Is there one anymore? Or have we just dwindled it down to a few basic options:
- Another reason to create elaborate productions at church to deliver the Gospel message
- A former religious holiday that now holds more to tradition and celebration than meaning
- Neither of the above...its all gone commercial
- A mix of all of the above?
We're going through another age of enlightenment, where we have information about how the origins of Christmas began. We know that at some point the church created a Christian holiday to be held at the same time as celebrations for the winter solstice. We know that traditional "Christmas" items like the Christmas Tree and Yule Log have their origins in the same non-Christian rituals. And there's even talk that the whole idea of celebrating Christmas the way we know it today didn't really catch on until Charles Dickins wrote some of his more famous works.
But regardless of how it came to be, here in 2007 Christmas is part of our yearly landscape. So what does it mean for us now? Every year Christmas is time where everyone decides that they should open their hearts to those less fortunate for ONE month of the year...that at Christmas time, for some ethereal magical reason, everyone becomes nicer, kinder, gentler (although you could argue that if you venture to the malls in the weeks before Christmas)...and then afterwards revert back to being self-centered, selfish, mean folks...like they've done their good deed for the year.
But what about the spiritual side of Christmas? What about celebrating Jesus' birth? What about giving our Lord and Savior the proper worship he deserves? Well...here's the thing...
Jesus didn't really want anybody to celebrate his birth. He didn't have a huge birthday bash, he didn't have a huge tree with piles of presents...he was born in a barn, and the only people that came were some shepherds and the animals in the barn (the wise men might not have shown up until Jesus was a bit older, unlike what most of the Christmas stories suggest). Christmas was created for social-political reasons, not for truly spiritual reverie.
Christmas was not created for Jesus, it was created for us.
Does that mean we shouldn't celebrate it? Of course not. Christmas though, more than ever, needs to be a celebration that is individual to you and your family. It's a time of celebration...and we as a race need that...we need times where we come together to celebrate. But is Jesus really the reason for the season? No. Jesus should be the reason for every month of our year. We don't just let Jesus in at Easter and Christmas, and the rest of the year we're too busy to help those less fortunate, or to volunteer our time and skills for charity, or to research and explore our faith.
Christmas should be a reminder, for us as Christians, that we ARE Christians...and to evaluate how we lived out our faith in the past year. It should be a jump start for the next year for us. Yet sadly, for many its a blip on the radar.
I hope that this season is meaningful to you in many ways.
CC
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
What Is The Point of Homeschooling?
I saw this t-shirt recently (if the link ever dies, its a t-shirt for kids that says "Caution: Unsocialized Homeschooler"), and it got me thinking: what is the POINT of homeschooling?
Homeschooling seems to be a Christian-focussed idea (although I'm not saying that all homeschool situations involve Christianity, everyone I know who does homeschool is a Christian). Proponents of home-schooling will no doubt expound on how much better the quality of education is, the ability to incorporate Christian curriculum, and ... um... what else? What else good can be said about homeschooling?
In my opinion, homeschooling is nothing more than parents wanting to shelter their children from the evils of the world, which in this direct case is the public school system and all its perceived shortcomings. Sure the public school system isn't perfect: you always hear of schools with violence and substance abuse issues, overcroweded classrooms, inept teachers, and curriculum that can be perceived as too lax.
But guess what...I have a secret...ready for it? That's not just school...that's the real world. In the real world, you have violence...and substance abuse...and you have companies that are filled with people who are all vying for the next level, the better grade, and the recognition that comes with it. You have bosses and managers that will be total tools, and possibly unscrupulous. And you'll have to deal with things in the real world that seem utterly stupid (let's talk income tax shall we?).
Homeschooled children may have a better scholarly education, but they miss out on the most important education of all: how to handle life. This isn't just about the social dysfunction associated with home schooling, this is about giving children a relatively safe environment to try and fail before they turn 18 and their failings land them in trouble or worse. This is where they discover who they are, how to make friends, how to overcome adversity, how to overcome idiocy...this is THEIR time to discover who they are and to prepare them for life as adults, even from the early grades.
