Who are you and what are you doing? There are so many people, this season of the year, for whom Jesus is just an “elf on a shelf.” That is, for so many people, Christmas is about Jesus and Jesus is about Christmas and they don’t have much to do with Jesus the rest of the year, unless it’s around Easter. As we know, who understand what Jesus expects from a Christian lifestyle, Jesus demands a walk with us every day. Not just on Sundays or holidays.
If we are not careful, we can turn our Christian walk into a “mutual admiration” society and keep our faith to ourselves and not follow Jesus: Pure and Simple. Christians have their own music. Their own movies. Their own concerts. Their own clothes. We feel, sometimes, like we want our own Christian community where we don’t have to deal with the outside, non-Christian world but when we do that, our Christianity has made Jesus into an “elf on a shelf,” which is as useful as a nativity scene on the mantle. Nice to look at once a year but it does not serve much of a purpose.
THE FATHER’S BUSINESS – Luke 2:42-49:
When we live our lives “between Christmases,” do people see us about our Father’s business? When we are at work, do people see Jesus or me? When we are at school, do our friends see Jesus or me? At family gatherings, who do people see – Jesus or me?
HAVING BEEN WITH JESUS – Acts 4:13:
Jesus was not a “nativity scene” for these two men. Peter and John rejoiced at what God was doing through them. Following Jesus means taking Him, pure and simple, and letting Him be the foundation, the focus, and the fire in your life, every single day.
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE – Matthew 5:15-16:
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Who are you and what are you doing here? It is December 26th, the day after Christmas. But on August 26th, where are you going to be? Jesus did not ask us to create a “Christian sub-culture” in our society; He did call us to live counter-culturally, living like Jesus and calling our friends and family to live like Jesus.
MAKE DISCIPLES – MATTHEW 28:18-20:
Both our cars have the tire pressure monitoring system and it lets us know when the tire pressure on our cars is too low. It happens every winter and we have to adjust the pressure in our tires. We have our Christmas lights on timers that are plugged in and these timers are not very precise and every two weeks or so, I have to reset the time so that the timer itself will turn on when we want the lights to turn on. Recalibration.
The great commission should recalibrate us. It should reset our lives to the focus that our lives ought to have. Satan is doing everything he can to get us distracted from that mission. Even as a preacher, if I am busy writing sermons (two a week most of the time) and preparing a Bible class lesson for Wed night and another one for Sunday morning, and trying to visit people in the hospital and being at church activities and visiting members so we can develop our relationships… I can forget that a big part of my job as a preacher is to visit with non-Christians, to try to teach the Gospel to non-Christians. If the devil can get me to just focus on keeping Christians saved (which is an important responsibility to be sure!) but I don’t share the gospel with non-Christians, then he is happy. Because I’m not fulfilling the great commission!
Let Jesus remove superficialities from your life. Otherwise, you will become what you did not intend. Follow Jesus and His Gospel, pure and simple.
Paul Holland
