Today’s mystery post will continue along the lines of this week’s blog postings. On Tuesday of this past week, I appeared as a guest blogger on another blog. I was asked to share the reasons why I left the institution. In that guest blog, I shared how my exodus out of the institution occurred in three major stages. You can read more about this by clicking here.

Yesterday’s blog post was about a historic meeting that recently occurred in the church community I am a part of now. The meeting we experienced was historic for me as I experienced something that I could never have experienced in the institution. You can read more about this historic church meeting by clicking here.

In today’s post, I’d like to share a song with you. In the mid 1980′s, a British singer songwriter named Howard Jones released a song titled ‘No One Is To Blame’ that became a hit here in the U.S. I remember listening to it on the radio when I was a child numerous times. I was always captivated by the song, yet I wasn’t sure why. Even as a child, it seemed to resonate with something deep inside of me.

I heard the song again recently, and this time the heart of the song came alive to me. As I listened to the lyrics just this last week, I understood the deep frustration that this song communicates. I have carried this frustration my entire life; until now! I couldn’t see it then, but I can see it clearly now.

I learned pretty quickly that the world only offers empty promises. I went after all of them at some point in my life and came up empty. When I first came to faith in Christ as an adult, I heard about the promises that were mine in Christ. I went after them through the grid of the institution, however, and I was continually frustrated. All the promises in Christ seemed just out of reach.

In the institutional system, I was continually told that the dreams and promises of freedom in Christ weren’t being fulfilled in my life because I was to blame. I simply needed to work harder, muster up more faith, pray more, be more obedient, etc…Even though I worked harder, prayed more, was more obedient, it was never enough.

When I became frustrated with the whole of American evangelicalism, I blamed the problems of the system on the people. If only the people loved God more, gave more, prayed more, read the bible more, etc…Oh, how deluded I was. I could see the promises in Christ, I just couldn’t seem to get there. Take a look at the lyrics of the song ‘No One Is To Blame’ and feel this same frustration:

You can look at the menu but you just can’t eat

You can feel the cushions but you can’t have a seat

You can dip your foot in the pool but you can’t have a swim

You can feel the punishment but you can’t commit the sin

And you want her and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame

You can build a mansion but you just can’t live in it

You’re the fastest runner but you’re not allowed to win

Some break the rules

And live to count the cost

The insecurity is the thing that won’t get lost

And you want her and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame

You can see the summit but you can’t reach it

It’s the last piece of the puzzle but you just can’t make it fit

Doctor says you’re cured but you still feel the pain

Aspirations in the clouds but your hopes go down the drain

And you want her and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame
No one ever is to blame
No one ever is to blame

As I listened to this song recently, I realized that this is exactly how I felt in the institution. There are two words that have freed me from the institutional system, however. Those two words are ‘IN CHRIST’.

I now know that ‘in Christ’, we have been made new.

I now know that for those ‘in Christ’, no one truly is to blame!

It is the world’s system of sin and the flesh that is to blame. In Christ, the world’s systems (including the religious system) and the flesh are blamed and crucified with Christ on the cross. Truly knowing the power of the words ‘in Christ’ have allowed me to be free of this perpetual frustration that the song communicates. The more that I detox from the world’s religious system, the more I can rephrase the lyrics of the song to say something like this:

You can look at the menu, but now in Christ, you can finally eat

You can feel the cushions, but now in Christ, you can finally have a seat (rest)

You can dip your foot in the pool, but now in Christ, you can finally have a swim

In Christ, you no longer feel the punishment because He became the sin

And you want her (church) and she wants you (you belong)
We want everyone

And you want her and she wants you

No one, no one, no one ever is to blame

He can build a mansion, but now in Christ, you can live in it

You’re the fastest runner, but now in Christ, you’re finally allowed to win

We broke the rules
(but in Christ) live to count the cost

Now insecurity is the only thing that gets lost

And you want her and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame

You can see the summit, but now in Christ, you can finally reach it (etc…)

You get the picture. As I listened to the song recently, I realized that all of my dreams and aspirations that were formally frustrated are now fulfilled ‘in Christ’. What a beautiful Lord we have been brought into!

Here is the link to this song by Howard Jones. As you listen to it, listen to the frustration that exists out of Christ, and then imagine it being sung with this new perspective; ‘in Christ’.

No One Is To Blame

With that said, I’d like to tell you about a historic meeting of the church that occurred this past Sunday.  Last weekend, the sisters went out of town for a sister’s retreat (not a ‘women’s’ or a ‘ladies’ retreat).  They returned just in time for our corporate meeting of the church on Sunday night.  That night, the sisters overflowed and shared how Christ had been magnified in their midst during their time together.  The Lord is truly doing something special among the sisters in the church community.  He is building them, and binding their hearts together as one.  There really are no words that could do it justice to describe what I’m talking about, so I will not try to describe it.  What we are beholding in our sisters is truly beautiful in the purest sense of the word.  

Last Sunday night, the sisters spoke from their new identity ‘in’ Christ.  They spoke of how their hearts are being built together.  They spoke boldly and challenged all of us!  EACH sister spoke, not just a preselected person who was chosen to speak on their behalf.  As a result, the whole body was able to discern the ‘theme’ of the Lord’s voice to the whole church.  He was speaking to all of us through the corporate sisterhood in the body.

So, why am I telling you this?

For one simple reason…to make you jealous!  Let me explain…     

What we are witnessing among our sisters is unfortunately historic.  This is the first time I have been a part of a group in which ALL the sisters were free to fully and completely express Jesus Christ.  I am not alone.  In the evangelical system, it is normal for women to be prevented from adequately functioning in church life because of erroneous ideas and unbiblical teaching about the proper ‘roles’ of men and women.  This is a rabbit hole that goes very deep.  The results have been catastrophic.  

This assault on the identity and function of sisters in the body of Christ is an attempt to minimize the person of Jesus Christ.  I have discovered that whenever man-made religion is present, women are relegated as objects or second class citizens.  The study of the world’s religions will show you this, and unfortunately, a study of church history will show you the same thing.  It continues to this very day.  It is a sign of a deeper problem altogether.  

When Christ is made preeminent…when Christ is the Head & life supply of His body in reality, not just theory, then our sisters ‘in’ Him will truly be set free to express Him.  If you want to know whether or not a group of people have had a New Testament revelation of the person of Jesus Christ, the freedom of the sisters in that group will be a good indication.  I wish I could describe to you how beautiful Christ is in our sisters, but I can’t.  His beauty must be experienced, not just read about.  My prayer is that sisters everywhere would be set free from the affects of the minimization of Jesus Christ.  

