Jesus is Not A Holiday December 27, 2007
(For Better or Worse: I died at church!)
1 Cor. 11:17 (NLT) But now when I mention this next issue, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.
Do you think it is possible that church can do more harm than good? Can we be worse off than before we came? You might think your church has problems. At this particular church, people were dying after communion. That would be a huge lawsuit today!
Can church make you sick? Could you die from going to church? Can you imagine standing in heaven (or hell) and someone asks, “How did you get here?” and your answer was “I died at church.” Imagine a church ad that said, “Come die at our church.”
This is not a laughing matter in the days we live in. People have been killed at church. People have died at church, some for their faith in Christ. But in the Corinthian church, people were dying for other reasons. There were no guns, there were no terrorist attacks, and there was not a civil war. People were dying for the wrong motives in worship.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary says, ”In fact an experience meant to build up the church was actually having the opposite effect: your meetings do more harm than good.”
The holidays are amazing. People get nice (except at the mall). People remember Jesus. They even ”remember” to go to church. When a family goes to church at Christmas but not the rest of the year, what message have they just taught their children? Jesus is like a holiday. On certain occasions, we use Him to make us feel good all over – just like a warm fire and a cup of coffee.
Matthew Henry wrote, “The ordinances of Christ, if they do not make us better, will be very apt to make us worse; if they do not do our souls good, they do us harm; if they do not melt and mend, they will harden. Corruptions will be confirmed in us, if the proper means do not work a cure of them.”
1 Cor. 11:27 (NLT) So if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord.
EXAMINE OURSELVES: HOW DOES THE CHURCH RESPOND?
1 Cor. 11:28 (NLT) That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup.
The uproar about taking Jesus out of Christmas has an interesting tilt. Some people really get mad that a store calls a tree a holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree. Truthfully, it is a pine tree all year long. Calling a pine tree a Christmas tree probably will not save anyone. But perhaps we think if we can keep Jesus in our holiday, everything will be okay.
But, the opposite may be true: the more we emphasize that Jesus is about a holiday, a tradition, a ceremony, the more some people will accept that as the full extent of their relationship with God. Keeping the tradition of the Christmas story of the birth of Christ is important, but Jesus is more than a store policy. The sin of the Corinthians was treating the Lord’s Supper as a common meal. We do the same thing when we equate Jesus as no more than a Christmas advertisement.
For the church, we attempt to show people the love of Jesus, at least once or twice a year at Christmas or Easter. We go out of our way to bring someone to Christ. Frankly, the frustrating thing is that it rarely happens (at least in my own experience). I have spent hours crafting a message that seems powerful – that would make the hardest sinner repent in sackcloth and ashes. But year after year, no one responds.
Just like the “CE Christians” (“Christmas Easter Christians”) there are those who are part of the church and come to church when they have time and it is convenient and does not interrupt their schedule. Some are on the three week plan (church every three weeks) or three month plan. Again, the question is what message does this send? Jesus is a “holiday” that we celebrate, but you can’t have holidays all of the time. After all, we all have to get back to “reality” (like those “reality” shows do!).
Of course someone says, “Church attendance is not a reflection of my relationship with Jesus.” Take that statement to a judge and jury and see what they say. It is more than circumstantial evidence. It is easy to tell who does the Jesus holiday thing. People can tell who has a deep, abiding relationship with God.
Prove Himself: Don’t Fake It!
The issue with church meetings is not that some of us got it all right and others don’t, but that all of us have sin in our lives that needs to be confessed (thus a great reason for coming together). The test is not that we are pure and sinless, but that we are genuine and real about our sin and relationships towards others, not hiding anything and pretending everything is okay.
Warren Wiersbe wrote “Paul did not say that we had to be worthy to partake of the Supper, but only that we should partake in a worthy manner. At a Communion service in Scotland, the pastor noted that a woman in the congregation did not accept the bread and cup from the elder, but instead sat weeping. The pastor left the table and went to her side and said, “Take it, my dear, it’s for sinners!” And, indeed, it is; but sinners saved by God’s grace must not treat the Supper in a sinful manner.”
The Church sometimes is the target of much criticism and we are offended at the charges. But if we judge ourselves, we will not have to be judged by others.
This Is Not A Private Party: If you want a private party, go home. We Do Not Come To Church for Selfish Purposes
Could it be that Christians treat Jesus like a holiday? We do great programs that require much more effort than we normally give, all in the name of “Christmas” or “Easter.” Maybe we send a message to the spiritually lost that it is all a holiday feeling – “lets all feel good together that we did a really nice program for you and you all showed up and filled up our church, so we all feel better. Let’s open presents!”
