At some point in the near future, I will return to my plan as discussed in “A Biblical Response to the Ecumenical Monoculture” and then quickly transition into another topic that I am rather anxious to discuss. However, until then I want to offer a couple reflections on the Scriptures and Christmas. Below is on of my favorite passages about the birth of Christ and brief reflections on it.

1And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, Revelation 12:1-5

The woman, the nation of Israel, is being tormented and pursued by a great red dragon, Satan, who seeks to devour her child, Jesus Christ. All the nations will be subject to the absolute and universal rule of Christ. The latter part of verse five speaks of Christ crushing Satan’s rebellion and ascending into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, Acts 2:24, Hebrews 1:3). The birth of Christ does not represent the birth of a cute and giggly child. The birth of Christ represents the coming of The King to crush Satan’s rebellion and take back His kingdom by force. This was, and still is, a war and Satan knew it. Herod too feared the birth of The King and though Christ was just a child he too was determined to destroy Him (Matthew 2:13-16).

I love the line in “O Little Town of Bethlehem” that says, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” Too often, I sing this hymn and miss the sheer weight of these few words. The hopes and fears of all eternity, everyone who has ever lived, are met in Christ. He meets our hope in that for our sake God made Christ, who knew no sin, sin so that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God (II Corinthians 5:21). However, as we sing this joyous hymn it comes with the sobering reminder that the birth of Christ is the fulfillment of an eternity of fears, many of which are yet to be recognized. May we never forget that the birth of Christ represents the coming of The King, to whom we must submit, and may this drive us to die reaching the world for Christ, that they too might rejoice in Him.

In recent years, the response to monoculture has been in the form of political activism and legislation. Jonathan Edwards, in Charity and It’s Fruits, proposes a very different response. “A man of a right spirit is not a man of narrow and private views, but is greatly interested and concerned for the good of the community to which he belongs, and particularly of the city or village in which he resides, and for the true welfare of the society of which he is a member. God commanded the Jews that were carried away captive to Babylon, to seek the good of that city, though it was not their native place, but only the city of their captivity. His injunction was (Jer. 29:7), “Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it.” And a man of truly Christian spirit will be earnest for the good of his country, and of the place of his residence, and will be disposed to lay himself out for its improvement.”

He went on to say, “And those that are possessed of the spirit of Christian charity are of a more enlarged spirit still; for they are concerned, not only for the thrift of the community, but for the welfare of the Church of God, and of all the people of God individually. Of such a spirit was Moses, the man of God, and therefore he earnestly interceded for God’s visible people, and declared himself ready to die that they might be spared (Exo. 32:11, 32). And of such a spirit was Paul, who was so concerned for the welfare of all, both Jews and Gentiles, that he was willing to become as they were (1 Cor. 9:19-23), if possibly he might save some of them.”

Jonathan Edwards realized that cultural transformation is dependent upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ first transforming the lives of those within that culture. He makes the extremely important point that our concern must not merely stop at the community but must extend to the Church of God and the individual people of God. I love the phrase “true welfare.” Legislation and political protest is not “true welfare.” The true welfare of any community and every individual is Jesus Christ Himself and we must be willing to lay down our lives sacrificially for Him. The fight for Christmas is not fought within the state legislature, on storefront displays, or in roadside nativity scenes. The fight for Christmas is fought within the heart of every individual and it is fought with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:11-14

The controversy surrounding Christmas is a prime example of the ecumenical monoculture at work. By removing the more blatantly “Christian” symbols surrounding Christmas the resulting, religious strife free, homogeneous culture can peacefully enjoy the holidays.

The fight for Christmas, and the backlash against all things Christian, is merely a symptom of a deeper, older, and more serious problem, the failure to reach America for Christ. This is a result of decades of the embedding of the “American Dream” into Christian culture; thus resulting in the institutionalizing of Christianity. American Christianity is no longer a movement empowered by the Holy Spirit, driven by a passion for Christ, and founded upon the inerrant Word of God.

Modern American Christianity is more like the pharisaic religion that Christ stood against. Its finance committees are driven by business strategy and more concerned with what can be done rather than what must be done. Its preaching is more akin to pop psychology and self-help books than the words of the Sovereign Universal Ruler. Its god is lacking in righteousness, limited power, and blasphemous mockery of the Infinitely Righteous, Immeasurably Beautiful, and Unfathomably Powerful God that IS. This is not true of all Christians in America, not all churches in America, it is however the prevailing norm.

Today I read an Associated Press article entitled; Group fights Wal-Mart on ‘happy holidays’. The article reported, “Controversy over the secularization of Christmas is nothing new, but this year religious groups are publicly taking on retailers who have decided to tone down the religious aspects of the holiday in their store decorations and promotional material.”

The New York Times also ran an article entitled, Good Will Took a Holiday, Whatever You Call It. The New York Times reports; “At a Christmas tree lighting ceremony recently in Manhasset, N.Y., a crowd of 200 gasped at the intemperate words uttered by a public official who was angry at a priest for an invocation the official considered too religious.” Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman is quoted as saying “This is inappropriate, I just want to make it clear that this is in no way a religious ceremony.” In addition, an elementary school in Dodgeville, Wisconsin modified the lyrics of “Silent Night” “to eliminate religious references.”

The fact remains, and will always remain, that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and to claim otherwise is simply ludicrous. The advocates of ecumenism want all the trappings of Christmas without having to acknowledge that it represents the birth of THE KING to which every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every will tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Now that I have thoroughly profiled the ecumenical monoculture I plan to set forth what a Biblical response to it should be. Once I begin to lay forth a Biblical response to the ecumenical monoculture, my posts will be titled by the verses, which are exposited therein. These posts will be interrupted occasionally by cultural commentary, breaking news, and anything else that I deem of importance. Before I begin addressing a Biblical response to the ecumenical monoculture, I find it necessary to offer an introduction, albeit a lengthy one, to the topic with the following series of posts.

The Danger of the Monoculture: I Timothy 4:15-16

The Threat of the Monoculture: Acts 4:12

The Sin of the Monoculture: Romans 1:18-23

The Reality of the Monoculture: Matthew 7:15-23, II Timothy 4:3, II Peter 2:1-3, and Jude 1:3-4

The Answer to the Monoculture: II Corinthians 10:5, Jude 1:17-25