I’d like to conclude this post by drawing your attention to a couple of articles.  The first article that I would like to draw your attention to is an article recently written by Jon Zens that illustrates how one popular evangelical institution keeps perpetuating erroneous ideas about women in the church. Read the whole article as Jon masterfully connects the dots regarding one specific unbiblical idea that keeps perpetuating this kind of thinking.  Here is the link to His article: 

‘The Body With One Part?’

The second article I’d like to tell you about is an article that I wrote last year after reading Jon Zens’ book about Paul & women.  Here is the link to that article as well:

‘The Universal Enslavement Of Women’

I hope I have succeeded in making you jealous.  You should be:)  

My name is Tim Baker. I have an amazing Wife and an energy filled 2 year old Son. My life is full of joy, laughter, friends, and love. I am currently the Discipleship Pastor at Rock Springs Church in Smyrna, TN. My role at Rock Springs pretty much allows me to work with Students, interact in small groups, study, drink a lot of coffee, and just be with people. Since my decision to follow Jesus I have been drawn closely to the words of God. I see the words of God as our only source of Authority, everything else is educated (and sometimes uneducated) responses. During this journey I began to notice a great desire to see the called out people of God discover and become what God desires. This has not been easy to do, but I have found that I am not alone. I started My Awesome Blog to publicly work through this journey so people who maybe felt similarly would join in with valuable input on this discussion.

Tim has graciously invited me to guest post on his blog to explain why I have made the decision to leave the institution. Today on Tim’s blog, I’ll be sharing my three step journey out of the institution. I hope you will take the time to read about the three vital steps that I took into freedom.

I’ll be doing a follow up Q/A post in the near future, so please feel free to post any questions that you would like for me to address either here, or on Tim’s site. If you don’t have a question, but would simply like to make a comment, you are welcome to post your comments here as well. So without further adue, here is the link to my guest blog post on Tim’s sight:

Pressing The Re-set Button…(three steps into freedom)

1. My First Guest Blog Post.

Tomorrow, Tuesday (Feb. 21), I’ll be guest posting on the blog of Tim Baker. Tim Baker holds the position of Pastor of Discipleship at Rock Springs Church in Smyrna, Tennessee. Tim was looking for someone who has left the institution to guest post on his blog site to explain why they made the decision to hit the ‘Re-set’ button and leave the institution. Tomorrow, I will be guest posting on his blog to explain why I personally made this decision. I will post a brief introduction and a link to Tim’s blog here on this site tomorrow. You will not want to miss it.

2. A Historic Church Meeting Occurred

We had a historic meeting with the church community I am a part of yesterday. It was a first for me. It was simply historic. I need to tell you just a bit about it. It is mandatory that I do so actually. I will post a short blog and link about this historic meeting on Thursday. You won’t want to miss it.

3. Mystery Friday Post

Sometimes the Lord speaks to us in ‘mysterious’ ways. On Friday, I will post about such an occurrence that happened to me recently. It will continue along the lines of this week’s blog posts. Again, you will not want to miss it:)

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Looking forward to a great week!

Jamal Jivanjee

If you have ever socialized with a group of human beings before, you have probably come into contact with the phenomena of cliques / factions, and celebrity fascination.  If you think back to your elementary school days, you will notice that kids seemed to exhibit this innate ability pretty early.  It is not something that has to be taught.

Cliques

The phenomena of ‘cliques’ usually begin in elementary / middle school when a particular child asserts himself, or is perceived as being superior to the rest of the children in the class.  Once that specific child is socially identified, other children begin to crave this person’s acceptance or approval and fight to become part of the select group that associates with this ‘popular’ person.  The group that is able to publicly associate themselves with this popular person becomes known as the ‘popular’ crowd, or the ‘in’ crowd.

This group has an unwritten, but socially understood, hierarchical pecking order.  What and who the popular person likes and accepts is what and who the rest of the popular group likes and accepts.  While the popular child is able to express himself / herself, the group that associates with this popular child is usually only able to quietly agree or express the opinion of the popular child.  If there is a disagreement with the popular child or if one of the children in the group seems to draw more attention to himself than the popular child, a conflict can erupt.  This usually results in the expulsion of the rival child from the group.  This rejected child then either becomes a ‘loner’ who becomes embittered, or he / she becomes the leader of a rival group of children who were not deemed popular enough to fit into the popular group.

The hierarchical ‘pecking order’ that I just described does not simply end in elementary or high school, but continues into every aspect of fallen human life.  You can see this principle at work within companies, governments, families, religious institutions / denominations, and even in the animal world.  There is a reason for this, and it goes all the way back to the garden of Eden.

Hierarchy

In the garden, mankind had access to two significant trees. One tree (the tree of life) would conform them to, and inject them with, God’s own life.  The other tree (tree of knowledge) would conform them to and inject into them a pattern of life that is patterned after a fallen angel (satan).  Angelic beings were created to operate by hierarchy.  Unfortunately Adam & Eve (and the human race who came from them) chose to receive from the forbidden tree of knowledge instead of God’s life from the tree of life.  Instead of being conformed to God’s image, mankind was conformed after the image of an angel (satan).  This is exactly why every aspect of fallen humanity in every society, including man’s religious system, is patterned in a ‘up / down’ hierarchical manner. It is natural to man’s system.  This curse has even been passed down to nature and the animal world.

The problem is, however, that human beings were created to conform to God’s life, and not angelic life.  Leadership, in God’s order, is completely different.  God’s view of leadership is the opposite of hierarchical, and is exactly why Jesus made this radical statement about ‘kingdom’ leadership and church life in Matthew 23:8-11.

But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant.

 
This truly radical statement from Jesus challenged mankind’s religious understanding of ‘leadership’. What Jesus said in this passage did violence against the religious hierarchical culture. While most preachers and theologians are quick to skip over this passage and explain what Jesus did not mean, few give attention to how radical this redefinition of ‘leadership’ actually is. (click here to read more about the non-hierarchical nature of New Testament leadership)

There is a reason Jesus challenged mankind’s common religious understanding of ‘leadership’. Life in the body of Christ (kingdom) was simply to be an expression of the life within the Trinity.  Unlike angelic life, life within the God-head is completely non-hierarchical.  While there is most certainly leadership in the body of Christ, as soon as ‘leadership’ begins to be understood in a hierarchical manner, it ceases to be kingdom leadership.

There is more that needs to be said about this in greater depth that address much of the error that is commonly taught about the nature of the Trinity and church function in the religious system.  A good friend of mine, Milt Rodriguez, has written an excellent book that I strongly recommend called: ‘The Community Life of God: Seeing The Godhead As The Model For All Human Relationships’.  (Everyone should have this book in their library!)

