Dec 4, 2005
which is more stupid (Part 2)?
And how about this?
The mega-church in Lexington (Southland Christian) consulted with other mega-churches like Willow Creek and decided that they would close on Dec. 25th, even though its a Sunday and even though its Christmas Day! The rationale given in our local newspaper The Lexington-Herald Leader was— people are so busy and Christmas is supposed to be a family day, so this decision was made as a family friendly gesture.
Filed by edmund at 10.22 pm under Faith |
4 Comments
Anson Ann
Hmm, just trying to think from their (Southland) perspective….
It’s not that they don’t celebrate the Lord’s birthday, they even offered four Christmas services on the 23rd and 24th.
Now my questions are:
Does it have to be Dec 25th? (Isn’t it used to be a pagan holiday?)
Does it have to be a sunday? (Christmas doesn’t always land on sundays)
And this is a theological question, which I don’t have much training in.
Which one does Jesus favor:
a) His followers coming together and solely dedicate their hearts and minds to praise him and remember his birthday, or
b) His followers retreating to their own friends and families, celebrating the Lord’s birthday and sharing the gospel in close-proximity.
(I know that it doesn’t have to be either-or, but does our Lord have a preference? Which is more important in our Lord’s eyes? Worship or Evangelism?)
Lastly about culture signals, do non-believers even care whether Christians attend Christmas services on Dec 25th or not? I don’t think they’d care at all….they’d just be busy shopping and hosting their own parties.
These are my questions, just trying to think from their perspective…..not that I think what they did is good or bad.
Dec 5th, 2005
edmund
I think your question is valid. But I guess we can ask the same question the other way around too — Why NOT celebrate Christmas on Dec 25th, which ALSO happens to be a Sunday this year?
To me, to worship IS to evangelize, or should I use a boarder term, to witness. The fact that a group of people refuse to do anything else on a particular day and reserve it and gather together at a place and declare that Jesus is their Lord, should mean something to the community they are situated in. What they are doing is in fact telling the world that their faith still matters (no matter what other people thinks) and that for 2000 years it still makes sense and they (with their faith) are not going away any time soon. The fact that they are doing that in the same place at the same time week after week is something that we should not ignored.
As to your question about why worshipping on a Sunday and celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25, I think the simpliest answer is that it remains as the widely-attested Christian practice in the world we live in and that’s why we will continue to do that. Theologically it also makes sense (Jesus, resurrected on Sunday morning and each Sunday is regarded as a little Easter). Moreoever, for this particular congregation (Southland), unlike some denominations (e.g Seventh-day Adventists) or other mega-churches (e.g. Xenos), they have been worshipping on Sundays, so we have to ask — why do they change it all of a sudden? You assume that they want to retreat to their friends and families and evangelize, but I don’t see that imply anywhere. And even so, I will still question why they can’t do this any other time (e.g. why not Christmas Eve when they are having their dinner?) but have to do that on a Sunday and Christmas Day which both are commonly regarded in the Christian circle as a day to worship.
Or, are they worry that people might drink too much in their Christmas parties, and can’t get up and go to church the next day?
Dec 5th, 2005
Jim
That simply shows that the mega church is not about worship- it is a social club pure and simple.
Dec 5th, 2005
edmund
CT has a follow-up story in here.
Dec 7th, 2005
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