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what it’s about

posted by adam on 12.18.2006 at 6:44 am

I’m lucky enough to be a part of a church that isn’t very churchy. We manage to talk about God and relationship with him while taking care to avoid language that doesn’t really mean anything. It’s refreshing.

Yesterday at church, we spent some time talking about and thinking about this time of year. I’ll be honest: I cringe at the thought of sermons focused on Christmas. I’m always afraid they’ll be cheesy and trumped up and empty.

(A couple of years ago I heard a sermon entitled “Mary Christmas!” The preacher talked about who Mary was and how we should have a Christmas like hers. He said we should wish others a merry Christmas, but secretly mean a M-A-R-Y Christmas. He called this, I swear I am not making this up, a “blessing bomb.”)

But the sermon yesterday was good. It was balanced and real and it just reminded us that Christmas is really about relationship. That’s the most important element, and I think that’s true. Families get together, meals are shared, gifts exchanged, and in the midst of all of that, the coolest part is the being together. Relationship.

I believe that’s why Jesus came—to open the door for relationship between God and man. So in that sense, Christmas really is all about relating, to family, to friends and even to God. It’s a nice thought, not too corny and it has the bonus of being true.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas. (Wink.)

posted by adam on 12.18.2006 at 6:44 am

4 responses to “what it’s about”

you wrote:
“We manage to talk about God and relationship with him while taking care to avoid language that doesn’t really mean anything.”

huh? what do you mean?

-ray

left by ray on 12.19.2006 at 10:28 pm

Sorry to be vague, Ray.

I’ve had the experience more than once of being in a church situation and hearing folks thoughtlessly use jargon. As a youth minister, I would frequently ask my teens, “What does that mean?” Often I found that they had no answer.

Sometimes when we grow up using certain words, thinking they have a holy ring to them, we use those words without ever really considering what they are saying. I believe a lot of Christians are guilty of this. I don’t care for talking about God and calling him “holy” without defining what holy means. (Literally, it means “set apart.”)

That’s what I mean, I guess. If God is good, how is he good? If he loves us, what does that look like? If prayer is a conversation, what’s his part? I know it sounds nice to say something like “God is good”, (it even sounds scriptural), but I want to know what it means.

I don’t like talking without saying anything, and I’ve been to a fair number of churches where that is the norm.

left by adam on 12.20.2006 at 11:34 am

gotcha….i understand. you had conversations at church where you avoided using words not clearly defined and understood…no pie in the sky talk..

thanks for the clarification.

ray

left by ray on 12.20.2006 at 2:30 pm

That’s it.

left by adam on 12.20.2006 at 10:10 pm

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