Another tradition of the season
I was out viewing one of the more time honored Christmas traditions of modern times tonight.
That one would be the "church youth Christmas program".
I have been familiar with those occasions since long before I became a Christian. The church I was at tonight was not my home church, but one who's Sunday night services I attend, mostly because the church is right down the street from where I live!
And we all know the reasons why churches have such things. It's nice, it's seasonal, and it's a way for church families to get their kids involved in church activities. And if you buy the church's premise, such programs can also be used as an outreach...to the kids' peers and whoever else may wander by the church that night.
I suppose they could do that, indeed...but my naturally cynical nature tells me that such programs are more for the parents of the kids than for the kids themselves. They can point to their cute kid in his/her cute Christmas costume and brag about how cute he/she is. And they can snap seemingly dozens of pictures of their little darlings for their family albums.
Besides, the plays always have good themes and present good messages, and what faithful church-going parent would not prefer their child be involved with something like that instead of a Sunday night at the video arcade?
Tonight's play was called "For God So Loved The World" and told the story of a child who'd heard the Christmas story all her life but really didn't GET it...because her folks brought her up in the secular Christmas traditions more so than the Christian ones.
And really, what is so wrong with that? And despite the predictable off-key renditions of Christams songs(cute in an 8-year old, not so cute in a 12-year old), my cynical nature had to face the reality of the moment...maybe the kids involved in the program may actually learn more about the faith from being in this program...and if that is the case, that is a very good thing!
And maybe the parents who helped the children learn their parts for the play may also be doing the same thing.
Could this be what the phrase "And a little child shall lead them" might mean?
Maybe...just maybe. And even cynical old me can't deny that God can work through the most odd of settings...and if He is, who am I to scoff at kids who occasionally forget their lines...and can't carry a tune if it had handles, or was packed in a Samsonite?
Wherever He is praised...that's a good place to be! And even a picky snit like me can appreciate the efforts of anyone who's involved at trying to re-tell the greatest story ever told...no matter how they do it!
So, yes, it was good for me to be there tonight...I need to be reminded that God hates my misplaced cynicism more than He winces at blue notes sung by church kids in a play!
Posted on Dec 18, 2006 - 01:14 AM | [0]
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