The Speck and Plank at Christmas

Religion, as a system, an institution, separated from the better impulses which emanate from our souls, our spirits, will always be lacking. Without compassion applied to the message of Jesus, scripture appears to many to be merely about rules, judgment and justice. Jesus warned often this is not the Way he proclaimed. Feeling the need to constantly point out the faults of others without working on our own shortcomings is a sign of religiosity, not an understanding of Christ's love. Perhaps you've heard the scripture that asks, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" 

Blinded by a plank, especially on many issues of my attitude and interaction with others, that certainly describes me, I readily admit. Specks and planks abound throughout the year in many areas, but a forest seems to have fallen into the eyes of many Christians during the Christmas season in recent years. I posted a link on Dec. 14 on my Facebook page which discusses the invented war on Christmas. It is by Evan Dolive and appeared on sojo.net. Some brief highlights from the article include:

"The real 'war on Christmas' is not when a cashier says 'Happy Holidays'...It is not the cashier’s job to share the church’s story of God coming to the world....The real 'war on Christmas' is when Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas; however, it would take only $20 billion to ensure that all people in the world could have access to clean water for a year..." 

I suggest reading the entire piece. Taken to heart, it would lead many of us to remove several planks from our eyes. Here's the link. http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/12/10/theres-war-christmas-just-not-one-you-think/

A comment my friend Ken Brown made on my Facebook post mentioned above really struck a chord with me. He said, "In my neighborhood, a few signs are up with 'Jesus IS the reason.' I've been trying to think if there ever was a time when 'Jesus WAS the reason.' I've been thinking about my early Christmases -- e.g., 1950s. Sure, there were some nativity scenes, but it was a holiday that did nothing for my spiritual well-being. The first school day after Christmas, it was the same old story -- the more affluent kids seemed to have 'most favored kid' status with Santa. Really, Easter was the religious holiday that resonated with me, and the Christians have let that one be corrupted too."

Honestly, it's only in recent times, as we've been told that there's a war on a holiday which somehow now manages to take up more two months out of the year, that we've been worried about the extent that Christ is in Christmas. 'Happy Holidays' was a perfectly fine greeting when I was a kid. Santa Claus was readily accepted as the driving force of the season, just as he is now, but no one complained. Our church Christmas programs had the obligatory (and always touching, I'll add, I'm not trying to be impudent) reading of the nativity story and everyone went home with a warm and joyful attitude. No one felt compelled to look for the devil in every corner of the tinsel-draped stores or start a ruckus about 'holiday trees,' which is a stupid idea, but harmless in the grand scheme of things. (No one shopped on Thanksgiving, either, but that's another story.)

A huge part of the 'speck and plank problem' is that many people are getting their religious guidance from 'news outlets' rather than straight from the source. If you want to believe what any talking head on television -- on almost ANY televised media outlet -- says is true about what's happening in the world, that's your business. But stop taking the information as the Gospel. It's not. Try Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They'll give you the real scoop on the message of Jesus.