Alan's 'other' blog: So, this is Christmas ...

It's the morning of Christmas Eve. I just had my coffee, and now, as I write this, I'm wrestling on whether to go on a run in the chilly air, or sit by the space heater keeping my feet warm. So far, the feet are winning.

The last couple of months have been pretty interesting, in a fun sort of way. I mean, I really haven't felt this "Christmas-y" in a long time, and I didn't even have to step in a mall to get that way as I have in years past (gosh, that's a sad thought). As I shared with people at church, the Christmas season the past few years or so for me often started out in a semi-Scrooge state, bordering on Grinch-like. And for an associate pastor who leads the worship music on Sundays, that's not a very good place to be. Eventually, I got to where I needed to be with a lot of prayer and just spending time with God and His Word.

I guess I was struggling a lot with what the culture was saying Christmas is, and seeing devoted followers of Christ fall right into that to the point of forgetting the real reason why we have Christmas at all. And despite my encouragements, sharing of Scripture, sharing of songs that point to the Gospel message, it seemed to fall on deaf ears as I saw them stressing out over stuff along with the culture.

This year, I came across the Advent Conspiracy, a movement started by a group of churches a few years ago that sought to take back Christmas from what the culture - our culture - had turned it into. It's more than "Putting Christ back into Christmas" by shopping at stores whose workers say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays." I mean, I appreciate that, but why should I expect the checkout clerk at Target or Macy's or Barnes and Nobles (or extend it out further, corporate America) to remind me of the Christmas story? As a Christ-follower, isn't that my responsibility?

Anyway, the idea of the movement revolves around four points:

Worship Fully: It starts and ends with Jesus, His story, why He came to earth at all. If He's not in it, then Christmas is just a time of giving gifts and being nice for a few weeks out of the year. That's OK, but it's not lasting. Don't believe me? Watch what happens with people in general a month from now.

Spend Less: Gift giving is NOT discouraged by any means, despite what some media coverage of Advent Conspiracy may have hinted at. Instead, it encourages WISE spending, wise gift shopping, and really takes aim at discouraging people from going into debt - which, let's face it, a lot of do during this time of year, and spend a good chunk of the next year trying to pay it off.

Give More: As we spend less, we have more to give toward causes that help the least of these, those who are worse off than we are. Did you know that the vast majority of the world lives off $2 a day? A DAY. That's not even a grande cup of coffee at Starbucks that most of us spend without a second thought. Anyway, with the money that some of the people didn't spend on extravagant gifts, they donated it to dig drinking water wells in impoverished countries . Sounds kind of elementary for us - and I bet many take that for granted with our bottled water in our backpacks and tote bags - but it's huge for people in Africa, Asia, South America. At my church, we directed donations to three ministries we support in the Philippines and a reserve for any local causes for the needy. The point is, find a way to give more to the least of these.

And "give more" translates also into giving more time to family and friends … reconnecting with them in meaningful ways - maybe even getting together to actually MAKE Christmas presents for others. The idea is that when God came to earth, He didn't give us stuff … He gave us Himself. And we should follow the example. Stuff is nice, but isn't spending time with family and friends more lasting?

Love All: Simple to say, but hard to do. Yet, if Jesus is in it (love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your might, all your strength, all your mind - to worship fully), as difficult as it may be to love all (especially that person who just cut in front of you at the supermarket as you were shopping for your family Christmas dinner), if Jesus is in it, it's a whole lot easier.

And, Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All becomes something we do all year, not just at Christmas time. (And I am praying that really becomes the case.)

Anyway, the idea of Advent Conspiracy just lit up in my brain, and the church leadership allowed us to pursue it this year. While it wasn't a huge thing - it was, after all, new and introduced the Sunday after Thanksgiving - it did, I think, get people moving back toward what Christmas is.

It's not about us, necessarily, but about the eternal One, the perfect One, the Holy One, the Creator of creation, who stepped into time, who "put on skin," grew with us, ate with us, worked with us, smiled with us, wept with us, hurt with us ... and ultimately died for us - all to redeem us from the darkness we put ourselves in, the darkness we would never have escaped if the reason for Christmas had never happened.

If you're so inclined, visit the news page at my church's Web site, where we have an entry called "Christmas Is …"
Or, just take a few moments to check out the video links below.

Here's to praying that the true meaning of Christmas becomes something you re-discover this year.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in a Nutshell
Link for the Facebook note: http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/mini-movies/16143/Christmas-In-A-Nutshell

That's Christmas
Link for the Facebook note: http://vimeo.com/2549637

Christmas is: "God became one of us. ... That means that someone as supremely as powerful as God has taken the initiative to come and get to know us. That's Christmas. Without that, really, there's not a lot left." Hmmm. Ponder that one as you watch the video from St. Helen's Bishopgate in London.