Mrs. Alexander and her husband were sweet neighbors of my family when we lived in Tennessee. She is with the Lord now, but it was a blessing and privilege to be have been able to know them.
October, 2005
Well, the talking heads have been threatening Americans with less availability of gifts this year for the holiday season. I'm not sure if this is a legitimate thing or just another way to fan the flames of fear, capitalism, and compulsive buying. I guess some areas are being affected more than others.
Those who have been reading my blog for awhile may remember that a few years back I did a "Holiday Challenge" to Christians that observe Christmas encouraging them to make the holiday more about the birth of Jesus Christ and glorifying Him since that is the claimed reason for it. In short, to act upon the claims and celebrate in a way that makes Him the center and object entirely instead of bowing to the idol of consumption and worldly pleasure.
Colossians 3:5-7 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
This seemed like a good opportunity to repost a couple of the challenges specifically and the series in general.
The 6 part series can be found here: Running In Vain? A Holiday Challenge
The two parts that I want to especially emphasize, though are these:
This one is to help you think about simplifying your gift giving - ideas for homemade gifts, ways to cut back, etc. Spending and giving less in order to take the focus off of getting and stuff. This would be a great year to begin this if you haven't already.
This could help reduce spending and also, as you reduce the spending and giving, this could give you the time to focus on some more intentional together times and ministry.
As I was writing this I also thought about all the people who have lost loved ones in 2020 and 2021 and it seemed like I should encourage you to think about them as well, so here is the challenge that deals with that.
Quote: "Making your celebration quieter and less intense, less cluttered with the myriad of holiday junk that China has put at our disposal, will give more opportunity to notice people and to focus on their real needs. If this is done with the mind of Christ it will result in compassion and conscious acts of kindness and love. In short, Christ-like behavior will follow."
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
How about if you stop hoping the ships get unloaded and that the stuff gets delivered in time and think about ways that you can do more with less - more that will glorify the Lord Jesus and show people what His love looks like with shoes on. :-)
1 Timothy 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
This is an interesting video that explains what is called "the Diderot Effect." This is the odd tendency that people have that leads to chain purchase. By that I mean, you buy something and then need something else to go with it, and something else to go with that, and so forth till you've made a whole string of purchases based on that first purchase. The first purchase may actually be needed, but often the following purchases are not. At the end, Becker suggests that instead of trying to impress people with things, you should try to impress them with how you live. I understand why he says that, but in the biblical worldview that isn't what Christians should be trying to do either. We should be living to glorify God. Keeping the excessive and unnecessary consumption and purchase of things under control is one way that we can glorify God. Learning to be content with what God has given us is one way to achieve that.
It seemed especially appropriate to post this now as so many people are focusing on buying at this time of year. Please consider your purchases prayerfully. Truthfully, folks, using Jesus' birth as an excuse to fill your homes (or "stockings") with junk is at the very least tacky. At worst it is dishonoring to the name that you claim to honor. Don't let yourself be caught up in the covetousness and hyper-consumerism of the season. [For further reading: Spend Less, Don't Buy Stuff, Plan Ahead]
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The Threefold Work