Concentrating On Christ At Christmas - Tozer

Concentrating on Christ at Christmas
Christmas as it is celebrated today is badly in need of a radical reformation. What was at first a spontaneous expression of an innocent pleasure has been carried to inordinate excess. In one section of Chicago, for instance, the excited citizenry vie with each other each year for the biggest, gaudiest and most vulgar Christmas tree, on the porch, on the lawn, along the street; and one gigantic, flashily dressed and cold but determinedly smiling Santa Claus drives a fully lighted herd of reindeer across the yard and over the house!

How far have we come in the corruption of our tastes from the reverence of the simple shepherds, the chant of the angels and the beauty of the heavenly host! The Star of Bethlehem could not lead a wise man to Christ today; it could not be distinguished amid the millions of artificial lights hung aloft on Main Street by the Merchants Association. No angels could sing loudly enough to make themselves heard above the raucous, earsplitting rendition of "Silent Night" meant to draw customers to the neighborhood stores.

In our mad materialism we have turned beauty into ashes, prostituted every normal emotion and made merchandise of the holiest gift the world ever knew. Christ came to bring peace and we celebrate His coming by making peace impossible for six weeks of each year. Not peace but tension, fatigue and irritation rule the Christmas season. He came to free us of debt and many respond by going deep into debt each year to buy enervating luxuries for people who do not appreciate them. He came to help the poor and we heap gifts upon those who do not need them. The simple token given out of love has been displaced by expensive presents given because we have been caught in a squeeze and don’t know how to back out of it. Not the beauty of the Lord our God is found in such a situation, but the ugliness and deformity of human sin.

Verse
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'
Luke 2:13-14

Thought
Making Christ the center of Christmas relieves the tension of shopping and delivers us from the cesspool of commercialism into which we can become submerged. Let's take time to join the angel hosts in praising God and singing "Glory to God in the highest."

Prayer
Father, thank You for the Christ of Christmas.

I think we can all relate to one degree or another to what Tozer said here.

Frank, I agree that a lot of what Christmas represents is not good. I do think that Mothers will sacrifice for their children at anytime and even spend what they have not got, not just at Christmas. That said, I know there are many folk who do go into unnecessary debt for the superficial things of this season. Same can be said of Weddings; holidays, cars, etc. I think it's a symptom of materialism and 'pride of life' more than it is Christmas itself.

So I would agree there are many things about Christmas that are not good and that I don't like, but here are some of the things I actually enjoy about Christmas.

* The opportunity to send cards with gospel messages to
family and non-Christian folk.

* Sending and receiving cards as a point of keeping in
touch with folk at least once a year that otherwise you
would not. (I'm not on Facebook, so maybe that has taken
the place of this!).

* Singing of Carols that are full of theological truth.

* Giving and receiving gifts in proportion to means and
requirements. Some of the best gifts are those that are
hand made and cost little money, but have something of
the giver themselves.

* Turkey!

See Ray Comfort's film (Livingwaters.com) 'Christmas Gone Viral' for ideas on how to use this season to evangelize.

I agree with you both. My family generally gets together on Christmas Eve for a small gift exchange ,we always set limits and spend our time passing the old photo albums around, this year The Lord layer something different on my heart, I will be sharing with my family how I came to Jesus Christ and have spent time seeking The Lord on a scripture to pass down to them kind of like a life for them all, it ended up being an entire chapter. I am trusting The Lord to be glorified in this as well as my family blessed.

I have to admit I really enjoy the turkey on Christmas Day too!

It has never been a sad or stressed time for us through the years since we have always set limits and as best we could centered it around Christ and keeping traditions like reading the account of Christ.s birth from Luke. This time of year people in public do seem more open to witness than other times too, that’s a help too.

I would like to see more "personal" thoughts from folks, like D.Miller and Brother Dave posted. I don't really care what Tozer said, he can't or don't speak for all of us, right? You think Tozer might have been the original Grinch? :-) Look, let God lead you as always, not man.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well I am a Christmas lunatic like Scrooge’s nephew Fred and always have been. I was fortunate to grow up in a home where Christ was always at the center of the season and this was true no matter which relatives we visited as everyone was a believer.