The good news is this, Christ has come to destroy factions, cliques, and the hierarchical pecking order that has been a hallmark of fallen humanity!  In Christ, all the distinctions of the flesh that keep us apart disappear! (Matt. 23:8-12, Gal. 3:28, etc…) The degree to which a person, or a community of people, are focused on the person of Jesus Christ and are living by His divine life will be the degree to which they actually live free of cliques, hierarchies, and Christian celebrity idols.  We may know these things intellectually, but our old nature will automatically gravitate back to this way of thinking by default apart from Christ’s supernatural life.

With that said, I’d like to call your attention to three fleshly temptations to beware of.  Simply being aware of these temptations will help us recognize when fleshly patterns are arising and give us an indication that we need to return to Christ’s life in us.

1. Beware of ‘selective associating’ and ‘selective name dropping’

I’m afraid this issue is alive and well in today’s celebrity culture.  You don’t have to be someone with influence over thousands to catch the disease of having a ‘celebrity’ mindset.  This can be a real temptation for anyone who is concerned about their public reputation and image.  

Like elementary school, there are people you will be tempted not to publicly associate with because of the ‘damage’ that it will do to your reputation or image.  This can be a difficult issue, especially, if the person you are tempted to avoid publicly is a figure that others you admire do not like.  Questions / rationalizations like these may run through your mind:

“What will they think of me if they know that I have a relationship with them?” (Awkward teenager dilemma)

“It will hurt my ministry, witness, and godly reputation if they see me associating with them.” (Ministry ‘stewardship’ dilemma)

“I will only publicly converse and associate with those whom I can wholeheartedly endorse and claim.”  (elitism dilemma)

As one who is pretty active in the social networking world, I see this occur often.  Big name Christian celebrities will often converse with and mention (name drop) other celebrity Christians publicly on forums like Twitter, Facebook, & the blogosphere in public conversations with one another, but will not converse publicly with anyone else of lesser perceived influence.  I regularly receive private messages and personal correspondence from others, including a few well known Christian leaders, who would never acknowledge me publicly.  That used to perplex me, but now I find it to be revealing.

Celebrities associate with celebrities in their self made ‘green’ rooms.

Celebrities associate with other celebrities at exclusive events. (Grammys)

Celebrities only make themselves available to other celebrities, but few others.

As members of Christ’s body, may these descriptions never be true of us!  In the course of my life, I have been impacted by a handful of people who went against the grain of the celebrity Christian culture and have made themselves accessible, both publicly and privately.  They did this even though they were counted among the ‘celebrity leader’ status.  

Because these few men and women have made themselves accessible to the ‘common folk’, they have been disdained by other celebrity leaders in their circles.  Nevertheless, these courageous folks continue to go against the grain of celebrity Christianity.

Those who have made themselves accessible have paid a dear price for this because, as the saying goes, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’.  Nevertheless, I have learned more from these men and women by simply observing the way they interact with others than anything they may say or do.  We would all do well to follow their example…even on Twitter:)

2. Beware of giving false honor and respect to those on the leadership ‘stage’

While some may say that celebrity Christians need to step down from the ‘stage’, I completely disagree.  They should stay on that ‘stage’.  It is the ‘common folk’ who think they are not on the ‘stage’ who need to step up to the stage!  When you finally step up on the stage and find your voice, you’ll begin to see what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 23:8-11.  

You will see that you are on the same level and are actually ‘peers’ with those celebrities you once idolized.  You will see that they are simply fellow brothers and sisters in Christ like you.  You are free to speak to them, converse with them, and yes, even challenge them when appropriate.

Let me warn you, however.  If you do this, you will be seen as one who does not respect authority or someone who likes to stir up trouble.  Celebrities who have been placed on a stage over others may feel threatened when they are spoken to like a peer from someone they don’t consider a peer.  

Recently, I’ve observed a considerable backlash from the ‘celebrity’ clergy class against those who are challenging what they are publicly promoting.  I find that to be eye opening and even encouraging.  Don’t let this deter you.  You are free to see them as ‘peers’ even if they don’t see you that way.

3. Beware of comparing yourself to others, & stop comparing your brothers and sisters in Christ to one another

(especially vital for my brothers and sisters who are living in organic church life)

If you compare yourself to others, or compare others in the body of Christ to one another, it is a sign that you are operating in a very great blindness.  When sin occurred, we adopted an individualistic mindset that separated us from God, and from one another.  This resulted in a ‘rivalry’ of sorts between ourselves & God, and others as well.

The only way this rivalry can be eliminated is when the deep seeded ‘separation’ mentality is eradicated from our lives.  Because we have been placed ‘in Christ’ who is the very fullness of God, we are no longer separate from Him.  We have been baptized ‘into’ one body.  As a result, those ‘in’ Christ’s body are not separate from one another either.  ’In Christ’, there is no ‘stage’ and ‘audience’ to keep us separated from one another.  When we realize that we belong to one another, ‘in Christ’, rivalry will cease.  Our natural bodies naturally testify to this reality.  For example:

Your hands are not jealous of your arms or legs.

When falling, your hands naturally extend to protect the rest of the body.

When one of your body parts are hurt, the entire body is affected.

What is interesting is the fact that our bodies do NOT have to be taught this!  It is a state of being.  Likewise, the church cannot be taught not to be jealous of one another, not to be offended by one another etc… Each time this is tried, it results in failure.  

Body parts loving one another, promoting one another, protecting one another, bearing one another’s burdens, etc… is a natural state of being when the members of the body have a deep seeded revelation of Jesus Christ and who they are ‘in Christ’.  When jealousy, rivalries, and ‘cliques’ exist among us, it is a sign that we have lost sight of Christ Himself.  When we lose sight of Christ, we automatically lose sight of who we are ‘in Him’.

While celebrity christianity & ‘cliques’ may be widely accepted in today’s culture, being aware of these three common temptations to factionalize and idolize will help us see our need to keep Christ continually in focus.  His ways never have, and never will, conform to the pattern of this world.

What you are about to read could easily be misunderstood. If you are already feeling skeptical, or if you highly doubt that there will be anything of value for you in this article, you probably should stop reading now. If you believe there could be something of value in this article, however, then this article may be beneficial for you. I’d like to ask you to read this with an open mind. You may even want to pray and ask the Lord to show you a fresh vision of Jesus Christ through some of the things that I will share with you here.

