AVOIDING THE SINS OF SODOM AT CHRISTMAS

[Stan]

AVOIDING THE SINS OF SODOM AT CHRISTMAS
The statement "sins of Sodom" often makes quiet people very vocal, and vocal people even more so. Memories of TV evangelists speaking of the evil come back to life when these words are heard. But before we go much further, what is the biblical definition of the sins of Sodom? "Sodom's sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door" (Ezek. 16:49, NLT).

I hear religious groups state that we need to "put Christ back in Christmas," calls to protest stores that say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," and even read about boycotts of entire shopping centres. But I believe that if we want to put Christ back in Christmas, we must avoid the sins of Sodom — by practising sincere Christianity.

James 1:27, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you" (NLT). We can help struggling single mothers by providing gifts for their children and tasty food for a Christmas dinner. We can help the widows who face spending the holidays alone by inviting them to our family table. That is putting the Christ back in Christmas.

I know a group of people that sends gifts to children with a tag that reads, "Love, Mom." The kicker is that they send these gifts on behalf of mothers who are in prison. I remember the story of a police officer that came to arrest a single mom who was caught shoplifting presents for her children. The officer told the store manager that he would personally cover the cost of the goods.

There are students at our Adventist boarding academies who cannot go home at Christmastime, so staff and community welcome them in to their own homes. We can avoid the sins of Sodom by doing things to give folks a helping hand and strengthen their families and lives. Show them love and let them talk about love. Let's all put Christ back in Christmas.
Stan

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

1 hour ago, The Wanderer said:

Whenever someone posts one of those "put back the Christ in Christmas;"  and says to "share" it, I just delete it. The way I figure it is that if you have to post something like that to the public who does not live or believe just like you, then you have other, more serious problems yourself.

just as an aside, posts on social media that request the reader to "like" and/or "share" are nothing more than click bait, generally for phony pages that gather a bunch of followers, then the pages are sold.  And the folks who "liked and shared" end up getting spammed.

**back to topic**