It’s estimated that Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas every year.* And for what? For a gift that he/she MAY like? How long are they actually going to use that? How long until it’s being sold at a garage sale, given to a church or homeless shelter, or worse, thrown away? My wife and I have decided that this year, we are going to go minimal on the consumer type gifts this year, and instead try to do something a little more helpful to those in need.

I want to mention a few organizations that have really got me thinking in the last year.

TOMS Shoes

One of them is TOMS Shoes. I love the “One for One” model of business they represent. With every pair of shoes we buy, they give away a pair to a child in need. Sustainable giving to help. I love it.

Trade As One

Another is one I recently learned about is called Trade As One. Trade As One is an organization that sells “fair trade” products. In case you don’t know about fair trade, let me give you my version of it. Fair trade employs workers in poverty stricken areas of the world to produce quality products while being well paid. Fair trade helps fight poverty in developing nations by giving opportunities for enterprise and sustainable business. From the Trade As One website:

There are two crises that keep us awake at night. First, the crisis of extreme poverty that defines much of the developing world. Second, the empty consumerism that has left much of the developed world bereft of meaning and purpose. We believe Fair Trade is a way to alleviate both.

Advent Conspiracy

The last is probably the most spiritual, and I think really hits the heart of consumerism at it’s peak moment. Advent Conspiracy was started a few years ago by a group of pastors who were fed up enough with the consumer version of Christmas that they decided to bring the story of Christmas back to it’s roots. Instead of spending hundreds of billions on gifts that will most likely be tossed aside, spend less on those gifts, and give gifts that people REALLY want. Gifts of relationship, hope, and life. And the money that wsn’t spent? Give it to really help some people. What started as a few churches in the first year giving $500,000 to build wells in Africa, turned into $3 million the second year. And it’s continuing to grow.

This holiday, lets not forget what they are REALLY all about. Worshipping God the way the shepherds and wise men did. Giving like the wise men gave. Loving like our God did.

*From adventconspiracy.org

The typical human lies at least three times every ten minutes. I don’t mean the flat out, intentional lies. I mean all the tiny ones. What do we lie about? Usually, we lie about what is really going on inside of us. We would rather have the appearance of being ok than being real and vulnerable to people and to God.

I wish that at the moment I accepted Christ into my life and my sins were forgiven, that all of my flaws and weaknesses went away too. But they didn’t. The rest of my life is now a journey to become more like Christ. I have now been in this thing for 25+ years, and I can honestly say, that I haven’t grown 25 years in Christ. Many times, I repeat the same months over and over again.

The sad part is, for many people, this is where the lie comes in. We think that the amount of years we have been saved equals the amount of maturity we have in Christ. And this is simply not true.

The people of Judah are like those who remove landmarks…The people of Ephraim will also be crushed because of My judgment. Therefore, I will be to Ephraim like a moth and to Judah, like rottenness.
Hosea 5:10-12

God was fed up with Isreal when He said this to Hosea. But what does this mean? In order to really get this verse, some background is necessary.

Landmarks in the Old Testament served two purposes. They served as tokens of remembrance of something that God did in the past. Our nation has monuments. Same idea. Remember the past.

Landmarks also served as boundaries. Much like the Rio Grande is a boundary between the United States and Mexico, Old Testament landmarks were geographical boundaries. They were also moral boundaries. They were standards set for the people by which they were to live their life.

So what does that mean for us? As a Christian, I can look back on a time when God did something very real in my life. He came at an opportune time, He provided when there was no provision, etc. I can look at definite moments where God stepped in to my life. Those are my “landmarks.”

Along with that, I can also see times where God was trying to get my attention about an area in my life, and I was either too stubborn to change, or didn’t think it was THAT big of a deal. There were times when I let a little attitude slip past. I let a little negativity slip by unopposed. I let a thought stay a little too long in my mind. Everyone does it. It’s these things, if left unchecked, that cause us to move the landmark. We move the boundary.

And it often looks something like this. As we get older, we might watch a movie we wouldn’t have watched a few years ago. We justify it because we’re older now, and we can “handle it.” Maybe we listen to that popular song, even thought we know we shouldn’t have. Maybe we get a little too close to that guy or girl. Maybe we let our eyes look a little too long at the girl that walks by. And so we move the boundary. Inch by inch, and nothing happens.

What usually happens is that we get to the boundary, and take a tiny step past it, waiting for the giant “DO NOT DO THIS” emotion to hit us so we can turn around. But there is no such emotion.

The rest of the verse talks about moths and rottenness. Both moths and rottenness are things that destroy silently from the inside. If left unchecked, you don’t tend to notice rottenness until the thing is fully rotten. The more we push this envelope with God, the more we are lying to Him. We think we are doing fine, when in reality, we are rotting from the inside. But the Father heart of God says, “Don’t Lie To Me.”

My incredible soon-to-be fiance wrote this, and I thought it was worth sharing.

Human beings have such an ugly tendency to be selfish. It’s not news. We all know that selfishness winds an invisible thread throughout the essence of every person. The holiday season broadcasts the selfish weakness of God’s creation with a resonance of a boom microphone with messages like, “What do you want for Christmas?” And “you deserve_________”.

I believe what was once intended to help celebrate the glory of God’s most definitive act of mercy has become a tool to skew our line between need and want, desire and necessity. Commercialism has taken the name of Christmas, the representation of the purpose of Christmas, and fluffed up the most significant moment in human history. Somewhere lost in the glitter of our tinsel, garland, little lights, massive inflatable snow globes and amazing food, lays the message of God’s love for His creation. The message is hidden, but it’s a message of giving. It seems as though we’ve become caught up in giving with the purpose of receiving something in return. In reality, God gave the first Christmas gift: a life. He only longed for relationship from us. Not a watch, expensive perfume or cashmere, etc. rather; He desired us. He so longed for communion with us that He gave.

How often do we give, just for the sake of giving? It doesn’t have to be monetary; it doesn’t have to be expensive. But, how about just a note letting someone know we care? Or baking an extra 12 cookies for someone? Giving doesn’t have to be expensive. Giving just has to be sincere.

My prayer this year is that with all of the economic turmoil, that we would re-focus the purpose of giving. That my own giving would be consistent and that I would remember the faces of people who have nothing. I pray that God will burn the image of a person on each of our hearts, so that we can offer up a prayer and perhaps, a meal or warm blanket. I pray we won’t lose our purpose in the frenzy of commercialism. I pray that Christians will begin to act instead of gossip, pray instead of scowl and hug instead of turn away.

Christmas can [still] change the world. This year, Give Presence.
- Taken from Advent Conspiracy