#3236 (12/24) "It’s Christmas Eve Again - What We Christians Have to Offer"

"IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE AGAIN - WHAT WE CHRISTIANS HAVE TO OFFER" - John Stonestreet and Roberto Rivera, Breakpoint.org, 12/24/20; https://www.breakpoint.org/its-christmas-eve-again/

      In his book, “The Triumph of Christianity,” (which, by the way, was one of Chuck Colson’s favorite books) historian Rodney Stark describes the Roman world of that first Christmas Eve.The gods, Stark writes, “were everywhere and thought to be undependable.” Apart from “some magical powers” and “perhaps the gift of immortality,” there was little to distinguish them from their human worshipers: “they ate, drank, loved, envied, fornicated, cheated, lied and otherwise set morally ‘unedifying examples.’” And, not surprisingly, they didn’t care one bit about those who worshiped them. All they wanted was to be propitiated.

   In other words, Christ entered into a culture in which the gods of the age were not worthy of worship. And Roman society was just as oppressive and undependable as its gods. For most people, life in the empire’s cities could be fairly described, to borrow a phrase from philosopher Thomas Hobbes, as “nasty, poor, solitary, brutish, and short.” This was world into which Christianity was born. And still Christianity triumphed, not least of which because it offered an alternative to the oppression of Roman society.  It offered another way than the dead-end of paganism, a way so compelling that it outweighed the obvious social disadvantages of being identified as a Christian.  As Stark writes, “in the midst of the squalor, misery, illness, and anonymity of ancient cities, Christianity offered an island of mercy and security.”

   I hope that when you hear Stark’s words, you realize that we also have something far more compelling to offer our contemporaries as well. Many of our contemporaries also worship deities that are undependable and scarcely distinguishable from their worshipers. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “worship” as “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.” Worship transforms the worshiper. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “the Gods we worship write their names on our faces; be sure of that . . . thus, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.”

   Emerson wrote that without even foreseeing the age of “social media,” in which we increasingly worship what we’ve become or at least what we imagine ourselves to be. Many pages on Facebook and Instagram can, with almost no exaggeration, be called “shrines.” Our deities are as much of a dead end as the pagan gods of Rome. And like all idol worship, self-worship can be a lonely activity. Just like the Greek gods, who didn’t play well together, today’s pagans are far from anonymous, but just as isolated as their ancient predecessors. A 2011 Cornell study found that the average American has only two “good friends.”

   What Christians today have to offer is remarkably similar to what the early Christians had to offer: what Stark called an “intense community,” a place where, instead of being surrounded by strangers, they are surrounded by “brothers and sisters in Christ.” A place that when the hard times come, as inevitably they will, “there [are] people who care — there are people who have the distinct responsibility to care.” Stated succinctly, what Christians have to offer is a better way of being human than anything currently offered in contemporary society.

   That’s why, despite the often-distressing state of our culture, I remain hopeful. The Christian alternative is just as desperately needed today as when the early Church offered it to the Romans. Like them, we must proclaim and embody that alternative. And if we do, it could be another Christmas Eve all over again. ...

[A version of this commentary first aired on Christmas Eve, 2014.]

[italics and colored emphasis mine]

Resources:The Triumph of Christianity, Rodney Stark | Harperone | 2012 - https://colsoncenter.christianbook.com/the-triumph-of-christianity/rodney-stark/9780062007698/pd/007698?event=ESRCG

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PRAYER MATTERS:

"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against 
the disorder of the world. -  Karl Barth

"Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting/resting in His love and grace to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect time and for His greatest glory. Intercession is  one of the great privileges AND responsibilities for EVERY believer."- Stan

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World-Wide Prayer Requests:

 PRAISE GOD for the continuing recent successes against ISIS!

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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/

In Central Asia, the Christian deaf community is doubly ostracized—because of their physical disability, as well as their choice to leave Islam and follow Jesus. They suffer isolation and lack support. Five years ago, Open Doors had the honor of meeting these beautiful brothers and sisters. They shared they had prayed and asked God for the seemingly impossible: an opportunity to be trained and learn—things they are denied in society. Today, we support them with literacy projects, outreach activities for pastors and leaders, and income-generating projects.

December 24 - Pray the future hardships these believers face will bring them closer to Christ.

*Representative name or photo used to protect identity.