If you didn’t already read (sorry if you did), I wrote a post yesterday about missing church on Christmas day. And it was, to put it honestly and frankly, stupid. The post came from a place of frustration and angst which is never good soil for writing. Also, it was packed with fiery words veiled with thin love. It was almost completely negative and, upon a hard second read, with the help of friends showing my the error of my ways in love, I now apologize for letting the flesh write.

MY INITIAL THOUGHT

My initial desire in writing the post was to bring Christians to reflect upon how they chose to use their Christmas day. I do think that reflection and examination on how we chose to go about days like Christmas or Easter are good. It is easy for Christians to be influenced by the world and begin to celebrate these very important times in a less than important or focused way. So again, I do bid us all to reflect upon how we went about Christmas and ask ourselves why we did the things we did and whether or not they exalted Jesus in our hearts and the hearts of others. For a more thorough and less fiery explanation of the importance of Sunday morning worship check out Michael Horton’s piece here.

WHERE I WENT WRONG

But if you read the post, you can see I diverted from encouraging reflection to chastising and ranting. This took place as I was writing the post. The first problem was that I wrote with feelings of frustration and angst from the saddening lack of attendance on Sunday. Those feelings took over my typing and tempered the way I re-read the post so as to not correct myself before submitting. Note: Writing or speaking cannot be done well if done in a spirit of frustration or angst.

A second place I went wrong was to not have someone give me some feedback on such a heated piece. Proverbs makes it clear that many advisors bring victory (Proverbs 15:22; 27:9) and I asked none of my counselors to my shame. More on this below.

A third place of foolish departure was the medium I chose to bring this message. What I mean is, this is much too specific of a rebuke to post publicly and generally. There are people out there, even in my life, who need a good rebuke because of their lackadaisical pursuit of Christ, but this is only to be done privately and out of pure love desiring the better for them. Needless to say, the post yesterday was not specifically applied, it was not private and it wasn’t out of pure love but a bad mix of harsh and manipulative language, prayerlessness and folly.

The fourth place where I ignored God’s clear Word was being negligent in my use of words. James 3 makes clear that words hold the power to build or destroy, to bring life or death. James says that the tongue is like the rudder of a large ship, small in size but enormous in controlling the whole boat (James 3:4). He also says the tongue is like a small spark that creates a forest fire (James 3:5-6). If I took these illustrations to paint what I did yesterday: I steered my ship toward the rocks and charged Yosemite with a Bic Lighter.

The fifth reason was that my post offered terrible litmus test of love for Christ. Attending Church on Christmas day doesn’t mean you do or don’t love Jesus. There are far too many factors involved to make such a drastic and serious proposition. I am sorry. I am an idiot.

The sixth reason, and most important, was that I did not write in love and encouragement. How do I know I did not write in love? If I put my attitude up to the test of 1 Corinthians 13, I can easily confess that I did not use my words in love. They were not patient, they were not kind and they were rude and angry. Therefore, my writing was of no value because it was not done in love. Derick Zeulner put well what I should have done in his email to me about my post:

As Christian leaders and pastors, let us hesitate before hanging the heavy burden on our people that a single Sunday is what determines if our allegiance is with Christ or not (there may be other factors to consider). Instead let us encourage them in how they can continue to choose Christ and make Him known in their families and to those around them by their choices, words, and life on Christmas and all year long

I write this today to apologize for my post. I am sorry for the burden I may have laid upon people who sought to love Christ yesterday with all they have, but missed church for some truly important reason. I apologize for using harsh words without love.

PRAISE GOD FOR RIGHTEOUS MEN

As I end this post of apologizing for my stupidity and rash writing, I want to thank the righteous men who were willing to point out these things to me. Some in big ways and others in smaller ways, but all helpful and needed nonetheless. Thank you for the friends who faithfully sought correct me. Even though it was possible for me to be wounded you were faithful to the task (Proverbs 27:6) and I trust you all the more for it. Thank you for giving me your words for, “the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel” (Proverbs 27:9) and you are all the sweeter to me for them. I am indebted to courageous men who love Jesus and me enough to step into tension for the good of Christ’s Name and their friend’s joy. I heed your correction and rejoice in your love.

