lived in relationships with others, teaching them about God and how to live for Him. Finally, as He ascended back to the Father, He commissioned all who would follow Him to go and do what He had done.

Jesus' birth was about so much more than His death. He was born not simply to die, but to live. The events that took place in a Bethlehem stable over 2,000 years ago were simply the beginning of what God desires for all of us. He desires for all to born into new life through what Christ accomplished on the cross. Following that crucial moment, His intention is for all to live as Jesus lived, in relationship with the Father, and with others, teaching them to obey everything that Jesus commanded. God's design is for us to become disciples of Jesus, in order to make more disciples of Jesus.

Christmas was merely the beginning of a life that perfectly modeled how God would live life as a human. Human life ultimately ends, and the death of Jesus was essential because it paid the price for sin once and for all, and the resurrection brought the empowerment to follow in Jesus' example. It was new life that led to living new.

Christianity is not simply about being forgiven to get into heaven when we die, it is about embarking on a new way of living. It gives new life so that we may live new. It invites us into discipleship so that we may in turn make disciples. It invites us not simply to die, but to really live.

Christmas is not the end, but simply the beginning. So let us stop celebrating Christmas and begin living it. Let us embrace the life that Jesus was born to model, through the power of His death and resurrection. Let Christmas not be an isolated event, but something we strive to live in daily. It is not about God being born to die, but rather to live. New life is only life if it is lived, not if it is spent waiting to die and get to heaven. Christmas is not about ultimate death, but about real life.

This season let us seek to live as Jesus was born to live. Let us live as He modeled, fully trusting and obeying God, and teaching others to do the same. Let us not celebrate Christmas, but live it.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

Are You Fulfilling the Great Commission?

I am at the halfway point for my current seminary class, and it has been a very though provoking and challenging four weeks. While I enjoy the eight week class structure I do feel much of it ends up being rushed and I have very little time to fully process everything that I want to with the course material.

This current class is on discipleship and within the first week I was hit with a thought that has not left my mind, and probably never will. The author of one of the books points out that the Great Commission says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." I've read this verse, quoted it even, countless times, but until recently I never got what it was saying.

We see that we are to go and make disciples, not converts but disciples, that part I've got, and it's actually gotten me fired from a church. We are to baptize the disciples we make and welcome them into the family, and work, of God, modeled by the Son, and empowered by the Spirit. And the process by which we make disciples is to teach them to obey what Jesus commanded. Except that last part isn't right. Read the verse again.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Jesus specifically says to teach them to obey all that He has commanded. Not some of the things. Not just the things that we agree with or find easy. Not even just the things we feel the people we are discipling need to work on. We are to teach them to observe everything the Jesus commanded.

The author of the course book asked if someone had a gun to your head and told you to write down everything Jesus commanded could you do it. Complete honestly, I couldn't. If I don't know everything that Jesus commanded, then most likely I am not personally obeying everything He commanded. If I don't know everything that Jesus commanded, then I most certainly cannot teach others to obey them. You cannot teach what you don't know. So with this being the case, I am not fulfilling the Great Commission given by Jesus.

The author posed some version of the question "What would your life look like if you obeyed everything Jesus commanded?" on some social media forum. He shares how a pastor responded, "Are you crazy?! That's impossible!" If it is impossible why did Jesus command it?

Look at the last part of the Great Commission again.

"and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

These are the last words Jesus spoke on earth. His final words were the promise of His presence for as long as we live. Jesus doesn't give a command and expect us to fulfill it on our own. Jesus is with us as we strive to fulfill His last command.

Are you fulfilling the Great Commission? By human effort it is impossible, but we have Christ with us, and are empowered by His Holy Spirit. However, the presence of the Spirit does not excuse us for effort. We must study and learn all the things the Jesus commanded. We personally must obey them, modeling the life that Jesus lived. As we do this, we must make disciples by teaching others to obey all that Jesus commanded.

This is possible. God became human in the person of Jesus Christ. As a mortal man, capable of sin, Jesus lived a perfect life, modeling for us how God intended for us to live. At the end of a well lived life, short as it was, Jesus died on the cross paying our debt so that we could find forgiveness and restoration, and then He rose again so that we could be empowered to follow His example.

Finally, He left us with this commandment. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." This is what all who claim to be followers of Christ are to do. It is not simply the role of a pastor, but everyone who calls themselves a Christian.

Let us seek the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Let us learn and obey all that Jesus commanded. Let us teach others to do the same. May we be people who fulfill the Great Commission.

Note: I recommend Disciple Making Is... by Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey and Discipleshift by Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert Coleman, to anyone who seeks to be a disciple maker.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you