\u2018Familiarity breeds contempt\u2019. There are celebrations like Christmas that initially fill us with awe.\u00a0\u00a0But as time goes on we become indifferent and sometimes even cynical about them<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n Whenever familiarity produces contempt we are potentially in danger. We begin to accept things unthinkingly and our responses become automatic, disconnected. For example, amidst the familiar trappings of the lights and music of Christmas we can easily be blind and deaf to the explosive significance of the humility of God. We are so familiar with the birth of Jesus that we forget that it fulfilled God\u2019s ancient promise that a young woman would bear a son whose name would be\u00a0\u2018Immanuel\u2019 \u2013 God with us<\/i><\/b>\u00a0(Isaiah 7:14).<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s important we think about this, for\u00a0Christmas celebrates the birth of a man who stands unique in history<\/b>. We see it in the records of the integrity of his character, his compassion for the needy, the profundity yet simplicity of his teaching, and in the extraordinary powers he wielded.<\/span><\/p>\n Hegel,\u00a0the German philosopher, commented,\u00a0\u201cOne of the lessons of history is that we don\u2019t learn from history\u201d<\/b>. Secular progressivism\u2019s outright denial of the reality of the uniqueness of Christianity\u2019s founder is one of the tragedies of our age. Jesus Christ is not just great: he is goodness incarnate. His voice is the voice we desperately need to hear and heed.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet such is our nature that we need to re-learn the truth about Jesus, generation to generation. It is easy to forget the lessons of the past. So we\u2019re tempted to ask, \u2018Is God really in control?\u2019 \u2018Does he really care?\u2019 \u2018Has he left us alone to fend for ourselves?\u2019 \u2018Is there any hope for the future?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Back in the day of Isaiah the prophet, it would seem that these kinds of questions were in the mind of King Ahaz when he was confronted by the Assyrian threat on his northern border. It was in this situation that the prophet Isaiah spoke:\u00a0\u2018Keep calm Ahaz. God will give you a sign \u2013 any sign, all you have to do is ask\u2019<\/b>\u00a0(Isaiah 7: 10).<\/span><\/p>\n But Ahaz was not interested in any sign. Even though God had given him this special offer to demonstrate that history was in God\u2019s control, Ahaz refused. 2 Kings 15 reveals that\u00a0Ahaz chose to do it his way<\/b>: he paid tribute to the Assyrian king in the hope the danger would go away. Ahaz turned his back on the familiar \u2013 the lessons of Israel\u2019s past. Prayer and listening to God\u2019s Word was not part of his response.<\/span><\/p>\n We can be like Ahaz.\u00a0We ignore the enormous influence for good that Christianity has had on the western world and\u00a0we look for human solutions and not God\u2019s solutions<\/b>. A study of God\u2019s Word and prayer are not the way we respond to life\u2019s challenges. We have allowed a liberal, secular progressivism to drive our thinking, even in our churches.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet what does this have to offer? In its apparent humanitarianism,\u00a0secular progressivism appears to resemble Christianity<\/b>\u00a0in that it encourages tolerance, love, understanding and the relief of poverty and injustice. But at its center, it is myopic and cruel, because it teaches that this life is the only life. It ignores the lessons of history that reveal that God not only exists\u00a0but that he has acted in great humility to serve our greatest need.<\/span><\/p>\n Secular progressivism fosters the current preoccupation with security which can infect us. The first Christians did not expect security! For them the incarnation and the events of the life, death, and resurrection were real. Their security, their life, were rooted in God and his Word. The daily insecurities of the decaying Roman Empire with its organized persecutions did not affect their basic confidence. They looked for the day when Christ would return. Indeed, they heeded Jesus\u2019 words: \u201cStay awake at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man\u201d (Luke 21:36).<\/span><\/p>\n Familiarity with the Christmas story can breed an indifference to the miracle of the incarnation.\u00a0Are you praying that the Spirit of God will keep your faith fresh, confident in God\u2019s promises?<\/b>\u00a0Are you praying that God\u2019s Spirit will awaken hearts that have grown cold towards him because familiarity has bred contempt? Recent research shows that one-third of those who have not been in church for six months would accept an invitation to go to church. Christmas is a great time to invite them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a9 John G. Mason<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FAMILIARITY \u2018Familiarity breeds contempt\u2019. There are celebrations like Christmas that initially fill us with awe.\u00a0\u00a0But as time goes on we become indifferent and sometimes even cynical about them. Whenever familiarity produces contempt we are potentially in danger. We begin to accept things unthinkingly and our responses become automatic, disconnected. For example, amidst the familiar trappings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-on-wednesday"],"yoast_head":"\nHow would we respond if we celebrated Christmas only once every ten years?<\/span><\/h2>\n
SIGNS<\/h2>\n
SECULAR PROGRESSIVISM<\/h2>\n
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