Worship Fully. Spend Less. Give More. Love All.

Worship Fully. Spend Less. Give More. Love All.


These are themes of the Advent Conspiracy movement (www.adventconspiracy.org), a reaction to our consumeristic culture and ideas of how to redeem the Christmas season for what it was originally intended.


Last year I posted a link to their video on my blog, because I loved the idea and was trying to get my mind around how to worship more in the Christmas season. Our pastor pointed out how rich we are in America, and how Christmas is basically a holiday of rich people giving more stuff to other rich people…and that stuck with me.


This year I’m trying to take one more step forward, to better grasp the concept and begin living it out. There are multiple thoughts and ways of how one can do this, including some shared at our church this weekend. I debated on sharing some specific ways of how I’m going to approach this season…because our church also recently talked about “investing in obscurity” and doing good without anyone knowing it as a way to break our pride and seek humility. So, talking about the “good” things I’m doing is an internal debate - it draws attention, but it also points to Christ (hopefully). When one of our pastors shared the way he and his family are sacrificing this season to give to others, I didn’t think “Wow, you’re so cool”….but it simply gave me a real, tangible idea of what I could do. So I hope I can do for others, while primarily holding myself accountable by putting this in writing.

I’ve decided this Christmas needs to be about the concepts above…sacrificing, yet giving more, in order to better understand and serve our Savior. One pastor mentioned that he and his family are eating rice and beans for dinner for the rest of the month, and will use the money they save to give to those in need.

I had already been contemplating fasting more often, because I have seen real value in that in my life recently. So I’ve decided to fast lunch (or an entire day) at least once per week. That way, I can pray during that time and use the money I save to give to someone else in need. And the other lunches I eat each week will be something very simple and inexpensive. I’ve also decided to spend less money on friends and family for Christmas…and will either give presence (rather than presents – another AC idea) or fair trade items that will benefit those who make them (ex-victims of sex trafficking, human slavery, etc, who are making their livelihood from these creations). I have also decided that I won’t make any clothing, jewelry, or just-for-fun purchases for myself until after Christmas.


Jesus coming to earth and then dying for us was the ultimate sacrifice – giving up his rights as God and becoming a servant to all. Shouldn’t I also make this season about sacrificing in order to worship him more and serve others better?


One of my favorite quotes is from Gandhi – “May I live simply that others may simply live.” I’ll admit I haven’t done a great job of living this out much of the time. But in this season of advent – of new beginnings - I’m laying out some steps to help me start dong a better job of allowing others to simply live. I hope you’ll join me.

And if you’ve come up with any brilliant ideas of how to enter into this season (and carry it out even after Christmas ends), leave a comment and let me know. I’d love to hear!