Dear friend,
Merry 8th Day of Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here are the five resolutions I encourage you to take seriously as members of local churches in 2020:
a) Resolved to attend corporate worship every Lord’s Day unless providentially hindered. We live in a society that treasures entertainment and personal hobbies on Sundays but God has made his commandments clear. If you compromise on this, you are placing your offspring at the altar of preference and convenience and the fruit will be disastrous.
b) Resolved to be engaged in the life of fellowship. This is, of course, an extension of the first though it does not carry the weight of the first. The solution to knowing your community is to be around it beyond Sunday morning. There are activities where it is good and right to attend and there are seasons where attending such activities/events are not profitable nor necessary. Wisdom needs to be considered often. For the life of any Christian body to grow in love and holiness, you are going to have to work extra hard to maintain good community life which demands a commitment, but is rewarding beyond measure.
c) Resolved to grow in the knowledge of God and His Word. One of the great threats of our day is apathy: Christians who sit week after week without growing in the knowledge of the Bible or who are content with the little knowledge they have. Dear friend, it is a sin to not desire to know more about God. To be indifferent as a Christian is a contradiction to the Lordship of Jesus. Jesus demands your souls and bodies. Don’t give him your crumbs.
d) Resolved to be hospitable Christians. Your home—however big or small—is meant to be a garden. I am exhorting you to take your calendars and mark one day a month where you plan to have folks over. Some families are more gifted in this area and will have people over for meals every week—and you are free to go above and beyond—but I am encouraging 12 days a year where you will intentionally invite someone over your home for a meal or dessert or some kind of fellowship. If you need help implementing any of these things, send me a note and I’d be pleased to offer some suggestions. As one who has been practicing hospitality since the beginning of our marriage, I have learned much from these years and am eager to share any lessons.
e) Resolved to live out the Church Calendar in 2020. Depending on your context in a local church, you can still practice many of these things as families and on your own. If your congregation’s leadership is adamantly opposed to the calendar, I would refrain or at the very least talk with them. But in most cases, local churches are indifferent to private practices. Remember that everyone has a calendar. We don’t allow the government or other institutions to determine our calendar. The Church has its own. It takes some practice and creativity to use the calendar wisely. For example, most evangelicals in our culture think that there is only one day of Christmas on the 25th. Anything after the 25th becomes a preparation for the new year. But the Church has set aside 12 days to celebrate Christmas. So, there are things we can do to make these seasons even more festive and meaningful.
In the end, the life of the church is the only true life there is. Live it out faithfully this new year and commit your joys and sorrows to the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ.
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