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4/13/2004
How Now Sacred Cow?
Sacred cows exist in almost every sphere of life. I can't imagine Christianity to be much different. I too have my sacred realities that I'd like to hold on to. In fact, I still grapple with the reality of Easter or Resurrection Day as it pertains to my own upbringing. We have always celebrated it and my churches have always celebrated it. When I first began to seek more in depth study on the roots of Easter, it troubled me. In fact, it still does. For one, it troubles me because I feel immense responsibility for what I know (this is the burden of those that turn their back on God....the weight of sin on those with the knowledge of Christ is intense). I have always felt accountable to the insight, information, and revelation God has given me. It also troubles me because I am still coming to terms with what this reality means to me and my daily life. It always amazes me how we hold onto the familiar and the sacred with opinion and not scripture (if the Bible is truly to be our foundation for all things let us use that in why we feel we ought to have our holidays).
Consider Kwanzaa, the "African-American" traditional celebration that begins the day after Christmas. The truth about Kwanzaa has caused quite an uproar among many blacks over the last couple years as the drape has slowly been pulled to unveil a not-so-nice holiday. Last year I poked fun at the holiday as being "stupid". The reality is, not only is Kwanzaa stupid, it's also unBiblical, based on humanistic principles, and was founded by a murderer who hated God. The idea is broached every December as to whether or not black Christians should be celebrating Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa does have good principles. I mean, think about it. "Nia: purpose". God has a purpose for our lives. "Imani: faith". Have faith in God. "Ujima: Collective Work & Responsibility" God wants us all to be a part of His family. The body of Christ requires that we bear eachother's burdens and be responsible. In fact, many of Kwanzzas principles could even be considered Biblical. In fact, why can't we just take Kwanzaa and put a spin on it to glorify God? I mean, afterall, the principles are good, and just because its roots are not Biblical doesn't mean we can't observe it in the context of our other Christian celebrations. A likely story...
posted by ambra at 4/13/2004 01:05:52 PM | link to this entry |
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