{"id":853,"date":"2014-12-17T13:02:08","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T19:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/focuspressblog.com\/?p=853"},"modified":"2014-12-17T13:02:08","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T19:02:08","slug":"keeping-christ-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2014\/12\/17\/keeping-christ-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Christ in Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s kind of weird, in an entertaining way, to watch the religious world battle over Christmas. There is the \u201cJesus is the reason for the season\u201d crowd, who make sure that Christ is at the center of every mention of Christmas. There is the \u201chistorical\u201d crowd, who are quick to point out that Jesus was not, in fact, born on December 25th and so the day has nothing to do with Him. And, there is the \u201cpeace keeping\u201d crowd who remind everyone that it doesn\u2019t matter what you celebrate it as. <\/span><\/p>\n

All three groups have good intentions, and all three are right in their own way. I appreciate the zeal for Christ shown by the first group, the historical accuracy of the second group, and the hearts of the third group to appeal to Romans 14 and maintain unity.<\/span><\/p>\n

But should we really care\u00a0whether December 25th holds importance to Christians today or if people are wrong to say that it does? Or should we see it\u00a0as one, big opportunity?<\/span><\/p>\n

The world doesn\u2019t have five minutes for Jesus all year long and yet in December, it\u2019s okay to mention His name and talk about His time on earth. It doesn\u2019t matter how accurate or inaccurate someone\u2019s beliefs about Bethlehem and the manger might be according to me, what matters is that the door is opened to discuss Him in a way that I might not get to the other 11 months of the year. While December is often about gifts and time with family, Christians need to start to view it in another light, and that\u2019s as the time of the greatest opportunities for evangelism that we\u2019re going to get all year. <\/span><\/p>\n

I know as well as any that it\u2019s very difficult to turn a conversation to Jesus, but it\u2019s a lot easier this time of year. Ask people what Jesus\u2019 birth means to them, ask them if they observe it with a church, ask them their favorite account of Jesus\u2019 life\u2026 come up with something to open a door that\u2019s far more cracked than it\u2019s going to be the rest of the year. Even with New Year\u2019s resolutions people will often aim to be more spiritual, read their Bible more, attend worship more often. One survey<\/a> even found that 57% of people who don’t regularly go to church are either “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to attend if invited around Christmas. FIFTY. SEVEN. PERCENT! Opportunities abound. Again, the point remains – do something<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to support Christmas as CHRISTmas to see that the fields are particularly white unto harvest this time of year. We live in a world where Jesus\u2019 name is everywhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and by New Year\u2019s Eve, he\u2019s completely forgotten again. Everyone wants to talk about the manger, few want to talk about the cross. I understand that, and I see the challenge that presents\u2026 but at least they\u2019re thinking about Him. It\u2019s our job to take that and use what they do know about Him to make them into disciples who see Him as He truly is. I’ve talked to Christians who are more concerned that the world has misunderstood December 25th than they are that those souls are lost. Our focus has to change.<\/span><\/p>\n

The whole point of Jesus coming to earth, whether that occurred in December or not, was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) and to take our sins to the cross with Him (1 Peter 2:24). If people see that we’ll go to great lengths to make sure “Merry Christmas” is used instead of “Happy Holidays” but don’t see us caring about those around us, shame on us. If people learn from us that there weren\u2019t actually three wise men but don\u2019t come away understanding what Jesus\u2019 life means to them eternally, shame on us. Instead of worrying about the specific date or the details that have been misunderstood over time, let\u2019s use the chance given us to show people the entirety of who Jesus is and to follow His mission to reach them with His love. <\/span><\/p>\n

By Jack Wilkie<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s kind of weird, in an entertaining way, to watch the religious world battle over Christmas. There is the \u201cJesus is the reason for the season\u201d crowd, who make sure that Christ is at the center of every mention of Christmas. There is the \u201chistorical\u201d crowd, who are quick to point out that Jesus was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,35],"tags":[452,453,446,454,455,456,457,458,459,460],"class_list":["post-853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all","category-culture","tag-3-wise-men","tag-bethlehem","tag-christ","tag-christmas","tag-happy-holidays","tag-jesus-is-the-reason-for-the-season","tag-joseph","tag-manger","tag-mary","tag-xmas","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nKeeping Christ in Christmas - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Was Jesus born on December 25th? Were there actually 3 wise men? 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