All day today both in the communities of Oakwood and Brookside my friends at The City of Hope Outreach (www.cityhopeoutreach.com) are hosting what we call "The Christmas Store". The way it works is each family that wants to participate pays $5 per child and receive vouchers for the store. The vouchers include toys, books, and clothing for each child. The purpose of the store is to provide the families in the park with gifts for Christmas without taking away dignity from the parents in the process. This is an event I look forward to each year and I just wanted to take this time to give them a shout out and also to use this initiative to discuss an issue that often times Christians in the Church overlook this time of year--a matter of dignity.
The holidays can often be a very stressful time for everyone with planning, multiple stops, food, what to get everyone, etc. But, this time of the year can be especially hard on those in lower income areas because of the struggle to provide a memorable time for their families on little to no means. Most of us know this. Those of us who grew up in church can remember going with our youth group and taking either food or clothes or toys to families that were selected by the church in lower-income areas. But I want to push back for a moment. Is that really the best thing we could be doing Church? We show up to this house, be the equivalent of Santa to his family and walk away filled with "Christmas cheer" about all that we did. Still, while you were there did you look in the corner? There sits the parent, grateful that his or her kid(s) is getting Christmas but at the same time is crippled with the feeling that they couldn't do this for their children themselves. Unintentionally, in the name of Jesus, we have taken dignity away from this parent. Perhaps there's another option....
Let's go back to the house and start this again. For the sake of this scenario let's say it's a single mom named Jill. The difference is this time, you aren't going to a random person's house, you have been visiting Jill occasionally and have recently built a new friendship with her and her little boy. Over coffee a couple of weeks ago, Jill let it slip that she was stressed out because she didn't think she was going to be able to do Christmas this year for her son. Her car has been acting up a lot and she has had to use the money she has been saving for that expense. You listen and begin to think of a way that you can serve your new friend and show her the Gospel. Just buying her son gifts actually does more harm than good because in an effort to serve you would actually be taking away the opportunity from this mom to give to her child. You think....how can we serve this family and still let this hard working mama have the dignity of doing for her child this holiday season? Come alongside don't do for. Come along side don't do for. When we do for people whether it is in an area of benevolence or another area of life, we don't promote ownership and dignity but the opposite, dependence and despair. Taking that principle to heart, you invite Jill to shop with you one afternoon. You share with her that you have been praying for her and know how stressed out she's been. You shop with her and tell her that you can pay for half. Ownership and dignity is kept in tact. This single mom is able to give gifts to her little boy. Did she need help? Yes, we all do from time to time but at the end of the day you did it with her. You helped come along side and were a bridge.
Jesus tells us something very special about our heavenly Father in Matthew 7. Here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us, "Or which one of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" And again James, who heard this sermon, echoes a truth in his epistle when he says in chapter 1 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with who there is no variation or shadow due to change." Our Father has given us many great gifts. Among those is the gift of Life, and not just life, but life full of dignity. Even when we failed him and we left dead, hopeless, and without dignity because of our sin, The Father chose to give us good gifts anyway by sending us his Son. Jesus the Advocate stood in the gap and took the punishment for our sins and gave us dignity through our new identity in Him. Jesus reconciled our broken relationship with Our Dad. This holiday season Christian as we go out spreading our Christmas cheer, in the name of Jesus, take a second to think on the implications of every thing we are doing. Are we showing a very clear picture of the Gospel in our giving? Think about the poor this season, but don't just do it to gain "jewels" in your crowns(that don't exists anyway). DECK THE HALLS WITH DIGNITY.
Merry Christmas
Gage and Katie Jordan
