24And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,25in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,26and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
Jesus came to earth as a baby, born in a manger, in humble circumstances. And, that can be a reminder to us about the humility that we are called to display. Our relationship with Christ is not anything we deserved our earned - it's not because of who we are, but because of who He is. I really think that the picture of Christ's birth is wrapped in gentleness, and we should be careful to be civil and gentle toward those who do not know Him, firm in our convictions, grounded in our knowledge of God's Word, but patient and prayerful, so that we act in speak with His compassion.
In Colossians chapter 4, the apostle Paul lays out for us a great way to celebrate Christmas - by calling attention to the Christ of Christmas within us:
5Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.6Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
If you're a Seinfeld afficienado, then you probably know that in one episode one of the characters, Frank Costanza invented a holiday - called Festivus. I was reading a New York Times story about how people are actually celebrating this non-holiday with actual parties. On the episode, first aired in 1997, Frank tells Kramer that he invented the holiday when his children were young and he found himself in a department store tug of war with another Christmas shopper over a doll. "I realized there had to be a better way," Frank says.
So he coined the slogan "A Festivus for the rest of us" and formulated some rules: it features a bare aluminum pole instead of a tree, occurs on Dec. 23, and has airing of grievances and feats of strength as components. The commemoration does not end until the head of the family is wrestled to the floor and pinned.
After hearing about the nativity in the Capitol, an array of groups sent requests to the Florida Department of Management Services to display their holiday messages, like the Tallahassee Atheists and the Satanic Temple of Tallahassee. There has also reportedly been a menorah on display, that was removed at the conclusion of Hanukkah.
Pam Olsen with the Florida Prayer Network said she’s praying for Stevens as well as the group that posted a banner celebrating freedom from religion.
The TV station quotes Olsen as saying, “It’s Christ in Christmas, and that’s why we put the nativity scene up...I’m not sure what [the Festivus pole] has to do with Christmas or celebrating the season, but you know what? It’s the freedom of speech to put it up here.”
The competing displays led to a brief spat, with Stevens telling Olsen to remove the nativity.
"Well, it won't be removed, because we have freedom in America. Remember that, sir,” Olsen said.
“We also have the separation of church and state government," Stevens replied.
So, I'm confused - Stevens apparently feels he has a right to erect a 6-foot pole mocking religion, but somehow the practice of public faith is somehow not acceptable. And, that's the false dichotomy we see in America today - those that hold a viewpoint contrary to Scripture want to express their opinion (and they have a right to) but they want to keep people with an opposing viewpoint silent.
So what can we take away from this odd expression at the Capitol? First of all, you have to go back to the fact that Festivus was a device used in the sitcom as a protest of sorts to the commercialization of Christmas. I get that - there are many Christians that decry how the central message of Christmas has been diluted and in many cases eliminated from the culture. We have to keep our eyes on bringing glory to God. When you have people going to stores on Thanksgiving and fighting - literally - with one another just to get a bargain, there are some misplaced priorities. And, while so many participate in the shopping experience and while we enjoy buying gifts for one another, some fine tuning of our motives and mindset can be helpful - if we shop, we do it for the glory of God. When we take part in holiday parties, we make sure that we are celebrating for the glory of God. Festivus people use the pole as their symbol, and as Christians, we can continually be mindful of the cross as a vivid picture of the meaning of this season.
I do think the way that Pam Olsen responded to Chaz Stevens is a good example for us, too - there are going to be people with whom we disagree. And, in our current cultural climate, there will be those who do not share our beliefs about Christmas - if they're not turned off by the religious nature of the celebration, they may just rail against the commercialization. But, at Christmas and throughout the year, we can make efforts to engage those with whom we disagree, and pray for those who do not share our beliefs. And, maybe one surefire way to diffuse a disagreement is to let someone know you are praying for them.
Finally, our radiating the light of Jesus is the best way to honor the Christ of Christmas. We can put up the decorations, attend the services, and even take part in acts of service, but, we have to make sure that our lives are decorated with the love of Christ, and that what people see is a visible representation of His nature, so that they might be drawn by His Holy Spirit into a relationship with Himself. Festivus was for "the rest of us", presumably, but Christmas is really "for all of us" - Christ died for all, so that the world may know Him.
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