What is the Point? Remember…
Two young men walked out of a service during communion. Maybe they felt out of place. Communion is important, but more important than the ceremony or tradition of communion, is the witness of communion to the lost.
Communion was like a “love feast” – loving ourselves, disregarding the poor, the needy, and the lost. We get all we want and more, while others walk away hungry for Jesus.
Is it possible that the very things that are meant to portray the love of Christ and His salvation, become stumbling blocks in the church when we use them only as traditions and ceremonies that are self-serving rather than a witness for Christ? Is part of the problem of church events and meetings, especially special events like Christmas, Easter, and communion, have become a “Jesus holiday” were we get excited about Jesus for selfish motives?
The Lord’s Supper was meant to be an opportunity for those who have no food at home to eat before those who did have food. Instead it became a moment of selfish gluttony. In the same way, the church today can be self centered in our traditions and ceremonies, preventing those who need the Bread of Life the most.
Jesus threw out the money changers not only because they corrupted the House of God with their cheating, but they took advantage of poor, helpless people who had a sincere desire for God, but were kept from worship because the price for entry was too high. These verses from Paul were not written to those outside of the church, but to those in the church. Before we tell sinners to get themselves right, let’s get ourselves right. Let judgment begin in the house of God.
It’s all about attitude: the primary issue was not the food, but the divisions
Can you imagine showing up at church and people fighting and pushing to get to the communion table first? Since we don’t do communion like the New Testament church did, we can compare to church dinners, where some people rush to get the front of the line instead of letting those who need food the most go to the front (homeless, unemployed, etc.) In truth, people go to church all the time with selfish motives and divisions and strife in their lives.
Paul goes on to address spiritual gifts in Chapter 12. Once again the Corinthians had the same problem. They were divisive and selfish. Their goal in spiritual gifts was to get attention, to look important.
Maybe Paul is saying something like this: Communion (The Lord’s Supper) is a farce without true communion (love, fellowship, and selflessness) in the body of Christ. If you have church services full of prophecy, miracles, tongues, and it is all about you, your needs, drawing attention to you, and does not show love for others, it is doing more harm than good. It is a “Jesus holiday.”
Here is a News Flash: We will not get along with everyone! Christians are notorious for bailing out as soon as there is a problem instead of facing the problem. There will be times of disagreement, selfishness, and misunderstandings among believers and in the church. That does not mean we are bound for hell, but it does mean we need to seek forgiveness and reconciliation before we show up at church, singing songs, and praising God like everything is okay.
Why are we going to church? I am sure some children ask their parents this, especially at Christmas. Paul talks about taking communion with the wrong attitude – “everyone for themselves first.” He tells Christians, believers, to examine themselves to make sure their motives are right.
Even in important ordinances (sounds like a city law) of the Church, like communion and baptism, we need to make sure we are not treating Jesus like an occasion, an event, instead of the living Person He really is that wants to live with people and in people, Christians and sinners, all the time, all year long, everyday, every moment.
HOW DOES THIS LOOK TO THE WORLD?
WHAT IS THE POINT? Why are we coming together for Christmas, Easter, or Communion?
To remind everyone we have been forgiven by the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of us were sinners. The point of these special times is not to mark a holiday or ceremony.
When we meet at church, there should not be an attitude of superiority that some of us are better than others, or that one moment or event is more significant to God than another.
The issue primarily here about communion and coming together was that the Corinthians were more concerned about their own needs than the needs of others. For a Christians to focus more on their need to feel better than the need of a sinner to find Christ is reprehensible. Paul was addressing the issue of wrongs and sins between people as much as any private or personal sin.
What would happen in today’s church if people starting dropping dead for the wrong motives? What would happen if people died when they came to church and worshipped while being angry toward someone? Perhaps our services would change. Perhaps church would be more about others than me. Perhaps we could stop worrying about whether we sing hymns or choruses, or if we use a piano or guitar, or if the sound is too loud or too soft. Perhaps it wouldn’t matter if we drank grape juice or Martinelli’s.
The point Paul is making is that if we want to gain from our Church meetings, services, and occasions, we must come for more than a ceremony or purely selfish reasons. We cannot treat Jesus like a holiday that we get excited about once in a while. We cannot be selfish in our motives to feel better while others, especially sinners, are still lost. We cannot come and get what we need while others are still hungry.
Church, and the Lord of the Church, is not about the special services or events we have. He is about forgiveness, life and food for all who are hurting and hungry, all the time, all year long, everyday, every moment.