Praise God for the grace He has poured out on us and praise Him for the faithful men and women He has placed around us for our growth, correction and joy. May we all take great care with our words and use them to build and give life to what is good and only use them to destroy what is opposed to the gospel and that with great thought, care and counsel. I am thankful that I do not walk alone in this barren land and that I am not left to myself, but that God has adopted me into a family where love is abundant and wisdom lives.

UPDATE: This post was reconsidered and re-evaluated and does not communicate my intent well. Please go here for my reflection on this post.

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Often times I listen to Christians proclaim that Christmas is all about Jesus. I love hearing this because (obviously) this is so right and true. Christmas is the day when the Church at large celebrates the incarnation of God’s Son. It is a day when we exchange gifts to reflect the generosity the Father in sending His Son. A day when we meet with family understanding that Christ being born a child of Mary began the work of giving us the right to be called children of God. So when I hear someone speak about Christmas being about God’s Son Jesus Christ I cry a hearty AMEN because Christmas is absolutely about Jesus (as is everything else; see Colossians 1:16).

But then Christmas fell on a Sunday…

Yesterday, my heart broke as I entered the parking lot of our church. What was usually a packed parking lot filled with people was lightly sprinkled with cars of people coming to one of the only two services offered. As I entered the sanctuary I noticed a drastic decline in attendance. Sure there may have been some sick folks who couldn’t make it or others away with family attending other churches, but I dont believe that constituted for the drastic drop I witnessed. This was more than the absence of a couple sick people and a few vacationers. As I thought about the folks who decided to stay home, I remembered the words of Jesus, “This people honos me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). Christmas falling on a Sunday forced many people to show their true cards. Many people denied their proclamation about Christmas with their absence at church yesterday. The cry of many for Christ to be brought back into CHRISTmas was hushed by the decision to stay away from church.

My question for reflection is how can we say that Christmas is all about Jesus when we refuse to meet with His people to hear His Word, Sing for His Honor and exalt His Name together? The very question of whether or not we should go to church on Sunday indicates that we are more worldly than we think. As Michael Horton said, “The very fact that we have to address this question (going to church on Christmas), even in evangelical circles, demonstrates the true measure of the church’s worldliness.” I cannot help but agree with Burk Parksons who said, “If we skip congregational worship on Christmas day, we understand neither what worship is about nor what Christmas is about.” True priorities were demonstrated by many yesterday. Numerous folks revealed that they treasured their family, their sleep, their holiday, or their new toys more than Jesus.

One more word on this. If you did go to church as I, don’t think that we are without sin either. As I am writing this I am thinking about how I went about Christmas yesterday. Did I go to church? Yes, I did. But does that mean my Christmas day was truly about Jesus? Was He exalted in my heart as I celebrated with family, opened presents, and ate food? Or did I give my time to him at church and then went about my day my way? May self-righteousness never substitute apathy.

So Christmas offers us all something to meditate on. May we reflect and examine our souls and offer them up to the Lord with the request that He makes us wiser and more mature so we live worthy of the calling every day and especially on days like Christmas. May we all accept the gift of repentance procured for us by Jesus and turn from our worldly ways and everyday strive to become more and more like Jesus and less and less like the world. I love you family. Let us repent together, trust Jesus’ Person and Work together and entrust ourselves to Jesus in full obedience for His full glory.

QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION

Where were you yesterday? Why?

What does that say about your priorities?

What does the absence of Christians at Church proclaim to the world?

What message are we giving family members when we decided to skip Church on Christmas?

Did the way you spent your day yesterday demonstrate that Christmas is all about Jesus?