Where Was I?

"For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved." (an indicting paraphrase of Matthew 25:42-43 from "The Hole In Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns.)

The point is this: how many times have I been less than worried about the sinner? We've all heard people say, "Love the sinner, hate the sin," but how many people really live that out?

How many of us, how often do I throw the "sinner" under the bus as I decry their sin?

God forgive me.

More Than Words

Everywhere I turn I see posts from people ranting about how un-politically correct it has become to say "Merry Christmas" and how we have to say "Happy Holiday(s)". The other day a friend of mine replied to one about the origin of the word "hliday" and how it was originally "holy day" and how it might actually be even more of a turn on those who would stay away from the name of Jesus. Truly, it is impossible to ignore the way the world turns away from the Name of Jesus and His title, "Christ."

As an aside, today I heard "Mary, Did You Know?" performed by secular country artists on a local secular radio station that is playing all Christmas songs for the duration of the month of December. How awesome is that?!?

So as I was saying, I have found many people quibbling over using Christmas as opposed to Holiday, and vice versa. But I have to wonder, to coin a phrase, what would Jesus do? Would Jesus fight over the words? Did Jesus worry about semantics? In Matthew 15:8, Jesus quoted Isaiah when He said, "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."

See, I think Jesus was saying that it's not what we say that matters. If I walk into church drunk, pick up my guitar and say, "Merry Christmas" from the platform, and try to lead people to worship, what I SAY has just been negated by what I DID. If I pull out into traffic and get cut off and flip the idiot the bird and cuss in the presence of my family (or even if not in their presence) but make sure they don't say "Happy Holidays," my WORDS are drowned out by my ACTIONS.

My heart is what God is looking at. God is not as concerned with my words when my heart is not His. And if my words are mean, spiteful, or vengeful, isn't that an indication that there must be something between God and me?

This Christmas, let's look at the state of our hearts as we look toward the world and how we impact them. "Merry Christmas" from a cashier might be nice to hear, but a life that says "Jesus has changed me and I want to share it with you" goes far beyond what two little words could ever convey.

Have a wonderful Christmas Season

JW