Now that the Christmas fever is in the rear-view mirror, we can get on with the normal pace of life. That is, as long as we include in our pace settings the ramifications of this Holy-day.
There is a sort of truth that I must remind myself of nearly every day, which the Scriptures command me to do. Such is the work of sanctification. Then there is truth that I have tucked away far in the underpinnings of my existential reality. I don’t need to remind myself of gravity, or that fire is hot, or that celery doesn’t belong in any meal. These are things that I let live in the realm of assumptions and build my life with them all in place.
And then there are truths that I would love to be joined to that realm of assumptions – things that are clear and consequential – and never to argue on their behalf again. But I lay victim to the efforts of others, ever attempting to create havoc among my ordered views of this world. This third category of truth includes dogmas that were, at one point, in the category of accepted assumptions, but were brought forward for questioning. The reality of objective gender roles, for example, seems like an obvious idea we can agree on and tuck away neatly, moving on to more productive conversations. But, that second category also includes the truth of the depravity of man, hence creating endless opportunities for defense.
The ramifications of Christmas are exactly the kind of thing that I would love to have in my second category. However, it was the will of the Maker for me to be born at such a time as this, when not only must we proclaim to the world what Christmas implies, but also to a large portion of the Christian Church. And so, to this end, I would like to devote a few words.
We rightly extol men to sing praises to Christ on Christmas, and not stop short at seasonal tunes. What we have been declaring this last month leading up to Christmas Day is the same message the angel told the shepherds:
“‘For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’” – Luke 2:11, ESV
Around these words revolves our joyful worship. The ramifications of this event are manifold, and endless praises are sung in light of them all. Without the incarnation of the Messiah, there is no salvation for mankind.
The passage is well-known, and the essence is simple enough, even for Linus to explain what Christmas is all about. We know that Christmas is about the coming of Christ. And, by the looks of it, it seems our understanding of what that means for the world and for our calendar is set for a Charlie Brown’s Christmas as well. We’ve failed to grasp the depth and breadth of the arrival of the Anointed Lord.
Christians around the world confess that Jesus is Lord. It’s a pre-requisite to be in the club. But, by my mere observation, it seems that not everybody means the same thing with that confession.
Behind door number one, we have the Christian who confesses a personal Lord. “Jesus is my Lord. I submit to Him. I confess His Lordship, read my Bible, go to church on Sundays, and live in a way that demonstrates my morality.” There isn’t anything wrong with that, per se. It almost seems I can carry on about my business without any worries. But then, as I start to close the door, I see something fishy. I see this Christian go to his place of employment and leave his Christian hat at the door. I see him attend a government school board meeting, and not bring it with him there. I’m actually not sure why he’s even at a government school board meeting, but I leave that question unanswered. This isn’t a time for nit-picking. I see him in conversation with unbelievers, and there he doesn’t appeal to any Christian standards. But then, on his way back home, he dusts off his “Jesus is Lord” hat and puts it back on his head. “Well,” he says when pressed on it, “Jesus is my Lord. He isn’t theirs.”
Behind door number two, we have another Christian. He, too, confesses the Lordship of Christ. This one, though, is a bit more theologically savvy. When asked what he means by the Lordship of Christ, he explains that Jesus is not only his personal Lord but is Lord of the Church. “The kingdom of God is the Church,” he says, “a spiritual kingdom which Jesus rules with His special revelation.” He goes on to elaborate about the difference between the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God. He explains that the kingdom of the world is a temporal passing kingdom, which we as Christians are pilgrims in. He throws in some quotations from Augustine’s City of God and the works of Martin Luther. He elaborates that as citizens of the spiritual kingdom of God, we need not concern ourselves with earthly, temporal worries, at least not in the same way that we concern ourselves with church engagements. Only when the kingdom of the world collides with ecclesiastical authority must we be involved, and then only in defense. This lovely gentleman explains that we don’t allow government officials to prescribe methods of worship and regulate content of teaching, including mandatory masking during worship or whether or not we can council a member of the church away from a sinful lifestyle. “And if the governing authorities threaten you with prison?” I ask him. “So be it.” He answers. “Jesus is Lord of the church.” His theology seems promising. But there’s also something a bit off key about it at times.
In order to gain a little clarity, I press on him. I ask him if he opposes mandatory vaccinations. He answers in the affirmative. I ask him for his grounds of opposition. And this is where the funny business starts to unravel. The well-read gentleman starts to appeal to natural law and reason for his opposition to mandatory vaccinations. “What about the authority of Jesus? Would you appeal to His Lordship here?” I naively ask.
“Young man, I have already explained to you, that Jesus is Lord of the church. His revelatory authority only applies in that sphere. Sure, He is technically Lord of the earthy kingdom as Creator, if you want to use that language, but He rules that kingdom only through natural law. His special revelation and redemptive authority don’t apply in the civil sphere.”
And this, my friends, is why there are certain realities which, although I would love to leave at rest in the realm of assumptions, I regretfully cannot. I open doors and ask questions. And then I wonder why I don’t get enough sleep.
The confession of the Lordship of Christ is the fundamental Christian confession.
“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9
And yet, what is meant by that statement across the confessional church is vastly different. It is why, I believe, we are in the middle of an ecclesiastical shake up. Churches from the same denominations are in division. Christians from the same church are not in alignment. All of it revolving around what is meant by the confession, “Christ is Lord.”
The problem with identifying a civil sphere and not laying it under the authority of Christ as revealed in Scripture, is that you are not left with the option of floating it in mid-air. Civilization depends on justice, which depends on a shared morality. And morality has to be grounded in something. If we refuse to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord of the public square, which He rules with a clear, divine standard, we are not left with some quasi-neutral zone of no-man’s land. What we are left with is an authoritative vacuum, which fills with the gross dictates of humanism faster that the Taliban took over Afghanistan.
“Christ the Lord is born to save” shoots at the heart of man’s grasp for power over his fellow man. It is not a peaceful proclamation. It is a victor’s herald. The confession demands submission from every sphere – personal, ecclesiastical, and civil. It’s the kind of power that tyrants lust after. And it’s why we tell them, “No.” Because Christ is Lord.
The Christmas confession that Christ the Lord is born to save does not only have ramifications for our personal lives, or our church engagements. The ramifications of Christmas go before us into every room, and span across all of creation, the invisible and the visible. “Christ is Lord” is a personal confession, an ecclesiastical creed, and a civil declaration.
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