Colossians 2:16-17 - Our Witness during Religious Seasons

Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”

We come once more to the last month of the calendar year, a time of year when the world itself preaches “peace” and “joy”, “tolerance” and “forgiveness”, and even “love” and “friendship” but those are words to be spoken, posters to be shown in shopping malls, and TV specials. The reality is of course that words, no matter what they may be, are given their value through the actions of those speaking them. This is why James writes that we may have Faith, but he will show us his Faith through the works that he does (James 2:18). When we see two ladies fighting over towels in the aisle at a megastore, or two children fighting over a toy in the aisles of a toystore, all right after Thanksgiving, we see that, despite the words being spoken, people are not following their words. This month is full of dichotomy's and hypocrisy, a month practically dedicated to caring for others tends to have the most selfishness shown. A month about loving your fellow-man seems to have more incidents of parking-lot rage than allowing the other right of-way. Everyone is afflicted, you and I as well.

As Christians, we need to be wary and alert. Its too easy in the stress of this string of close-together holidays for our worldly and human nature to come to the forefront of our behavior patterns.  We become overly judgmental of everyone and how they celebrate.  We throw a fit about people taking Christmas away from us Christians – but we neglect to remember that we celebrate Christ's birthday on the former Roman holiday of Saturnalia so that Christians could avoid being persecuted on special celebrations.  We will wine about saying things like “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” when in actuality we don't know what holiday the other person celebrates – and Christmas falls during Hanukkah this year!  We ourselves neglect the teachings of Christ during the time we celebrate His birth!

Its not about how or when we celebrate, or even if we celebrate, but rather how our hearts are.  Whether we go all out and decorate festively covering every spare inch of room with decorations and lights or we just pull on a Santa Hat to make others happy, its where our hearts are that really matter; and where-ever our hearts are is what is going to influence our external actions towards others.  Christ is the true reality. Christ every day, Christ in every choice, Christ, in every word, Christ in every action. If everything is about Christ for us at all times, then in reality everyday is both Christmas and Resurrection Sunday. Everyday is especially special for us, which means that there aren't any days that are less special or more special. We pick out certain days, however, to allow us to truly celebrate and emphasize the specialness, to get away from the humdrum of daily life and refocus on Him.

This year, lets make an effort to be more Christlike when dealing with people, be it at the mall, or at work. That angry lady who just cut us off in traffic is made in the image of Christ, the homeless man on the street corner is also created in the image of Christ. Our bosses and teachers represents Christ's authority at work and school and our co-workers know things (and see things) we may not.  Our actions, especially around this time of year are more representative to people about what we believe than what we say. Lets be good witnesses and stay faithful to what we know, not allowing the world to gain a foothold this season, but holding strong to Christ.

This is a sight that gladdens; what peace it doth impart!
Now nothing ever saddens the joy within my heart.
No gloom shall ever shake, no foe shall ever take,
The hope which God’s own Son in love for me hath won.
                                                           Paul Gerhardt, 1648.