HELD HOSTAGE AT CHRISTMAS!!!

You may think by the title that I am about to share some deep, theological premise on how we are held hostage to the commercialism of Christmas. Sorry to disappoint you. I came across this story and decided to share it. The objective is to bring a smile to your face.

It was coming up to Christmas and Sammy asked his mother if he could have a new bike. She told him that the best idea would be to write to Santa Claus. But Sam, having just played a vital role in the school nativity play, said he would prefer to write to the baby Jesus. So his mother told him that would be fine.

Sam went to his room and wrote, 'Dear Jesus, I have been a very good boy and would like to have a bike for Christmas.' But he wasn't very happy when he read it over. So he decided to try again and this time he wrote:'Dear Jesus, I'm a good boy most of the time and would like a bike for Christmas.'

He read it back and wasn't happy with that one either. He tried a third version: 'Dear Jesus, I could be a good boy if I tried hard and especially if I had a new bike.' He read that one too, but he still wasn't satisfied. So, he decided to go out for a walk while he thought about a better approach. After a short time he passed a house with a small statue of the Virgin Mary in the front garden. He crept in, stuffed the statue under his coat, hurried home and hid it under the bed. Then he wrote this letter.

'Dear Jesus, If you want to see your mother again, you'd better send me a new bike.'

Christmas should be a time of smiles, hope, joy, and the telling of stories. The coming of Jesus to us is the greatest story ever told. What we do with that becomes our story. And that, too, should be a story we pass on to others.

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas that finds Christ at the center.

Talking People Out of Becoming Christians

For many of us who profess a faith in Jesus Christ, there is nothing more satisfying than leading a person to Christ. After all, the more people we can win to Jesus, the better Christian we are, right? Some people even keep track of how many people they have prayed the sinner's prayer with.

But what might it be like if we tried to talk an inquirer out of becoming a Christian. Sounds strange doesn't it? But hold on. What makes more sense, that they pray a prayer and we hug and welcome them into the family, or that they grasp what it really means to be a Christ-follower? This thought recently came onto my radar screen as I read a little booklet called "The Radical Question" by David Platt. The booklet was a snapshot of his bigger book by the same title.

I do remember as a young pastor working on staff at a church camp. An invitation was given and young people stepped up to accept Jesus into their hearts. Some of what I saw troubled me. I sensed deeply that many of these young people were coming forward just because their friends were doing so and not out of a deep conviction to actually follow Christ. I found myself more than once telling them to go sit down and pray more about not only what they were about to receive (eternal life), but also what they were giving up (a worldly life).

Many years later now, as I read Platt's booklet, I am reminded that discipleship is costly. And maybe as Christians we do a disservice to people when we just try to win one for Christ and carve another notch into our belt. What might our churches, communities, and family life look like if we were willing to completely sell out to a life in Christ?

And as Platt points out, not only does discipleship come at a great cost, nondiscipleship has an even greater cost. The radical question Platt proposes is, "What is Jesus Worth to You?" Can you easily answer that? Yea, me either. But until we give it all to Him, we may be living the life, at best, of a lukewarm, comfortable, Christian.

Radical questions like this one beg for an answer in each of our lives. And instead of getting depressed at where we aren't in the answer, the question challenges me to work even harder at reflecting on my own life and work towards surrendering those things I am still holding onto. What a glorious Savior we serve!

Luke 14:33 - In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.