from December 1, 2013 prayer update

I am teaching through I Peter in 13 sessions in the “PrimeTime” adult Bible fellowship in my home church. We are now past the half way point of the class. I have titled the study “holy living under authority and in adversity”. Not a very creative title, but very descriptive. I Peter has three major themes: holy living, living under authority, and living in adversity.

Peter discusses the importance of right thinking in becoming holy. Salvation is not only about what happened in the past, when we were declared “not guilty” by God because of the imputed righteousness of Christ. There are important present and future components to our salvation. The present component is often referred to as sanctification. It the life-long process, beginning at conversion, of being set apart from the world to God so that we might become more like Christ. This is not a pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, self help, approach to spirituality. It is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that starts with the mind and works its way from the inside out. A transformation that begins with allowing Scripture to thoroughly form our worldview, it then shapes our beliefs and values, ultimately resulting in lasting changes to our external behaviors.

The month of December for most Americans is focused on Christmas. It is a time of the year that I have mixed feelings about. Some of our thinking about Christmas is appropriate and firmly grounded in Scripture. But much of it is extra-Biblical, grounded neither in right thinking nor in honoring God.

George Barna in his book, Pagan Christianity, explores the pagan origins of much that we call “Christian” in the Western world today. Many of the traditions and practices at Christmas are described in this book. As a missions practioner, I can appreciate the effort of believers in any setting where they are a minority taking practices from their pagan culture and infusing them with new meaning and significance. In part that is what has happened with Christmas. The difference is that until recent decades, the “Christians” in the Western world have been the majority culture. We could have taken far greater liberties than we did to develop the traditions and practices at Christmas around solidly Biblical themes.

The crass consumerism and materialism that is now associated with Christmas each year offends many. And rightfully so. Stores and media now aggressively begin the day after Halloween to exploit the shopping frenzy of a people who seem to never be content with what they have.

What is Christmas really about? You already know. It is about God become man, beginning as a helpless infant to a poor, unwed teenage mother. It is about a man who led a perfect life. He never sinned, not once. It is about a man who taught as no one had ever taught before, as One with real insight and authority. It is about a man who regularly met needs and served others, sometimes in miraculous ways. It is about a man, who in the prime of life, was betrayed by a close friend, falsely accused in a farce of a trial, and condemned to a humiliating and extremely slow and painful death. It is about One who died as a substitute in our place, for all the times we have strayed from a far less than perfect life. And it is about One, who three days later, rose as a victor over death. The God-man who paved the path back to a Creator that we had turned our backs on. Providing life and power and hope and new perspective in the process.

“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

Let us remember, celebrate, and worship this Jesus at Christmas this year!