But what if they get hurt? What if they get exposed to something horrible? What if...what if...
Look, that's part of how God intended our younger years to be! As a child your immune system hasn't been exposed to the various flues and germs in the world, and kids are seemingly always fighting something...but they overcome and they grow stronger and can fight off the nasties. The same goes for us from a social perspective: we need to experience things as early as possible so that we can understand how to deal with them as adults. No I'm not saying that we should wish harm on our children, but I would wish relationships, challenges, obstacles, tests, love, anger, frustration, happiness...I would wish them an experience that will mold them into the adults of tomorrow.
So that t-shirt really shouldn't say "Unsocialized Homeschooler"...it should say "Caution: I won't have a clue how to live in the real world because my parents were too scared of exposing me to their own fears and trepidations"
CC
Homeschooling seems to be a Christian-focussed idea (although I'm not saying that all homeschool situations involve Christianity, everyone I know who does homeschool is a Christian). Proponents of home-schooling will no doubt expound on how much better the quality of education is, the ability to incorporate Christian curriculum, and ... um... what else? What else good can be said about homeschooling?
In my opinion, homeschooling is nothing more than parents wanting to shelter their children from the evils of the world, which in this direct case is the public school system and all its perceived shortcomings. Sure the public school system isn't perfect: you always hear of schools with violence and substance abuse issues, overcroweded classrooms, inept teachers, and curriculum that can be perceived as too lax.
But guess what...I have a secret...ready for it? That's not just school...that's the real world. In the real world, you have violence...and substance abuse...and you have companies that are filled with people who are all vying for the next level, the better grade, and the recognition that comes with it. You have bosses and managers that will be total tools, and possibly unscrupulous. And you'll have to deal with things in the real world that seem utterly stupid (let's talk income tax shall we?).
Homeschooled children may have a better scholarly education, but they miss out on the most important education of all: how to handle life. This isn't just about the social dysfunction associated with home schooling, this is about giving children a relatively safe environment to try and fail before they turn 18 and their failings land them in trouble or worse. This is where they discover who they are, how to make friends, how to overcome adversity, how to overcome idiocy...this is THEIR time to discover who they are and to prepare them for life as adults, even from the early grades.
But what if they get hurt? What if they get exposed to something horrible? What if...what if...
Look, that's part of how God intended our younger years to be! As a child your immune system hasn't been exposed to the various flues and germs in the world, and kids are seemingly always fighting something...but they overcome and they grow stronger and can fight off the nasties. The same goes for us from a social perspective: we need to experience things as early as possible so that we can understand how to deal with them as adults. No I'm not saying that we should wish harm on our children, but I would wish relationships, challenges, obstacles, tests, love, anger, frustration, happiness...I would wish them an experience that will mold them into the adults of tomorrow.
So that t-shirt really shouldn't say "Unsocialized Homeschooler"...it should say "Caution: I won't have a clue how to live in the real world because my parents were too scared of exposing me to their own fears and trepidations"
CC
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Should we still be bolstering the power of "the prayer"?
We went with some friends to Bethlehem last night. Well, not *really* Bethlehem, but a church gymnasium that was converted into different locations in the Christmas story: Harod's castle, the temple, a marketplace, a hotel with a certain manger in the back, and a field with shepherds and angels. Other than the hour long wait to get in (they took people in by groups, and each group lasted about a half an hour...so we had about an hour wait for ours), it was very well done and for the children that went I'm suer it was a great experience (they even had some live animals too: sheep, llamas, goats, donkeys, a baby cow...).
At the end of the experience we had, as I expected, a gospel presentation...which I was fine with and, considering this was a church outreach based event, would have been surprised if they wouldn't have done. The last room we were in as part of our "tour" held one of the pastors, who presented the message of Christmas and Christianity, and as many of these type of alter-callish things go, there was the talk of "The Prayer": those magic words that once we speak give us a clear entry into Heaven and into the family of God.
