Xmas vs. Christmas

It has been a little while since I blogged; I have been really busy working to move our church through revitalization and at serving at a local hospital as a Chaplain. However, this week I wanted to get back into the habit of sharing and learning through the blogosphere. As we enter into the Christmas season (advent season for our traditional folks), I have been intrigued about the whole Starbuck’s holiday cup thing. While there are many bloggers that have talked about this, I want to take different angle that I think is at the root of the issue. I think there is a larger problem with Christian culture in American that few are addressing.

Christians in our nation are typically known for what we are against, not what we are for. This is something that disturbs me as a leader within Jesus’ church. Take for instance how many Christians are anti Xmas and think that it is an attack on Christmas! The reality is that Xmas is a great abbreviation that expresses our faith in a different way and many in ignorance immediately want to jump on the anti bandwagon.

There are certain Christians that are anti specific translations of the Bible (God forbid we make His Word easier for people to read), anti certain worship music, anti certain church movements, or even down on what people wear or don’t wear to church. The whole Starbucks controversy was started by a Christian blogger who wanted to call attention to a change in the holiday cup. Reality is that Starbucks wanted to be more inclusive not less in their design. So, why does all this bother me?

Because of this anti-attitude, Christians are known more for what we are against instead of what we are for. At the heart of this is a poor understanding of how to apply the principles of Grace and Truth. I think the remedy is to bring us back to looking at how Jesus embraced these two realities. Check our John 1:14 and see how Jesus was the perfect mixture of Grace and Truth. In our Savior is the perfect expression of Grace and Truth. For an example of how Jesus lived this out read John 8:1-11. However, most Christians today lack this mixture and focus way to heavy on Truth over Grace. We need to get back to a correct understanding of Grace and Truth the way Jesus expressed it!

This week at my church: Grace Seaford, I will be sharing on how you and I can learn how to be less anti (X-ing stuff out), and learn how to put the X back into Xmas living. If you can’t make it physically you can check out the audio later here: http://graceseaford.org/sermon-outlines-recordings. My hope is that this Xmas we may create a spirit where Christians begin to be known for our love, compassion, graceful forgiveness, patience, work ethic, and family centered living!