Thoughts on Making an Impact

One of the reasons that many Christians claim they celebrate Christmass is because they believe that the focus of this season forces the unbeliever to consider Christ at least once a year. I have noticed though, that most of the pagans seem to be really good at dodging a lot of what the season is aimed at. My ears have been assaulted with the sounds of Christmass songs in every store I go into, and not one of them has been one that focused on the so-called "reason for the season." Instead, there has been much of mistletoe and holly, walking in winter wonderlands, and chesnuts roasting by open fires. Reindeer, Santas, and elves people the malls and aisles of the stores with only an occasional nod to the shepherds and wise men.

If Christians were really serious about making an impact and visible statement on our culture about the primacy and rights of our King, then maybe they should consider keeping the Lord's Day a whole lot better than they do. After all, this is something we are commanded to observe, while Christmass is not. But like my other post on the dropping of standards, this is yet another place where Christians have fallen away.

It used to be in Canada, that no matter where you went, each province had a "Lord's Day Act" that forbade the opening of stores and businesses in order to honor the Christian Sabbath. God could have commanded that we worship Him two, three, or four and more days of the week leaving the rest of the week for our worldly business, but instead He asks only one day a week from us and allows us to go about our worldly employments and lawful recreations on the other six.

When I was still attending one of the local Baptist churches here in town, it was nothing for the pastor to tell the congregation in the course of the sermon that he intended to go home after the service to watch a basketball or football game on the TV. It is nothing for professed Christians in this community to go to malls, grocery stores, restaurants, or movies after they have "done their duty" in attending church.

I wonder....

Do you suppose that the Lord looks on all this activity and says, "Well done, good and faithful servant," or "This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me,"? We Christians are good at keeping the traditions of men that God never required of us and in ignoring His actual commands, making them of no effect. (Mk. 7:1-9)

If you want to know why I don't observe Christmass, go here.