MegaChurches Closed for Christmas

In the paper this last week was an article mentioning that some of the "MegaChurches" in our country have decided to not have services on Christmas morning because it falls on a Sunday this year. The reason for this is they have determined many of the people they are trying to reach are not going to be there on Sunday because they are "outreach" people who will most likely be at home with their families that morning. In order to accomodate and make it more feasible for new people to attend they are expanding their weekend service times by adding services on Friday and Saturday. Well, as a response to that, in our paper today, an editorial was written by a pastor in our town about how wrong it was for them to do that. In his article he specifically mentioned Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, Il close to Chicago and then went on to say how they are selling out to today's culture and that people have been celebrating this for 2000 years etc. I can't seem to stomach the audacity of some people who claim to be the "leaders" of the church today. He even ended his editorial by saying come in your PJ's , bring your coffee, but come to church we will be open at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. Did he really care that they are not having service or was he just advertising that He's better than everyone else? I know you haven't read the article, but have you ever felt like people are tying to bring people to their church off the back of other churches? I do. It's as if there are not enough people out there who don't have relationship with Christ that they have to try and enhance them from other churches. I wish he could have at least tried to get his facts right when it comes to the "they've been doing it for 2000 years" thing. Church didn't look much like what we call it today, especially in this town, let alone at his local church. When did we get to the point in the "Christian world" that we felt it was ok to act like we knew it all and that we had it all figured out? When did we begin to tell God, "ok, I'll take it from here" I think what seems to be happening more and more is that we are missing the point. It's actually an art form anymore. The point is not attendance in a service, but service itself. It's the realization that we have been commissioned to serve one another, to love one another, to have relation with one another. We have not been called to gather. I believe that tradition has value, but tradition for tradition's sake is valueless. By stating that this needs to be done because they have done this for 2000 years is the same as saying we should drill holes in our heads to let the evil spirits out when we have a headache. It's what they've always done. I don't remember seeing anywhere in scripture specificallythat we are to gather each year to celebrate Chirst's birth. What I do read spicifially is that we are to celebrate his sacrifice and ressurrection through the sacraments as times to remember Christ's sacrifice. Can that be done on Christmas morning, sure, but can it be celebrated throughout the year? It should be. See, the birth of Christ was a sacrifice for Him. He left His heavenly glory to dwell among us. Thus, whenever we partake in the last supper, we not only are remembering the cross, but also the birth. It was in both cases that blood had to flow in order for us to have relation with the Father. It's not about the season, it's not really about the birth, it's really about the sacrifice. It's about God in flesh stooping down in an effort to rescue us from ourselves...from our selfishness and showing us how to give up our "glory" for the sole of another. That's what I want from Christmas this year. I don't want to go to church, I want to be the church. That's my prayer for you this year too. Anyway, that's my first real rambling. Hope it pushed your buttons.