Some Personal History

Several years ago I was involved in starting a collegiate ministry group on the campus of a major university. We conducted typical Sunday worship services, and also had typical mid-week bible studies. We had a stated goal of seeing students come to know Christ and make Him known as well. We were always trying to figure out how to best ‘do’ and ‘accomplish’ that goal. Soon after starting this organization, we quickly discovered that the students who had come out of a ‘churched’ background were more likely to know correct theological answers, but in reality were the least likely to know Christ relationally and experience His life.

Unfortunately, I had bought into the error that the Christian life was about ‘doing’ and not simply ‘knowing’. I was confused about what the ‘Mission of God‘ truly was (This only made matters worse). Because I mistakenly thought that getting students involved in ‘doing ministry’ was the key for them to know and experience the life of Christ, we were always trying to get them to buy into our ‘vision’ of how we were going to reach the campus and the rest of the world. The problem was always motivation. How could we motivate apathetic people?

During this time, I quickly learned that two tools were quite effective in motivating people to do good things:

Guilt & Emotional Stimulus

Of course, I never looked at it like that at the time. I was simply operating out of what had been passed down to me from the religious system. My staff and I worked really hard at creating weekly services that contained both elements of guilt (conviction), and emotional stimulus. Many of my sermons contained the premise that following Jesus was ‘radical‘ and required radical works. I felt the need to raise the bar of religious sacrifice to a whole new level in the name of being ‘obedient’.

While we became somewhat proficient at these weekly services, it was small potatoes compared to what would occur at the annual collegiate worship conference that we would take our students to each year. This conference was top notch. Thousands of students from around the country, and world, would gather together. For three or four days, we would be exposed to the most popular bands in the Christian worship music industry. The lighting and external visual effects that went along with the musical performances were mesmerizing, to say the least.

In addition to the emotional stimulation of the music, some of the most talented preachers in the country would present challenging talks interspersed throughout the duration of the conference. Many of those messages centered around the high standard of what God required, and the inadequate performance of most American Christians. The conference usually ended with a passionate plea for the students to take some form of social, philanthropic, or evangelical action.

I was usually always surprised to see spiritually apathetic (and poor) college students give enormous amounts of money & make decisions requiring life altering implications and sacrifice. While these things may sound great, something occurred each year that troubled me. No matter how ‘good’ our weekly services were and similarly no matter how ‘powerful’ those annual conferences were, they did not translate into daily reality.

The Drugs Wore Off

Initially, for several weeks after our annual collegiate worship conference, I noticed a remarkable difference in our Sunday services. There was usually much more energy in the services, and attendance increased as people reached out to invite their friends to come. This was also a time to get people involved in ‘outreach’ / ‘missions’ projects as people were more willing to ‘do’ and ‘give’ after they had been emotionally stimulated after the conference.

Without fail, however, things usually returned to normal. The excitement from the conference gradually went away. Weekly attendance began to dip. Old destructive patterns and addictions returned to the lives of those who, just weeks before at the conference, pledged to turn over a new leaf. At this point, my staff and I would seek ways to address the problem by creating a new retreat or event that would try to emotionally stimulate the students again. This continual cycle was always taxing for me, and I would greatly look forward to our annual worship conference that would encourage and excite our students all over again.

About a month before our annual worship conference, excitement would begin to increase. We’d play promotional videos in our services to help students anticipate the emotional encounter that would occur during those 3 or 4 days. When they finally arrived at the conference, their excitement level was usually off the charts.

After the conference was over, however, there was always a level of disappointment that was expressed at the thought of going back to ‘real life’. Everyone wanted to stay in the moment. Although the conference speakers and organizers would all say that we now had to go back home and ‘live this out’, it never seemed to translate into real life.

What did it mean to ‘live out’ an extremely stimulating concert experience?

Why would all this fervor and passion consistently run out after a couple of months?

For me, the answers to these two important questions came as confusion about two vital things began to clear up:

1. Old Covenant Worship vs. New Covenant Worship

As you probably know, in the Old Testament the Lord dwelled in a specific location (Jerusalem), and in a specific building (temple). In order to truly worship, the Jews had to go to a specific place to encounter the Lord. Now, let’s fast forward to the time of Jesus and consider the conversation that Jesus had about worship with the Samaritan woman at the well:

Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:21-24, NASB)

While Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well, He told her that the old way of worship was coming to an end. He went on to tell her that this new way of worship would no longer be external and physical, but would now be by spirit.

He also told her that the location of this worship would not be in one particular location anymore. Spirit is not limited to the physical dimensions of space and time. The location of worship (temple), would now be located in (Christ) who is the true Temple of God. The personification of truth (Christ) was soon going to be located in the very spirit of His people. This is where true worship would now take place!

Unfortunately internal (New Covenant) worship, as a daily state of being, is not a reality by the majority of people in the religious system. If it were, our reactions toward these kinds of conferences would be radically different.

This year, I observed the social media statuses of those attending national collegiate worship conferences. I heard many rave of their excitement about attending sometimes even a month in advance. Then, after the conference, I heard the all too familiar lament about having to leave the conference to go back to ‘real life’. Many of them would then say something like this:

“I’m so sad this conference is over…I can’t wait until next year.”

This breaks my heart as many who say this are revealing that True (New Covenant) worship is simply not a reality in their daily lives.

Oh, how I wish they experienced true worship as an internal way of daily life in community with others!

Oh, how I wish they knew that they didn’t need all the external props and emotional stimulus to truly worship!

If they only knew that true (New Covenant) ‘worship’ is comprised of a group of people who are living by Christ’s divine life together, they would not live for the annual external religious pilgrimages that only happen for a few days each year.

(I wrote more extensively about the meaning of ‘Worship’ in this article)

2. The ‘Good’ Tree vs. The ‘Life’ Tree

Obligation, duty, honor, indebtedness, guilt, compassion, etc…all of these things can be powerful motivating forces for good deeds. Governments use them to compel their citizens to serve. Charities, philanthropic organizations, and rock stars also use them to raise funds and accomplish needed projects for the material betterment of humanity. While we hear a lot about humanity’s penchant for evil, humanity is also capable of accomplishing good projects. Being a ‘Christian’ is not a requirement for doing good humanitarian things. There is a reason for this.

In the garden of Eden, the tree that most of us seem to be aware of is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. While we are aware that the knowledge of evil comes from this tree, knowledge of *good* also comes from this same tree. Through Adam, all of humanity has received from the tree of knowledge. This is why every society has its share of civic & humanitarian organizations that do good projects.

Mankind’s religious system is no different as it also employs obligation, duty, honor, indebtedness, guilt, compassion, etc…to motivate people to do good. As a matter of fact, this is the premise behind most sermons and conferences in the evangelical religious system.