In the old days before 24/7 Christmas music on the radio we would tune into Moody radio’s "carols of Christmas” on Christmas Eve. There were always baking traditions like peanut brittle and various cookies etc and cheeseballs. One of my fondest memories was that candle in the window by my bed that had a blue light- so peaceful.

Many of my fondest memories center around the season and to not have experienced those days would be a crying shame.

I think family traditions are vitally important. You can’t force tradition like Clark Griswold tried to do but you can create an environment where tradition and memories happen, which is what my wife and I try to do for our kids and grandkids.

"Concentrating On Christ At Christmas Time"

How about concentrating on Christ every day? What makes December 25th any other different than any other day for the believer? Why all the fear, holier than thou, legalistic prideful rhetoric?

Why can't we just let our light shine and love on people and be a witness for Christ on the 25th like any other day?

When I first heard the truth about Christmas and it's origin 10 years after I got saved I, like many, went down the path of not celebrating it and got to a point of locking myself in my room for the whole day and did not participate in any of it. What bondage!

Jesus Christ is no less Jesus Christ on December 25th than He is on any other day. Whether one uses the term Christmas, Advent, Birth, or whatever, Jesus came into this world to save sinners and as a Christian we should be LIVING and CELEBRATING His birth 24/7/365!

When I quit celebrating Christmas it did nothing for my witness to others but further closed them off to anything I had to say until I got set free.

Is it to hard to realize that Jesus LEFT heaven for crying out loud to come to a sinful fallen world that He created to save sinners? He ate with sinners, fed sinners, healed sinners, delivered sinners, BEFORE they got saved? I myself was miraculously healed at the age of 17 as a practicing unrepentant drug addict, drunkard, lying, fornicator.... AND Jesus Christ healed me. And when I did not turn to Christ after that the Christians I worked with still loved me.

So for the faint in heart and the skeptic we always have to give caveats to all that I just said. I don't put up a Christmas tree or exchange presents like I used to. Most of my immediate family is gone and it is pretty much my wife and I and while I give her a gift of money to buy something special "just because" I don't want any gifts. Yet she has bought me things as well as others and I am free to open them and thank them. There was a time where I refused and would not open them and told them to take them back.

I love to cook and have all my life and I love to make meals all year round and I love to feed people and I am free in Christ to cook and eat on December 25th, imagine that.

The one thing I do however on December 25th is I invite the misfits to my home, people whom I know who have no family and we spend the day together. We pretty much spend time with our family and friends the days before the 25th and after and while our family is welcome to come on the 25th most choose to stay home with their own families.

My company Christmas party was yesterday and I took my wife which was at a restaurant and my wife was blown away by the people I work with. My life is pretty private in that I do not boast in any way to my wife, family, friends, and co-workers about my life, convictions, or choices it's an open book to be freely read by all. Until last night my wife did not even know my title or position within my company.

There were about 60 people who showed up to the party and many of them were having cocktails but my wife could not stop talking about the conversations she had with the people I work with. All the way home she asked me if I realized how much the people I work with love me? I said no I never really thought about it and she said they REALLY love me.

The point is, everyone I work with knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a Christian and most importantly they know I love them even when they have a drink in their hand or step outside for a smoke. An amazing thing is I do not ever recall anyone of them using foul language in my presence. I never told them not to but for some reason they just don't.

I have daily opportunity to be a light and I am free to do it without beating them over the head with scripture or looking down my nose because I am some super spiritual know it all. God gives me plenty of opportunity to sow, water, and pray with the people I work with and you know what? They come to me when they are having issues in their own lives and ask me for advice no matter the situation because they know I will answer them with the truth of how God sees it and still love them.

I feel for those who struggle so much with Christmas time, meaning Christians. You don't have to be for or against Christmas it's just another day, just be a Christian, it really is okay. I am not saying this snidely or condescendingly and I am not saying to go against the boundaries you have set for yourself either. You can honor God and honor your convictions on the 25th without feeling condemned.

If Jesus would walk the earth today what would He be doing and who would He be spending His time with? Jesus Christ would be free to be who He is, so why can't we?

Romans 14 really helped in setting me free in regards to my attitude about Christmas Time amongst many other things. If you prayerfully consider this portion with Christmas in mind it is very enlightening.

For the record this is in answer to all the threads about Christmas not just this one.

Brother David said.."most importantly they know I love them even when they have a drink in their hand or step outside for a smoke.