Why Christmas stinks for singles (and church is the solution)

I really wanted to write an entire post about how difficult the Christmas season can be for singles, but my blog rules wouldn't allow it. And the more I thought on what gets me through this season, I realized my musings all had one theme. But first, for your entertainment...

Christmas stinks for singles because:

1. Roasting chestnuts over an open fire alone is called a hazard not holiday fun.

2. If I see another bunch of mistletoe, I will chew it up and swallow it whole.

3. A mantel hung with one stocking is just obnoxious.

4. Mounded plates of received holiday baked goods create more misery than merry as I try to stuff them into my mouth before they go bad on my kitchen counter.

5. Mistletoe is kryptonite.

6. Snuggling up to your sweetheart while caroling and looking at Christmas lights makes a whole lot of sense. Wrapping your arms around your middle and rocking side to side while caroling and looking at Christmas lights as one? Not so much.

7. Unless I am willing to invite two Christmas Tree Farm creeper dudes to travel IN MY CAR WITH ME to my HOME in order to unload a live Christmas tree... I'm stuck with artificial.

8. M.I.S.T.L.E.T.O.E.

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This list is intentionally lighthearted. But the truth is, Christmas is marked by togetherness. So it shines a direct, piercing spotlight on something that is already very attention-sensitive. We are not...well...together. We are single. 

What does the local church have to do with singleness bah-humbug? EVERYTHING. Here's why:

1. We will find a "together" that is unparalleled in its scope and beauty.

The church is a body. Each member (single or not) is necessary. It's fitly joined together--interconnected. A moving, living thing. When I'm with the body I realize I am useful and needed. Doesn't that hit at the core of us singles? Exactly. And in God's plan, its members are uniquely fitted to minister to me. Don't forsake the body of Christ. It's perfect togetherness. 

2. We will discover life (even holiday-crazy life) makes sense in its context.

The world dangles an empty package of togetherness at Christmas, and people grow frantic trying to capture it. To buy the emotional high and romanticized satisfaction of glowing trees, warm fires, presents...but they find it is not enough. It will never be enough.

David saw the glitz and glamour of the world's package too. But when he entered the house of God, he saw things as they truly are. He saw that the world's way ends in destruction. He saw the inestimable riches of knowing God. Don't let the local church take a back seat to sentimentality this season.The "Christ-life" was made to make sense in the context of the body of Christ. So be there! Don't settle for a hollow together.

3. We will remember that Christmas time is difficult for others too.

Glance around you this Sunday. Many in your body of believers enter this holiday season with health issues, financial difficulties, family pressures. There are widows and divorcees who are alone again. Young moms (though never alone) who feel completely alone. Other singles. Young children who will get lost in the holiday shuffle.

And then there's you. Divinely positioned as one. With the freedom to minister across all these dividing lines. So do it with abandon this season. Build up the body of Christ. From your own local church, gather believers in need around you and form your own together.

4. We will be confronted with truth that we need.

We forget it sometimes. What Immanuel means. Why the entire Old Testament built up to His birth, and the entire New Testament rests upon it. So sit under the teaching of your local church this season with ears that are ready to hear. You need what the Holy Spirit will say. You need to be reminded who Immanuel is. What it means not just for Christmas Day, but the 364 everydays after it. He is with you. You are together with Him.

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I realize there are larger and more important reasons to be in church. So add your own points to these four little ones. Then print it off and tape it to your bedroom door, the dashboard of your car, your kitchen sink back splash, the inside flap of your Bible...

And roasted chestnuts or no, be in church.

Beth