While this may be quite effective in mobilizing and motivating people, this approach does not come from the other tree in the garden that most ignore…the tree of *Life*.

While the tree of knowledge produces motivation & ambition in mankind to ‘do’ and ‘accomplish’, the tree of life produces ‘life’ in our inner man. Without going into much detail, the tree of life in the garden of Eden was simply a shadow of Jesus Christ. When Jesus came on the scene, He did not come to bring more ‘knowledge of good’, rather, He came to bring life!

Let me be clear about this…the fruit of the tree of life is the manifestation of God’s life (Jesus Christ) among a group of people. Christ’s life is manifested through love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, etc…(Gal. 5:22-23)

It is a profound mistake to assume that good works (money raised, humanitarian projects accomplished, social causes addressed, etc…) are themselves a manifestation of God’s life. Good works may flow from God’s life, but those things itself are not God’s life. The world’s system (rooted in the tree of knowledge of good & evil) are able to accomplish those things without God’s life.

Religious events and conferences rooted in the ‘tree of knowledge’ may produce good works, but they are not able to produce internal life that sustains life. It is only that which comes from the ‘tree of life’ (Christ’s life) that produces life and sustains life in daily reality.

Christ’s life is internal and is measured by the fruit of the Spirit, not simply external humanitarian deeds.

Christ’s life flows from the inside out, and is not dependent upon external experiences, emotional stimuli, or guilt based manipulation.

Christ’s life, through Spirit, begets more life. Although Christ’s life may produce an external response, His life is NOT rooted in emotional experiences that fade away with the passing of time.

Christ’s life is expressed and manifested in corporate community as a way of life, not simply as a collection of individuals who live from event to event to be emotionally stimulated. Please don’t get me wrong, the Lord has powerfully used emotionally driven conferences in my life in the past. I am simply attempting to shed light on a greater reality.

Jesus Christ came to bring and manifest His ‘life’ more abundantly in and through us. He did not come to bring us more knowledge of ‘good’. My prayer for all of us this year is that we would begin to eat and live by this abundant tree of life in ways we have never dreamed possible. It is through this ‘life’ that our deepest longings will be brought into reality!

I was filled with the same kind of ‘righteous indignation’ that I imagine David felt when he heard the Lord (and the Lord’s people) being slandered by a man (Goliath) who had absolutely no idea who and what he was talking about.  This experience opened my eyes to something very important that I would like to share with you in this article that I am convinced could affect the way you interact and deal with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Lessons From The State Penitentiary

Several years ago, I spent a few years working as a corrections officer (prison guard) in a state penitentiary of my home state.  I learned many valuable lessons during my time on the job that continue to speak volumes to me today.  One thing I learned was the importance of loyalty.  Who could you count on to have your ‘back’, so to speak?  This was a very important question that my safety and well-being depended on.  Who could count on me to have their ‘back’ as well?  

Until a crisis situation developed, you really didn’t know who the officers were (yourself included) who would lay their lives down to come to your defense when the time was needed.  There seemed to be no shortage of officers who simply talked tough, yet were riddled with fear when faced with conflict.  I quickly realized that loyalty was in high demand, yet in short supply as I found that there were really only a few officers in that prison you could count on when your life depended on it.  As you can imagine, those officers became like gold to me.  I have since realized that those experiences all those years ago were simply part of the preparation process for the life in Christ that I am beginning to live out now.  

The conflict I faced working in the state penn is nothing compared to the conflict that we face now.  Now, more than ever, I am seeing the value of brothers and sisters in Christ standing together to fight for one another.  There is simply too much at stake.  The way we ‘fight’, however, is different than the way the world fights.  Make no mistake about it, Christ is looking to build His church with fearless & loyal people who are not afraid to have His ‘back’, so to speak.  Consider these words from Jesus:

Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. (Mat. 10:32, NASB)

What an interesting statement from Jesus!  First, let me ask you to forget what you have commonly heard about this passage.  This passage is usually twisted by those in the religious system to either make Christians try to employ some form of sales tactic to convince others to pray a ‘sinners’ prayer, get people to invite others to services, get people involved in a political process, etc…

I am convinced there is much more to confessing Jesus Christ before men, however, than any of those things. In actuality, the essence of ‘confessing Christ’ before men involves getting to the root of why mankind was created in the first place.  I wrote more extensively about why mankind was created in another article (click here to read it).  In short, confessing / expressing the person of Jesus Christ before mankind and spiritual principalities in the heavenly places is why we were created (Eph. 3:4-12).

The glory of God must be confessed & expressed, and Christ is the glory of God in bodily form!  According to Paul’s description of the church in Eph. 1:27, Christ can only be fully expressed through the church (Those living by Christ’s divine life together).  This means you and I are the very confession and expression of Jesus Christ!  

Here is where the rubber meets the road, however.  We are under heavy assault. As we speak, lies are being told about you and I.  The most evil lies, in my opinion, are the religious ones.  When someone accuses you in such a way that seeks to identify you by your old sinful flesh, know that they are doing the very bidding of the father of lies.  

Our enemy is very good at using God’s law to bring condeming accusation against those of us in Christ.  Yes, it may sound sincere on the surface, but the aim is to maline by sometimes even subtly calling into question a person who is the very expression of Jesus Christ.  While this may not be the intent of the religious person bringing the attack, it is the intent of our enemy who seeks to destroy us.  When these attacks come against your brothers and sisters in Christ, what you do is critically important.  

Pick Up The Sword & Swing It

Do not think you can confess Jesus Christ before men while at the same time not confessing the truth about your brothers and sisters now in Christ in the name of staying ‘neutral’ when your brothers and sisters are being slandered.  When your brothers and sisters in Christ are being assaulted, your Lord is being assaulted.  Jesus Christ has a Head, and He also has a body.  The two cannot be separated.  This is precisely why Paul commanded the Corinthian believers to not view one another according to the old fleshly nature that has already passed away, but according to their new holy nature now in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:16-17)                            

Scripture is clear that our offensive weapon is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17).  We also know that the Word of God is the person of Jesus Christ.  I’m convinced that we ‘swing’ this sword, so to speak, every time we confess the person of Christ.  Remember, Christ Himself is the literal personification of truth (Jn 14:6).  This is precisely why Paul exhorts the Ephesian believers to “speak the truth in love…” to one another (Eph. 4:15, 25).  Whenever you speak the truth about Christ and your brothers and sisters in Christ, especially when your brothers and sisters are being slandered, you are confessing Him before men as Matthew 10:32 states.

