Is "Slate" part of the Advent Conspiriacy?

Our church has been taking part in a movement called "The Advent Conspiracy." It an attempt to recapture God's purpose for Christmas, and centers around four key concepts:

1) Worship Fully
2) Spend Less
3) Give More
4) Love All

Check out the details at www.adventconspiracy.org.

Meanwhile, I found this article on "Slate" that shares some of the same ideas from a secular perspective.
http://www.slate.com/id/2236567/pagenum/all/#p2

Yes - you can have a better Christmas this year!

A Little Shot of Christianity

Despite loud protests from the kids, we’ve all received our flu vaccinations. Both kinds – H1N1 and seasonal flu.  Fortunately, the kids got their H1N1 vaccinations nasally.  Unfortunately, we got ours with the biggest doggone needle I’ve ever seen my doctor stick into a vial!

Isn’t it amazing how vaccinations work? They give you just a tiny bit of something bad, your body recognizes it as bad, and develops an immunity to the infection from that point forward.  Pretty cool the way God made us.

On the other hand, I sometimes worry that well-meaning Christians do a similar job of inoculating unbelievers against the gospel of Jesus Christ.

All too often I’ve heard people sharing just the bad side of the gospel.  “You’re a sinner. If you don’t surrender your life to Jesus, you’re going to Hell.” There’s some truth here, of course.  All of us have sinned, and our sinful nature creates a barrier between us and God that we simply cannot penetrate on our own. Unfortunately, the unbeliever feels under assault, convinced that the heart of Christianity is guilt and shame. She feels belittled and manipulated. He leaves knowing that if that’s what Christianity is all about, he’d rather hang around with his pagan friends. They’re more fun, and they welcome him just the way he is. They’re inoculated against the gospel.

On the other hand, the opposite approach can be just as destructive. “Jesus loves you, and if you’ll just love him your life will go swell, you’ll be healthy, wealthy, and wise. It’s so easy, all you have to do is pray this little prayer, and you’re set for eternity!”  Please.  Jesus said that if we were not willing to give up everything we have to follow him, we can’t really be his disciples. So the unbeliever may pray a prayer, or may just think that Christians are a little bit too “other worldly” to be any worldly good.  Inoculated, once again.

The truth of the gospel is tough love. Our sins are extreme. God’s love is infinite. Following Jesus doesn’t promise an easy life, but walking with Jesus makes even tough times worthwhile. He doesn’t promise a happy life, but he does promise abundant life. The way of discipleship is fraught with peril, but has eternal rewards.

Over the years I’ve learned that very few people are looking for easy answers. We all know that easy answers and a religion based on truisms won’t get you through when life gets tough. But people are looking for a relationship with a God who accepts them as they are, and believes in them enough to send his Son, Jesus, to give them another chance – a better chance – for this world and the next.  

And the best way to introduce people to a real relationship with Jesus is to have a real relationship with people. An open, honest, relationship that lays it all on the line. Just like God did. Just like God does.

That gospel is the kind of infection our world desperately needs.