Here We Go Again—CONTROVERSY!

I can’t believe it! I saw this post a few days ago over at Todd’s blog...and then I discovered this just a few minutes ago at CNN’s wesite.

Christians, you know—the people who supposedly have Jesus in their hearts—the people who are supposed to be known for their love for one another—the people who are going to be spending eternity together…are FIGHTING again!

And what is the issue about? What has caused such a stir that the national media has gotten involved? Is it one of those life changing things that REALLY matters such as which version of the Bible one chooses to read or how a person chooses to dress when they come to church?

Sadly enough the thing that we are pegged as fighting about is on that level.

The controversy that has stirred up Christians across the world—and I am POSITIVE is currently shaking the Kingdom of heaven is…DRUM ROLL PLEASE…is your church going to be having a worship service on Christmas Day!

AHHHHHHH!

I know, I know—I totally just messed up your day! You are probably going to have to go home at take the rest of the day to ponder this incredibly riveting theological issue! If you are at home you might need to call into work and tell them that you are so moved by this controversy that you are unsure if you will even be able to come back to work…for the rest of the year!!!

People—please—it’s not worth fighting about! (Actually, MOST of the things Christians choose to fight over are not worth fighting over!)

So what is NewSpring stance on this? (This will be fuel for some legalists I know!) :-)

We are NOT having service on Christmas Day.

AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Now before you begin to rant and say, “I knew it—that church is…” and then proceed to describe all the things that you may disagree with regarding this decision…hear me out—we thought about it—and YES, we PRAYED about it (we do a lot of that around here) and decided not to have a Christmas Day service for the following reasons.

#1 - There is NOT a BIBLICAL MANDATE for it!

Nowhere in Scripture does it say that a church HAS to meet on Christmas Day—especially when it falls on Sunday. And from what many of us have discovered—SERIOUS problems develop when we begin to add rules to God’s word that are not in God’s Word. (There was actually a group of people in Scripture who did that—they were called the Pharisees!)

I personally love God’s Word—I read it every day—I believe it is perfect—BUT I see no instructions as to how to handle this situation. So because each church is free to choose different methods and styles and long as SCRIPTURE is not compromised—this is the way we are going this year.

#2 - We ARE Going To Worship Together On The 23rd and the 24th.

One of the “traditions” that NewSpring has established over the past several years is our Christmas Eve service. Last year we had nearly 3,000 people attend one of the three identical services we offered—and a good time was had by all!

When we have an opportunity to reach out and minister to people who will not normally come to church—we go ALL OUT! We have been working on ideas for Christmas Eve for over three months…and we are currently seeing some awesome things come together. I believe this year will be the best presentation of the Gospel that we have ever given.

Our service times are going to be at 4:00 and 6:00 on Friday night (the 23rd) and then 10:00, 12:00, and 2:00 the next day (the 24th.) We are considering this time to be our weekly gathering so that people are free on Christmas Day to spend time with their family.

#3 - We Understand That People Have A Life!

NewSpring currently employees around 43 people—AND we also have a HUGE volunteer base. I often say that I believe we have the most awesome volunteers on the planet—they show up every week and allow Jesus to work through Him to grow His church.

And these people have a life…outside of church…which is an incredibly difficult concept for MOST pastors to grasp.

Our staff and volunteers are PUMPED about Christmas Eve—we already have people committing to serve for multiple services. And our staff members, with very few exceptions, are always here for all five services…loving Jesus and others.

I am right now thinking about our production team and the hundreds of hours it is going to take for them to put together an incredible presentation of the Gospel…to ask them to come back the next day and do it all again—FOUR TIMES—is too much for me to ask of them.

For me to ask our volunteers to come BACK to church the following day after they have already altered plans…and many have delayed going out of town just to be at church…would be wrong. These people have a life.

Pastors…legalists…I know you are HATING me right now (don’t do it—Jesus said to love me!) But understand that it is NOT a sin to move your day of worship from Sunday to Friday and Saturday. Are we still going to worship Jesus? Yep! Is the Gospel still going to be preached? Yep! Is God’s kingdom going to be enlarged? Yep! So if all this is true then what is the problem?

Personally—I think it all has to do with personal preferences and NOT precepts…and once again, this mindset is VERY dangerous! If having church on Christmas Day is right for your church then go for it; however, our church has chosen to live in the freedom Christ provides and moved our day of worship because we feel that will enable us to get the Gospel to as many as possible…and none of us think God is MAD ABOUT IT! :-)

For those who attend NewSpring—thank you for reading this blog today—many of you already knew about this decision and are excited about it. For the few who might have been unaware that we are not having services on Sunday, December 25 I would encourage you to spend some time with your family and worship Jesus together. I know several families that actually bake Jesus a birthday cake…then THEY eat it. (WHAT A DEAL!)

And for those who do not attend and are looking in from the outside…if your church decides to have church on the 25th then that is awesome! Go! Worship! Celebrate! Invite people!

HOWEVER, do not try to claim that churches that do not have Christmas Eve services are somehow less godly then yours—that would be, well, let’s see—looking down on others and thinking that you are somehow better because you are doing more…sounds like some people in Scripture Jesus had serious issues with.

Merry Christmas! :-)