WCW- Christmas in May
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Lately, I have been flooded with conversations about Christmas. Today I heard a wonderful speaker, Cathy Wilson, at Scottsdale Bible Church. One of the big questions she asked was, "Of all the things we know about Christmas, How do we know them? Is it by tradition or by the Bible?" It really got me thinking. Are my Christmas rituals, simply that, or are they celebrations of the living God who sent His one and only son to die for me?"
Is the life I lead a series of rituals or a celebration of the most holy God?
Then there was the recent article Chuck Colson wrote (HERE) on Dallas Jenkin’s DVD Midnight Clear. Dallas Jenkins is the son of Jerry B. Jenkins, of the famous Left Behind series. The movie is about several characters that experience hard times at Christmas. The authenticity and application to real life are two of the best things about the movie based on Jerry B.Jenkins book. I was blessed to attend a screening in January. The lead character is played by Stephen Baldwin and he does a fantastic job. I highly recommend Midnight Clear and agree with Colson that the movie doesn’t preach, as so many Christian films do.
So today I ask you, how do you know what you know? Is it from tradition, preaching or the Bible?
Audra Krell 
This is a tough one. I think that when you start to unwrap every belief that you’ve basically built your life upon, you enter this intense time of dissection, disillusionment, and finally freedom, faith, and confidence in who God really is, who you really are in Christ, and a different lens through which you see life. I’m in the middle of this time right now. Growing up in church, I’ve taken everything at face value as being the absolute truth when preached from the pulpit. Add family traditions, cultural traditions, religious traditions into the mix and all of a sudden you’ve almost created a brand new religion of your own. Throw the Bible into all of that and you realize that the Bible is so simple, so perfectly designed to be our guidebook through life, why would you even need church or traditions…trying to reconcile all three things in a balanced, God-honoring, Christ-focused way is hopefully the end result.
Here’s one of my thoughts on belief (that’s hardly original): a belief has not really been made your own until you’ve questioned it. For instance, how can we say that we believe there is a God until we’ve questioned that thought? Of course, there are some things that we know so completely and fully based on our experiences that perhaps we’d never think to question them. However, at a crossroads of questioning, a belief will either be discarded or become stronger.
I think *relationship* is a great source of knowledge! If I tell other people about my relationship with God, they don’t get nearly as much out of what I’m saying unless they have a relationship of their own with Him. In that case, they have a context for what I’m saying, but otherwise, it can seem like it’s coming from another planet. I believe God still talks to us today, and that He uses many channels of communication. We just need to be looking and listening for His voice! Ask, seek, knock.
I think tradition and ritual are things that we should not blindly follow nor throw away, as they can help one’s spiritual walk. I think one thing that keeps me looking at them is answering the question “does doing this somehow bring me closer to Christ?” And if not, why not? Many of our traditions and rituals don’t make sense until you understand the reason why the people started them. And if they still don’t make sense, as my friend Dixon says, start some of your own. Check out his post over here
http://dixonkinser.blogspot.com/2008/05/making-stuff-up.html
love that Genius Loves Company album by the way.
Bryan- I am pretty sure Genius Loves Company is my favorite album of all time. Thank you everyone for your comments, I appreciate your time and especially your thoughts! I think tradition is so important, but it’s good to ask why you believe what you believe.
Experience.
I think knowledge is invalidated without experience, and sometimes people have a hard time believing things because they haven’t experienced it.
Of course, I cannot experience everything, which lends everything an element of faith -I experience enough to give me faith in what I have not experienced yet. Or I have faith in what others tell me because I have experienced something that makes them believable.
How did Saul become Paul? An experience.
How did Moses become a leader? An experience.
Faith propels us beyond our current experience, but we need some kind of experience to ground our faith.