The season of Advent is here! WOO HOO! YEE HAW! BOOYA!
Wait a tic....what does that even mean? Isn't it just the "holiday season?" And isn't "holiday season" just a countdown of shopping days before Christmas?
To many Americans this would seem to be the reality, that Christmas has become something of a commercialized sport in which the main event is spending money on a lot of things that everyone wants but no body needs so that on Christmas morning you get to see them tear through massive amounts of green and red wrapping paper and feel good about yourself because you were the "giver" this year. And everyone loves a cheerful giver.
But what about God? What about the birth of his son Jesus?! Packed way back behind tinsel and presents and elves and eggnog we have placed the nativity scene, arguably one of the most iconic symbols of our Christian faith today. We have placed family and friends before the real reason for the season.
Don't get me wrong, the holidays are a great time to connect with family and friends. It's sharing this momentous occasion with the ones we love that make Christmas' past, present and future so memorable. But somehow the birth of Christ seems to take a back seat to all of this.
Which brings me to my point about Advent. For an entire month before Christmas we gather together each week in worship to prepare for this day of rejoicing. Advent is a period of waiting, of anticipation and a time of preparation for the coming of the most important figure in the Christian world.
Yet our minds are usually elsewhere 12 days before Christmas. The commercialism of Christmas has brought us to a familiar place in our history. I'm reminded of the early Israelites who followed Moses through the desert. They were constantly turning from God to worship other things, much like the material things we seemingly worship around our Christmas trees.
"Thank you God for this big trampoline and this iPod touch and this Xbox360 and this life-sized pony and this cotton candy machine and this giant hydraulic pogo stick. This has been the best Christmas ever!"
God gave us the greatest gift anyone could ever give; salvation from an eternity somewhere very hot and uncomfortable...through his son Jesus Christ. The season of Advent is a time to think about that. To pray about that. To give thanks to God for that.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
How good is good enough?
How does a person get into Heaven these days?
There are lots of different theories floating around out there. Probably the most popular theory is the all good people go to Heaven theory. This one has plenty of holes in it.
First off, how good is good enough? We would never know until we die, which thus far no one has came back from death with a solid answer. (Understandable) So how do we measure our goodness? God gave each of us conscience so that we could decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. Because of this, everyone's moral compass is going to be a little off from the next person. The system of what is acceptable in today's society varies so much from culture to culture that we could never all be on the same page.
Or what if we are graded on a curve? If that is the case then Mother Teresa is a curve-wrecker. God can't seriously expect us to be in a "good enough" race with the entire rest of the world. You know that old saying, "there is always going to be someone out there better than you." (Try telling that to Jesus!) My point: we can't compare ourselves to others when it comes to getting into Heaven.
What about following the Ten Commandments? Those surely have to get you into Heaven if you follow them your whole life right?! No where in the bible does anyone ever say that following the commandments is the ticket to heaven. They describe them more has as guidelines that help us distinguish between right and wrong.
Romans 3:20
"Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
So it's not as simple as following a set of rules. And it surely isn't all about doing good deeds. So what gets you there? What gets you that golden ticket into eternity with God? The video below does a wonderful job of explaining just how simple the answer really is.
a>
This video was made by Justin Jackson, the creative director for Central Christian Church of Las Vegas, NV.
Another great resource on this subject is a small little book called "How Good is Good Enough" by Andy Stanley
There are lots of different theories floating around out there. Probably the most popular theory is the all good people go to Heaven theory. This one has plenty of holes in it.
First off, how good is good enough? We would never know until we die, which thus far no one has came back from death with a solid answer. (Understandable) So how do we measure our goodness? God gave each of us conscience so that we could decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. Because of this, everyone's moral compass is going to be a little off from the next person. The system of what is acceptable in today's society varies so much from culture to culture that we could never all be on the same page.
Or what if we are graded on a curve? If that is the case then Mother Teresa is a curve-wrecker. God can't seriously expect us to be in a "good enough" race with the entire rest of the world. You know that old saying, "there is always going to be someone out there better than you." (Try telling that to Jesus!) My point: we can't compare ourselves to others when it comes to getting into Heaven.
What about following the Ten Commandments? Those surely have to get you into Heaven if you follow them your whole life right?! No where in the bible does anyone ever say that following the commandments is the ticket to heaven. They describe them more has as guidelines that help us distinguish between right and wrong.
Romans 3:20
"Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
So it's not as simple as following a set of rules. And it surely isn't all about doing good deeds. So what gets you there? What gets you that golden ticket into eternity with God? The video below does a wonderful job of explaining just how simple the answer really is.
a>
This video was made by Justin Jackson, the creative director for Central Christian Church of Las Vegas, NV.
Another great resource on this subject is a small little book called "How Good is Good Enough" by Andy Stanley
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