I struggle with this prayer...well, not the prayer itself, but in how some churches and Christians use it as a target: "I need to get people to pray THIS PRAYER and they will be saved!" Well, that's not realistic though is it? Just saying a prayer doesn't make you a Christian...there's nothing inherently life-altering in just acknowledging those simple words. Wait...let me clarify...
There IS something life-altering in meeting Jesus, and discovering God, and starting down your spiritual journey, and yes acknowledging our sin and asking for its forgiveness is part of beginning that journey. But my fear is that there are Christians out there that think just saying a collection of words somehow equates to eternal salvation.
Fully understanding what it means to be a Christian (Jesus even warned that we must "count the cost") cannot be rationalized within a few mere moments, or a relationship be fully engaged with only a few words. This prayer that so many push on others needs to be recognized for what it is: an invitation to further discussion, further discovery, and further decision.
I guess my real issue I see with the "pray a prayer" approach is its focus to get as many into Heaven as possible while ignoring the importance of us building a relationship with God here on Earth. It's that which works out our faith, and ultimately God wants us to be in relation with him...not just a number to add to Heaven's population (that comes as a perk).
CC
At the end of the experience we had, as I expected, a gospel presentation...which I was fine with and, considering this was a church outreach based event, would have been surprised if they wouldn't have done. The last room we were in as part of our "tour" held one of the pastors, who presented the message of Christmas and Christianity, and as many of these type of alter-callish things go, there was the talk of "The Prayer": those magic words that once we speak give us a clear entry into Heaven and into the family of God.
I struggle with this prayer...well, not the prayer itself, but in how some churches and Christians use it as a target: "I need to get people to pray THIS PRAYER and they will be saved!" Well, that's not realistic though is it? Just saying a prayer doesn't make you a Christian...there's nothing inherently life-altering in just acknowledging those simple words. Wait...let me clarify...
There IS something life-altering in meeting Jesus, and discovering God, and starting down your spiritual journey, and yes acknowledging our sin and asking for its forgiveness is part of beginning that journey. But my fear is that there are Christians out there that think just saying a collection of words somehow equates to eternal salvation.
Fully understanding what it means to be a Christian (Jesus even warned that we must "count the cost") cannot be rationalized within a few mere moments, or a relationship be fully engaged with only a few words. This prayer that so many push on others needs to be recognized for what it is: an invitation to further discussion, further discovery, and further decision.
I guess my real issue I see with the "pray a prayer" approach is its focus to get as many into Heaven as possible while ignoring the importance of us building a relationship with God here on Earth. It's that which works out our faith, and ultimately God wants us to be in relation with him...not just a number to add to Heaven's population (that comes as a perk).
CC
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Church: Should it be used as a rolodex?
Nothing pisses me off more than finding an invitation in my church mailbox to some sort of party. "But Church Critic", you say, "what's wrong with parties? Are you against dancing or drinking? Are you one of those old school church goers that believes in KJV only and that kissing before marriage is wrong?!" Fear not, I'm not going all old-school on you.
It's not that kind of party.
It's one of those parties where someone in the church hosts a candle party, or a cooking utensil party, or a tupperware party...y'know, one where everyone in the church gets bombarded with requests to come out to help Mrs. Jones get some free gifts or, what I consider even worse, helping Mrs. Jones earn her monthly rent.
Now its not that I have any issue with people making a living this way. But for some reason, these sort of business ventures are seen as being acceptable in using a church body as a potential market, while if an insurance salesman tried to distribute literature on available plans they'd be asked to kindly stop (or at least I'd hope they would).
Where do you draw the line between business and church? In large part, the church relies on its members to BRING skills: technology, hospitality, trades...these are things that can be used in churches to help them. But then you have the ones that just want to sell TO the church, not use their skills to help it. This bothers me.