Over the years, I have longed to know and experience New Testament (organic) church life.  Recently, I wrote about how the Lord has literally been bringing those desires into reality.

(You can read about that Here)  

I can tell you that it has been incredibly life giving to be a part of a courageous group of people who have your ‘back’. I’m convinced the reason this group has one another’s ‘back’ has everything to do with this body of believers learning to live by Spirit together.

As we begin to life by Christ’s divine life, we begin to look through the lens of Christ and see one another through those lenses.  No longer do we see and ‘call out’ flesh in one another, rather we are now beginning to see and call out Christ in one another.  It truly is an amazing thing to behold, and it is the way the church was meant to operate. 

Change Your Culture & Start Swinging Your Sword Now

While you may not yet be a part of a New Testament (organic) church community like I described, you don’t have to wait to begin to ‘have the back’ of your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  You can still swing the sword and fight for them now.  I’d like to conclude this article with a few practical tips regarding how you can do just that:

1.Know the truth about your brothers and sisters in Christ

There is an easy way you can know what is true about your brothers and sisters in Christ.  Simply ask what is true about Jesus Christ.  If something is true about Christ, it is true about them as well.  If something is not true about Christ, it is also not true about them as well.  Remember, our old nature has already passed away and we can now only be identified by our new identity in Christ.  Our flesh is not us anymore (2 Cor. 5:16-17).  

2. Never miss an opportunity to speak the truth about a brother and sister in Christ

If a brother and sister casually comes up in conversation, make it a habit to affirm the quality of Christ that you regularly see in them.  Do this often. Don’t be afraid of sounding like a ‘broken record’. Our enemy lies about us continually. The need to affirm the truth about us to one another is continual.  

3. Awkwardly interrupt an attack on a brother and sister in Christ

If you hear your brother and sister being attacked, don’t be afraid to interrupt them with the truth about who they are in Christ.  Yes, this could be awkward.  Remember, what you have to say about your brother and sister in Christ is more important than what they have to say about them.  This applies even if what is being said is an accurate description of their old nature and flesh.  Calling out someone’s flesh (death) never brings life to them.  Life only brings life.  

4. Don’t be afraid of losing relationships 

If you defend a brother or sister that is being attacked, chances are the attacker will see you as a threat.  They may even associate you with the person you are defending.  That is fine.  You can speak the truth (Christ) about the one being attacked, and you can also speak the truth (Christ) about the attacker as well.  While it is never pleasant to lose relationships, Christ is worth it. As a matter of fact, most of my relationships have failed over the years. (You can read about my relationship disasters by clicking here) 

5. Defend those who attack themselves

Seeing our brothers and sisters in Christ through the lens of the flesh is never acceptable.  This includes seeing ourselves through the lens of flesh as well.  If you hear your brother and sister describing themselves in such a way that is not true of Jesus Christ, interrupt and correct them by speaking what is true about them.  Their ‘life’ depends on it.  

Many blessings to you, and remember, I got your back:)

Jamal J.

2011 marks my first full year of blogging and the experience has been extremely rewarding, to say the least.  It has been a pleasure interacting with you throughout the year as we have dialogued about issues of great importance.  Seeing the heart the Lord has given many of you for Christ and His bride has strengthened and encouraged me more than I can express with words.  I am looking forward to continuing this blogging journey with you in 2012 as well. 

I thought you might be interested in knowing what the most read blog posts for 2011 were.  Here is a list of the top eleven blog posts for the past year.  Thank you all again for your vital contributions to the blog, and for making this much needed conversation such a rewarding experience for many.   

11. My Diminishing View Of Christmas, But My Increasing View Of The Incarnation

10. Congratulations, You’re Pregnant…And So Am I

9. Two Terms Of Mass Confusion (and a strange video)

8. Francis Chan’s Talk From Passion 2011, And The $64 Million Question!

7.  Why I Decided to Move To A New Nation

6. Why Most Of My Relationships Have Failed Miserably

5. Have You ‘Really’ Heard The Gospel? – A Special Interview with Frank Viola

4. Church Member Mentioned In David Platt’s Book ‘Radical’ Responds To My Review Of ‘Radical’

3. Is ‘Radical’ really radical? (why David Platt is the new Francis Chan)- my book review here

2. The Universal Enslavement Of Women

1. Missional Confusion & The Amway Gospel…an assessment of a movement

For this year’s resolution, I’d like to draw our attention to another word. The word that I’d like to talk about here is also a commonly misunderstood word within the evangelical world. This word is used incorrectly the vast majority of time, and each time this word is used in this incorrect way, it keeps perpetuating a devastating and distracting lie.

Let me caution you, however. If you don’t carefully read this article trying to understand what is being communicated here, you will be tempted to jump to conclusions and mischaracterize what I am saying entirely out of fear. You will even be tempted to demonize my motivations. Please don’t do that. Read this article very carefully and prayerfully. There is a point that needs to be made in this article and, in my humble opinion, it is a noble one of great importance.

So, what commonly misused word am I talking about?

I am talking about the word ‘Word‘!

There is no more commonly misunderstood word in all of the scriptures than the word ‘Word’. Like the word ‘church‘, the word ‘Word’ has been under assault because of the reality these terms were meant to communicate. Since language is the medium we communicate with, our enemy has cleverly deceived us away from the truth (Christ) by subtly changing the meaning of certain key terms that were meant to communicate and reveal Him.

In the same way that today’s understanding of the term ‘Church‘ has come to mean something quite different than what was intended, the term ‘Word‘ has come to mean something quite different than what was intended as well. The re-definition of the term ‘Word’ is so widespread that most of us use it and have no idea that we are using it in a way that is perpetuating a great unbiblical lie that keeps inoculating us from the truth. This brings me to a point that I would like to make:

The scriptures clearly reveal to us that the ‘Word’ of God is none other than Jesus Christ, who is a living active person! Although there is much more that I could say about this, let me point to a couple of scriptures that clearly identify Jesus Christ as the living active Word of God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1,14)

This is a very profound declaration about what & who the Word of God actually is. The Word is God! This ‘Word’ also became flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ is the living Word of God! Consider this description of Christ as well:

He (Christ) is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. (Rev. 19:13)

He is the center of everything and all things are being summed up in Him. The Word of God (Christ) is the very fullness of God expressed.

Now that we have established this reality of what & who the ‘Word’ of God is, I need to tell you something. There is a conspiracy underway to confuse and distract you from truly seeing and knowing this ‘Word’. The enemy is clever and he knows just how to redirect people away from the true ‘Word’ of God. I am firmly convinced that satan’s most effective tool is religion. A careful study of the history of Christendom will show us this.

