10 ways to be a Christian this Christmas
In a recent post, Kevin DeYoung who is senior pastor of University Reformed Church (PCA) in East Lansing, Michigan, near Michigan State Univeristy, USA gave these 10 suggestions as to how 'we can remember to be Christians this Christmas'.
(You can find the full article here https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/kevindeyoung/2016/12/15/10-to-be-a-christian-this-christmas/ )
1. Sing
like you mean it. Sure,
there are a some Christmas carol clunkers, but there are some amazing hymns too
(see Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, Of the Father’s Love
Begotten, Let All Mortal Flesh, and many more). Belt them
out with gusto. Smile and take delight in the familiar sounds of the season.
You may not hear them for 11 more months.
2. Say
thank you. Over
the next week you’ll get gifts someone picked out for you, and eat food someone
prepared for you, and enjoy hospitality someone laid out for you. We’re told to
give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess. 5:18). Surely,
this includes Christmas. Stop to offer a sincere “thank you” to your mum, your
husband, your kids, your aunt, your grandma, whomever—it will be good for your
soul, and it may just make their day.
3. Put the
phone down. Go
ahead and take a few pictures and post a few updates, but let’s not turn our
Christmas experience into another commodity for mass consumption. Look people
in the eye. Be present in the moment. Let the world’s tragedies and scandals
and funny monkey videos take a back seat for a day.
4. Enjoy
some cookies. Oh,
the dreadful holiday pounds. Sure, we need to be on guard against gluttony. But
we need to be on guard against censorious asceticism too. God created food to
be received with thanksgiving. Eat up and don’t feel bad about it. For
everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected that is made
holy by the Word of God and prayer (1 Tim. 4:3-5).
5. Talk to
your family. Why
not put in five minutes worth of thought on the way to your grandma’s house to
think of five questions? Maybe conversation flows easily with your family. But
for many people, it takes some effort to engage our relatives, especially those
we don’t see often and those with whom we have little in common. Give people
the gift of your curiosity.
6. Find
time to be quiet. At
some point, get away and be still. Even if just for 10 minutes. Even if it’s in
your bed after everyone else is asleep. Go on a walk. Take a long shower. Get
up early. Sit in the dark. Look at the snow. Stare at the tree. Just be quiet,
ponder, and pray.
7. Pray
for opportunities. What
if we prayed for at least one opportunity in the next two weeks to share the
gospel? I bet God would honour that prayer. Maybe we can talk to a friend or
family member. Maybe we’ll find a surprisingly open door for conversation at
the mall, or out to eat, or on the plane. Maybe we have not because we ask not.
8. Make a
year-end gift. Your
church is probably trying to make budget. So are rescue missions, crisis
pregnancy centres, Christian schools, mission agencies, and dozens of other
kingdom causes. Go ahead a be generous. We won’t out-give God.
9. Quit
complaining. Something
will go wrong this Christmas. Someone will hurt your feelings. Your parent’s
house will be too hot. Your brother’s house will be too cold. A meal will be
barely edible. Your obnoxious friends will be extra obnoxious. Still, God is
more pleased with gratitude than with grumbling. If we learn to overlook a few
offences we’ll be happier too.
10.
Rejoice to hear the Story one more time. Matthew 1 and Luke 2 are coming at you.
So are Isaiah 7 and Isaiah 9, Micah 5, and many of the same passages you hear
every year. No bother: “To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and
is safe for you” (Phil. 3:1).
Let us pray that God gives us ears to hear, again and again, with fresh wonder
that God came down to be with us, and that he is with us still.
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