The church should not be somene's personal rolodex. Sure business will be discussed, but spending a weekend mass calling everyone in the church directory to see if they would like to review their finances is NOT the intended use of a church directory. We had a woman's event recently at the church, the focus being on different ways women could prepare for the holidays. One woman, who sells kitchen utensils, took one of the sessions. I can only imagine how excited she was to have a free, captive audience so easily handed to her.
This should be something that church leadership should be addressing. People have a hard time enough coming to church and feeling accepted, welcomed, and comfortable; the last thing they need is "friends" trying to sell them things or talking them into hosting a party.
CC
It's not that kind of party.
It's one of those parties where someone in the church hosts a candle party, or a cooking utensil party, or a tupperware party...y'know, one where everyone in the church gets bombarded with requests to come out to help Mrs. Jones get some free gifts or, what I consider even worse, helping Mrs. Jones earn her monthly rent.
Now its not that I have any issue with people making a living this way. But for some reason, these sort of business ventures are seen as being acceptable in using a church body as a potential market, while if an insurance salesman tried to distribute literature on available plans they'd be asked to kindly stop (or at least I'd hope they would).
Where do you draw the line between business and church? In large part, the church relies on its members to BRING skills: technology, hospitality, trades...these are things that can be used in churches to help them. But then you have the ones that just want to sell TO the church, not use their skills to help it. This bothers me.
The church should not be somene's personal rolodex. Sure business will be discussed, but spending a weekend mass calling everyone in the church directory to see if they would like to review their finances is NOT the intended use of a church directory. We had a woman's event recently at the church, the focus being on different ways women could prepare for the holidays. One woman, who sells kitchen utensils, took one of the sessions. I can only imagine how excited she was to have a free, captive audience so easily handed to her.
This should be something that church leadership should be addressing. People have a hard time enough coming to church and feeling accepted, welcomed, and comfortable; the last thing they need is "friends" trying to sell them things or talking them into hosting a party.
CC
Why Criticize the Church?
Why Church Critic? Why would I, a follower of Jesus, want to be critical of the key organizational structure of my faith? Isn't it heresy to some lesser degree...or am I throwing stones without acknowledging my own faults and failures first?
Hell no.
The reality is that the church...in fact the Christian faith...in fact, ALL faiths...are made up of imperfect human beings. Our God may be perfect and holy, but the reality is that we are immensly screwed up and destined to forgo common sense and replace it with raging emotion or ineptitude.
The church needs critics. The role of a critic isn't to simply point out failures or hurl insults. That's not a critic, that's an opponent. A critic's role is to raise awareness around failings and issues that are detrimental to an entity...and believe me, our churches need critics. Our churches need to be open to discussing the issues that plague so many, not just in regards to pastors and staff but extending to the people that attend, programs that are run, and doctrine that is accepted.
This blog is my arena to talk about what I see in my own church, which I love, and in the larger church community, which I also care about. I hope to have good discussion here as we look at some tough issues, and hopefully some passionate debate as I'm sure we'll have some hotbutton issues come accross the blogosphere as well.
Church Critic
Hell no.
The reality is that the church...in fact the Christian faith...in fact, ALL faiths...are made up of imperfect human beings. Our God may be perfect and holy, but the reality is that we are immensly screwed up and destined to forgo common sense and replace it with raging emotion or ineptitude.
The church needs critics. The role of a critic isn't to simply point out failures or hurl insults. That's not a critic, that's an opponent. A critic's role is to raise awareness around failings and issues that are detrimental to an entity...and believe me, our churches need critics. Our churches need to be open to discussing the issues that plague so many, not just in regards to pastors and staff but extending to the people that attend, programs that are run, and doctrine that is accepted.
This blog is my arena to talk about what I see in my own church, which I love, and in the larger church community, which I also care about. I hope to have good discussion here as we look at some tough issues, and hopefully some passionate debate as I'm sure we'll have some hotbutton issues come accross the blogosphere as well.
Church Critic
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