Without getting too much into the history of this, toward the end of the first century, the church began to lose her focus on Christ. It was for this reason that John wrote his gospel; to call the church back to a knowledge and revelation of Him. Within a couple hundred years, however, the church began to drift into institutionalism. The supernatural revelation of Jesus Christ that the apostles had laid down in the first century had been replaced by relics and external sacramental representations.

Relics and external representations of Christ are not Him, however. In an attempt to correct this, the Protestant reformers eventually arose to call the church back to its New Testament roots. Unfortunately, the majority of them failed. They simply made cosmetic changes to a system that was built on a false foundation. Instead of replacing the relics with a New Testament revelation of Jesus Christ, they simply substituted one set of relics with another one.

I know this is where I may lose many of you, but please bear with me. Jesus Christ (Word of God) is not a statue, He is not a literal piece of bread, and He is NOT a book (bible)!

Jesus Christ is a living breathing PERSON! I am not saying anything new, I am simply just stating what the scriptures already teach about the Word of God (Christ). Like I mentioned earlier, however, if we don’t have a supernatural revelation of the person of Christ, we will attempt to replace Christ with external religious actions or items, including the scriptures. This very thing happened in Jesus’ day as well.

The scriptures were written for one specific purpose, to reveal the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said this Himself. He explicitly stated that all the scriptures were written about Him. Nevertheless, the majority of the educated theologians in Jesus’ day were completely blind to the very point of the scriptures which was Him! Jesus pointed this distinction out to the religious leaders when He made this statement to them:

You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)

Wow, what a statement! They were dillegently studying the scriptures thinking that was the point, when it was not. The point of a cookbook is not to simply read it. Your hunger will never be satisfied by simply reading a cookbook. The point of a cook book is to lead you to a meal! Jesus Christ is the meal. He is the heavenly bread of life that we live by.

In the same way that the religious leaders in Jesus’ day focused intellectually on the scriptures and missed Him, the majority of the reformers also fell into this trap. Unfortunately, it continues to this very day. There is nothing new under the sun. Like in Jesus’ day, we still have a plethora of well educated bible scholars who focus on the scriptures while they remain blind to the very Person the scriptures reveal. Most teachings and sermons that I hear simply contain principles for better living or a list of duties and rules (law) that we should be ‘obedient’ to. That is a gross misuse of scripture.

The scriptures have one purpose…to reveal the Word of God (Christ). Christ is the solution to all of our problems, and He is the source of life. We are only transformed by beholding Him. (2 Cor. 3:18)

So, do you have a proper understanding of the ‘Word’ of God? That’s a great question. The terminology that we use almost always reveals deeply held beliefs. I have a question that I would like to ask you:

When you refer to the ‘Word’ of God with a capital ‘W’, are you talking about the person of Jesus Christ, or are you talking about the bible?

If I had a dime for every time I have heard a person refer to the bible as the ‘Word’ of God, I’d be rich! I find it fascinating that many capitalize the letter ‘W’ when using the term ‘Word’ to refer to the scriptures. It is revealing of a much deeper problem. We should only capitalize the first letter of a person’s name. When we are referring to God, we capitalize the first letter as well.

It is profoundly unscriptural to deify and make an idol out of the scriptures by referring to themselves in a way that the scriptures do NOT refer to themselves! The scriptures refer to Christ as the ‘Word’ with a capital ‘W’. The scripture is also clear that the ‘Word’ of God is NOT a book!

If that is the case, why do so many people speak about the ‘Word’ of God as if the ‘Word’ is a book?

If the ‘Word’ of God were simply a book, then how were the first century churches able to ‘preach’ the Word & proclaim the ‘Word’ of God to one another as they were instructed to do since they were mostly illiterate and did not have access to the scriptures? In addition to being illiterate, Most of the Gentile churches had no access to the Old Testament scriptures, and the New Testament had yet to be completed.

Could it be that their sole ability to ‘preach the Word’ was due to the fact that they had an internal ‘Word’ dwelling within them? Are you aware that much of the third world is still illiterate and does not have access to the scriptures, yet many of them operate in a much more biblical fashion than the majority of religious institutions in the West who have the scriptures? I have seen it with my own eyes!

The Reason I’m Addressing This Problem

The reason I am drawing attention to this monumental problem in the evangelical world is because I want to promote a high and accurate view of the scriptures by illuminating the aim of the scriptures.

The scriptures themselves do not advocate the ‘bible worship’ that goes on in much of the evangelical world. If we truly have a high view of the scriptures, we will honor and focus on the aim of the scriptures. The aim of the scriptures is to illuminate and reveal the person of Jesus Christ as the true ‘Word’ of God.

Someone recently asked me if I believe the bible is the ‘Word’ of God. I answered him this way:

“I believe what scripture says about itself. Scripture says that all scripture is God-breathed and are the words of God that reveal the ‘Word of God’ (Christ)”.

This is more than an exercise in semantics. Many who use the term ‘Word’ of God to refer to a book and not the person of Jesus Christ are still affected by institutional religious thinking that is blind to a New Testament vision of Christ. In light of this, I’d like to challenge you to a very profound New Year resolution for 2012:

2012 New Year Resolution

This year, when refering to the phrase ‘Word of God’, only capitalize the letter ‘W’ if and when you are referring to the person of Jesus Christ. If you are speaking of the scriptures, make the ‘w’ lowercase and add the letter ‘s’ at the end:)

The scriptures are the words of God, but there is only one ‘Word’ of God…Jesus Christ!

As you read the scriptures, may the Lord continue to give you a greater revelation of Him who is the ‘Word’ of God this New Year!

Over the last few years, as I have journeyed out of the religious ‘system’, I have observed something profound that has naturally happened within me along the way.  I did not fully realize this was happening until just recently.  Here is the startling realization that I have discovered about myself:  

My view of Christmas has greatly diminished!  

Let me apologize, in advance, to two groups of people that could be offended by this article.  My intention is not to offend, but to shed some light on an important development in my journey.  The two groups that could be offended are the ‘Christmas is evil’ group, and the ‘Christmas is the most wonderful time of year’ group.  Both of these groups, in my opinion, are symptoms of much deeper issues that I will address in this article.  

While it’s true that my wife has accused me of being ‘scrooge’ before, I can assure you that I am not really an anti-Christmas ‘bah humbug’ kind of a guy.  I have simply discovered that the ‘magic’ of Christmas day has been replaced by something greater.  

