Christmas: A Word With Specific Meaning.

To those who read my blog,

So, I have a few ideas of what I want to write about in the next week or so, but the one main thing I want to talk about requires me to finish a book before actually talking about it (so that I can be sure I am not misquoting someone).

The thing I want to talk about right now is the importance of the meaning of words, specifically the word 'Christmas'.

Last year, I read a note posted on facebook from one of my friends. Here is the note:
* 'Twas the month before Christmas*

*When all through our land,*

*Not a Christian was praying*

*Nor taking a stand.*

*See the PC Police had taken away,*

*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*

*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*

*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*

*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*

* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*

*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*

*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*

*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*

*Something was changing, something quite odd! *

*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*

*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*

*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*

* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*

*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*

*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*

*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*

*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*

*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*

*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*

*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*

*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*

*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*

* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*

*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*

*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*

*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*

*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*

*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*

*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

not Happy Holiday !*


*I do not in anyway wish to force people into what to believe, I've reached a point where I'll settle with just equal rights! I want the right to say *Merry Christmas* just like those who say *happy Ramadan* or *Happy Quanza! Happy Halloween! Happy Hannakuh! Celebrate the Festival of Lights!* and more. Let's admit it. This note isn't gonna turn the heads of millions, nor will saying *Merry Christmas* shock someone beyond recovery scarring them for the rest of their lives. So let's just stop with the news articals, the school/workplace rules, and whatever else may be out there. Afterall, how are we promoting diversity by banning a holiday or belief? Merry Christmas all!*

Now what is wrong with this note? I mean, what’s wrong with wanting to say ‘Merry Christmas’ instead of ‘Happy Holiday’? Nothing. But here is where I get a little worried. The third and fourth line in read, “Not a Christian was praying, nor taking a stand”? That’s kind of arrogant, don’t you think? I mean, I’m praying. I pray every day! Also, what do we need to take a stand for? What is happening to us that we need to take a stand?

The note ends off with talking about equal treatment, and although I agree with equal treatment... shouldn’t we ask for that when it really matters? I mean, not being allowed to say ‘Merry Christmas’ is kind of lame (though in a few moments, I will argue that it’s not lame at all, and actually should be practiced more often) but shouldn’t equal rights be saved for when I am applying for a job and I don’t get one because I’m a Christian? I have no idea when that will ever come about and I doubt Canada will ever get to that point, but shouldn’t that be the point where I say, “Alright, I need to be treated like everyone else. Please don’t just not hire me because I am a Christian”. Why do we need to say these words to others around us?

Now here is my main problem with Christians wanting to say ‘Merry Christmas’. Even going to the extent to say that they need to say those words: in North America WE DON’T CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS! I mean, sure, we celebrate a holiday on the 25th of December, and some people call it Christmas, but North America on a whole does not celebrate the holiday known as Christmas.

Here is what Christmas is. It is the mass of Christ. A mass is a type of service held within the Church. So the Christ-mass is a service celebrating Christ, and more specifically, the birth of Christ.

I know, I know. Most of us Christians did in fact go to a Christmas service of some sort that celebrated the birth of Christ. That wasn’t the focal point though of the holidays. No the focus is gift giving. I use the word ‘gift’ loosely, because it’s not really ‘gift giving’. A gift is something you give without expecting any return. No, what we really did was do some fancy trading. Everyone made sure to give gifts to all their friends and in return, from all our friends we received gifts usually of equal value. In fact, sometimes we put a price cap on these gifts. “Ok, guys, we can only spend fifty dollars on one another. Nothing more, nothing less”. Why don’t both of us keep the fifty dollars and go get something we really want/need?

In our society, we spend a lot of energy trying to get the right gifts. Christmas is focussed then not around Christ’s birth, but fancy trading. Now I seem to remember that the Bible speaks out against materialism, and putting things before God. Well, when we take the focus off of Christ, and put it on gift-giving, then all of a sudden we are putting material objects before Christ.

To go further with this, what is the big event? Christmas dinner. We look forward to it. The fat bird, the amazing stuffing, the cranberry sauce, I love every moment of that food on my tongue. We eat until we are filled beyond our capacity and then we eat some more. Would you care to know what this is? I’s called gluttony! It is one of the biggest sins everyone (Christian and non-Christian alike) partake in here in North America.

So here it is. This is what Christmas has become. It is now a materialistic focussed holiday that concludes with gluttony. Is that really how Christ wants us to honour His birth? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy all of those parts of Christmas (though the gift-giving is a bit I am not overly thrilled about) but I don’t want to call this Christmas. It’s not. It is not Christmas. Christmas is remembering that there was a time when we had to wait for the messiah, the Christ, to come down. Christmas is a time when we celebrate the fullness of God in the weakest of forms (a baby). Christmas is a time when we acknowledge that the messiah is coming back at some point. It is not a time to give into materialism and gluttony. So why do we fight so hard to say something that is incorrect to say?

Speaking of fighting, this brings up something ironic. Don’t you find it funny that one of the things Jesus did by coming into this world was bring peace, and yet we disturb the peace by raising our voices and trying to get people to say a silly little saying that has none of the original meaning anymore? Why would we go against what Christ wants by fighting for something that’s just not worth it?

I am sorry, but this is not the hill we as Christians should die on. There are way more important issues at hand.

-Joshua

I Am A Pastor

To those who read my blog,

About a week or two ago, I was in my room, writing a sermon for Church. Correction, I was TRYING to write a sermon for Church. It was not going too well. I was stressed out all day and I was focussing on a few of the more embarrassing moments from the day. There was also exams, papers, and personal things on my mind. I couldn’t get past this that easily at all. Luckily, I had Josh Jacobs there. He came in and basically told me the hard truth that I needed to hear: beating down on yourself was not going to solve anything.

He then said something quite interesting. He told me that I wasn’t my mistakes but that I was a pastor. It never really occurred to me in the past, but my identity is wrapped up in this calling known as pastor. I am not training to be a pastor, I am not hoping to be a pastor one day. I am a pastor. Right here, right now, and even before this. No matter what happens in the future, no matter what job I take to pay the bills, I am a pastor.

This is not to say that I am not my own person and that I have no personality. It is to say that because of my life experiences and the calling that I chose to accept, I have been formed into this type of person called ‘pastor’ and there is no way for me to avoid it. I am a pastor. That is where my identity is anchored.

Now saying this, I am also saying that ‘pastor’ is not a professional choice. It is a lifestyle choice. It is the choice to go to the hospital at 1am to visit a dying man. It is the choice to go see a person in jail even if you detest what they did to deserve that. It is the choice to sacrifice every moment of your life to the glory of God (sometimes that does mean honouring your family and spending time with them. One cannot be a pastor and ditch those who are closest to him).

Now to define what a pastor is exactly would be a whole blog post on its own. If I were to skim it down, it would be something like a person whose deepest desire is to see the Church grow and helps lead it in that direction. There’s a lot more to it than that but I suppose as a simple explanation, it will do.

What does this mean for my life? Well, if I am bound to this identity and if it is bound to me, then it means I have to be careful about who I let into my life, and also disregard safety in that same matter. For example, I need to be quite careful about who it is that I pursue for marriage, because she must know about the struggles of a pastor and will also have to deal with the responsibilities of a pastors wife. In the same breath, I can’t be too picky about friendships. I have to live out love to everyone I can and speak love into many people’s lives. That means that I shouldn’t turn someone away from the start just because we don’t fully get along. All deserve love and I should be available for as many people as possible.
I don’t know if this blog post will help anyone, but at least I’ve articulated what I’ve been thinking about for the past couple of days.

Many blessings to you all.

Sincerely,
Joshua