Because

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

... Where is God in Christmas

Here's a topic of been thinking about lately, especially with some stuff that I've read on other peoples blogs..eg. signposts. Hope it starts some discussion.

God in Christmas
The other day I found myself wondering what Christmas has meant to me in years gone by of my life. To give a truthful answer from about the ages 0-10 I can't remember anything. From ages 11 until now Christmas has meant presents and having to wake up early to go to church. But as I get older and the presents no longer mean as much, I'm starting to like the God side of Christmas alot more. But still there is a much stronger enphasase on "what you got for Christmas" rather than "why are we even celebrating Christmas". Does Christmas these days actually have a meaning to people, or is it just a time of human celebration. I'm sure Christmas is very meaningful to alot of people - Christain or not, but being a Christain, this year, I want to be able to regognise the real meaning of Christmas.
- God's gift of Jesus to the world.

posted by trendyjax at 4:51 PM

13 Comments:

  • If you try hard enough, you can have the best of both worlds:

    http://www.neapolitan500.com/pics/santajesus.jpg

    I still really enjoy the presents and the whole commercial side of "Xmas", but the togetherness of sharing a meal with family and friends in the name of Jesus is really what it's all about for me.

    I don't think we need to sacrifice all the present-giving and Santa Claus stuff to embrace the true meaning of Christmas.

    By Blogger Joe, at 5:26 PM  

  • While social justice and making the world a better place are important aspects of christianity, without Christ they are irrelivant.

    Why don't we just adopt Japan's Childrens Day if the most important aspect of Christmas is getting families together.

    Of the three things I am doing this Christmas, having dinner at my Sisters with some of my close family is coming a close 3rd on the list of important things to do: First on my list is attending a morning Church service; Second is helping out at the lunch were putting on at church; Lowest on my list of things is rushing home from said lunch to spend time with the extended family.

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 8:15 PM  

  • I'm with Gavin here.

    Sure, "Jesus is the reason for the season", but if a non-Christian (for example) decides to use Christmas as a time to "make the world a better place", I don't think what he/she does is "irrelevant" at all. You can still do God's work without necessarily doing it explicity in the name of Jesus.

    By Blogger Joe, at 9:43 PM  

  • It is irrelivant to Christmas. If the only time you ever do any social justice stuff is Christmas then you need to pull your finger out and smell the coffee.
    While I don't want to get into the whole heathen in Africa and his chances of going to heaven debate, if your celebrating Christmas but ignoreing the christian aspects of it, then your screwed. Now while thats the letter of the bible, I'm not always 100% sure about those statements, but I do feel that they apply to people who are acitvly snubbing their noses at Christ.
    Maybe a slightly better version of my previous opening coment is:
    "While social justice and making the world a better place are important aspects of christianity, without Christ they are irrelivant to Christmas "

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 12:36 PM  

  • I was just playing devil's advocate because you forgot to include "to Christmas".

    I'm glad that you did. :)

    By Blogger Joe, at 1:49 PM  

  • On some aspects I agree with you Gavin.
    It is important to have strong connections with family. For the heathens (please don't read all the negative baggage that we tend to acociate with that word, I mean it in its dictionary meaning) getting together with family should be the most important thing at christmas (if not what is? stealing a kiss of the hot office chick at the office christmas party???)
    If getting together with family is getting in the way of, or spoiling, a christian's opportunity to celebrate the good news then their might be a problem.
    Doing good and wholesome acts is all well and good, but if your trying to be a christian you need to strive for more.

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 10:04 AM  

  • Sorry I thourght this blog would have been a discussion of how christians do things. As christians shouldn't we be treating christmas as more than a social event?

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 5:27 PM  

  • Yes we should be open minded about other groups pov. I'm glad that many other groups can use our celebration as a reason to get together with family.

    So does your atitude towards christmas put you in the christian group or the others?

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 11:41 AM  

  • Do you see this as a problem?

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 9:15 PM  

  • Well if you see that celebrating the birth of Jesus as important but you prioritise things over it, are you being completely honest in life?
    And isn't Jesus more important than your family (one should never neglect the less important things in life, but giving them priority is foolhardy)?

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 10:25 PM  

  • Belief and faith are only components of a healthy relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit. It is also important dedicate time to celebration (along with priase, worship and social justice among others).

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 8:21 AM  

  • Woah hold on a second there, you've mis quoted me or I haven't been completely clear.

    I did not intend to say: "Christmas needing to be a time where you HAVE to praise and worship and celebrate Christ, to be a proper Christian."
    I hoped to convey that those are all elements of being a christian, not required parts of christmas for christians.

    Ok lets take a different tack on things: When does everyone take some time out to celebrate the wonderful gift of Jesus?

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 4:07 PM  

  • "Whats this about taking time out, this coming from u is bad lol, you don't "take time out" as a christan to worship......"

    Are you using 'you' in the personal or general sense?
    In general everyone should make (/take) time to worship, it is good for you. In specific I do take every opportunity I have to worship, and over the course of a year I manage to find time to worship in many varied forms.

    "Anyway, correct me if I am wrong but does it no say someplace in the bible about it being a choice to worship god ect, and with that choice also a choice as to when you have your own personal private forms of worship (along with ment to attend sunday church)"

    I wont correct you because I agree with you. People make the choice to worship god along with all the other christian practices when they sign up as christian. More importantly its up to each individual to decide how to participate in every facet of christian life. The only 'wrong' option is not to.

    "so if this is thecase, what is wrong with someone doing it when they want to and not just because other ppl say this is the time they should worship?"

    I made the statement you are replying to when I realised that I was being narrow in my definition of celebrating christmas and was asking yall how you do it.

    By Blogger Gareth 'LovesTha' Pye, at 12:40 PM  

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