Something Greater Than ‘Emmanuel’ – (God with us) 

To say we belong to a stunning God is an understatement.  It wasn’t enough for God to simply ‘tell’ humanity about Himself through external messengers, He wanted something more…He wanted to physically dwell with His people! The fact that God, by Whom, through Whom, and in Whom the very universe exists, would break into this realm and enter into the womb of a poor, young, Jewish girl is simply incomprehensible.  God the Son, the only begotten from the Father, entered into the created realm and dwelt among us! (John 1:14) I know that is the heart of what many celebrate on Christmas.

Since the fall of mankind into sin, everything had been leading to the humble entrance of God the Son into that cave in Bethlehem.  This baby was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.  He truly was ‘Emmanuel’ (God with us)!  Theologians have called this the ‘incarnation’.  The incarnation masterfully embodies God’s heart to dwell with mankind.  John the apostle describes the incarnation as the Word of God literally ‘tabernacling’ with mankind!  Here is my question regarding this ‘incarnation’, however:

Is there anything better than ‘God with us’ (Emmanuel)?

Yes!  There is something much more to God’s heart regarding His desire to dwell with His people (incarnation) than just ‘God with us’!  God’s heart for closeness and intimacy with His people is so great that He conceived a very profound mystery that is much better than ‘God with us’.  The picture of Mary carrying the Christ child in her womb was just a shadow of a greater reality that would come later.  What greater reality am I talking about that could possibly be better than ‘God with us’ (Emmanuel)?  

God in us!

‘God in us’ is better than ‘God with us’!  Don’t take my word for it, consider what Jesus Himself said to His disciples:

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you…I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides *with* you and will be *in* you. (John 16:7, 14:16-17)

Breathtaking!  He basically unveiled the next great mystery in God’s eternal purpose.  He explained to His disciples that, while they knew the truth (Christ) who was *with* them externally, this truth (Christ) would eventually be *in* them through the Spirit who would be sent to take up residence in their inner man!  Although the disciples did not understand this at the time, this is the mystery that Paul the apostle described as being ‘Christ in you the hope of glory’ (Col. 1:27). This still overlooked mystery actually became the essence of the New Testament gospel.

Do you see the significance of this?  

The miracle of the incarnation has taken on a whole new dimension!  God the Son, once born into the world as one small person to dwell *with* His people, now has been born INTO the hearts of many to form a large ‘multi-membered’ body.  The heart of God was not just that God would dwell *with* us (Emmanuel), but that God would dwell *in* us!  

The traditional idea of Christmas is a celebration of a past event that occurred on a day.  It was simply a shadow of a greater reality that was to come, however.  This greater reality of the incarnation, God in us, is not a past tense event but a present tense reality! 

Why the preoccupation with a day?

This is a revealing question that deserves some attention.  Spiritually speaking, for most of my adult life I have only had an intellectual understanding of the mystery of ‘Christ in us’.  Sadly, I had been presented with a religious message that taught me to see myself as an external follower of Christ rather than someone who was ‘In Christ’.  Basically, I was more focused on trying to be *with* Christ because my heart was not yet awake to the profound reality of the incarnation of Christ *in* us!  As a result, the incarnation of Christ was more of a past tense event to be celebrated on a particular day (Christmas), rather than a reality lived out each day of the year.  

It is interesting to note that the term ‘holiday’ is derived from the words ‘holy day’.  When we are focused on an external event that occurred on a particular day, then that certain day can be seen as *holy* (set apart for God).  Strangely, if we say that only certain days are ‘holy’, by default we are saying that there are also certain days that are not ‘holy’.  Again, when we see the incarnation of Christ as a way of life *in* Christ, and not simply an external event from the past, we will understand that every day is a ‘holiday’ (holy-day).  

Although I did not purposely set out to diminish the importance of the ‘Christmas holiday’, it has naturally (organically) lost its significance as an extra special day the more my spirit has been awakened to the New Testament vision of Jesus Christ.  To be completely honest, everyday seems like a ‘holiday’ (holy-day) the more that I am aware of the greater internal reality of Christ *in* us as a state of being and a way of life.

I don’t think this situation is unique to me, however.  A study of church history will reveal this as well.  It is interesting to note that the New Testament church did not come up with new Christian ‘holy days’ to celebrate the incarnation or the resurrection of Christ.  The resurrected life of Jesus Christ dwelling within the saints was a focus and way of life for much of the New Testament churches.

Unfortunately, toward the end of even the first century, the church began to move away from Jesus Christ as the center and head of the church.  This is why John wrote his gospel toward the end of the first century.  It was a call to refocus the church on the person of Jesus Christ.  As you may know, however, by the second and third centuries, the majority of Christendom had lost the New Testament vision of Jesus Christ and had returned to Old Covenant external thinking.  

The Old Testament is filled with shadows and pictures of Christ such as ‘holy-days’, the physical temple, sacrifices, a selective priesthood, etc… When Jesus Christ came on the scene, however, He is the fulfillment of all the ‘holy-days’.  He is the true temple.  He was the perfect sacrifice.  He is the ultimate high priest.  Now that we are ‘in Christ’, every day is ‘holy’.  We are His body, the temple.  We all have received His priesthood, etc…  All those Old Testament pictures have been fulfilled *in* Christ and are replaced by Christ.   

Again, church history clearly reveals that even after a few hundred years, the majority of the churches (not all) had lost sight of Christ and began to return to an Old Testament external temple mentality, selective priesthood, etc…this is also when we begin to see an emphasis on the creation of new Christian ‘holy-days’ (Christmas & Easter, etc…).  There is much more that I could say about this, but that is another article for another day.  The point is, when we lose sight of the New Testament vision of Jesus Christ (Head and Body), we will always revert back to a man made religious focus on the externals.

What am I saying?

Please understand, I am NOT saying that you should not celebrate ‘holidays’ like Christmas or Easter.  I strongly disagree with those who would attempt to make a law where we have freedom in Christ.  We can behold the Lord in just about any situation.  If you want to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th, January 8th, July 4th, etc…you are free to do that.  I also understand that there is a strong cultural / family element to these ‘holidays’ as well.  I take no issue with that.  

What I am asking you to do, however, is to take note of what has occurred.  ’Holidays’ (like Christmas and Easter) were not invented in a vacuum.  There is a reason they were invented.  There is also a reason why these ‘holy-days’ are so important in institutional Christendom.  Think about it.

I’ll leave you with a few questions that could be food for thought for you and your family over Christmas dinner this year…   

Do you see the incarnation of Christ as simply a past tense event? 

Do you experience the incarnation of Christ as a present tense reality within yourself and a body of believers who are living by Christ’s divine life together?

Do you see some days as ‘holy’ (set apart for God) while others are just ‘regular’?

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!