from a
Biblical Worldview
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Letter from the Principal
History of Parkview
"It is because of the hasty and superficial conversation with God that the sense of sin is so weak and that no motives have power to help you to hate and flee from sin as you should." A. W. Tozer |
| Letter from the Principal |
December 2008 The question I would like to raise is simple: Who is the focus of Christmas and does it really matter? Will it be Jesus in the manger and God’s unconditional gift of love or Santa in a sleigh and the idea of good gifts to the ‘nice’ and coal to the ‘naughty’? Now one might question, What’s the matter with singing a rousing chorus of “Up on the Rooftop…” or reciting “Twas the Night Before Christmas”? In fact, it rather renders us irrelevant if we isolate ourselves from this huge part of American culture. I wouldn’t argue that point one bit. The question is not about eradicating Santa Clause, but it’s really about focus and whether or not we will make it a God-centered celebration. For those who remove Christ, the concepts of peace, joy, and giving may still remain. These are certainly desirable and even Biblical themes, but in and of themselves they fall short of communicating the love of the Father in sending His Son to earth to fulfill His purpose of redeeming fallen mankind. The Christmas story must begin with a proper understanding of mankind’s condition. Seven centuries before Christ would enter the human stage, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (53:6a). We see throughout the Old Testament failed attempt after failed attempt by fallen people trying to reach out to a holy God. The prophet finished the verse with God’s remedy to the problem of sin: “But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (53:6b). If the problem of sin did not separate people from the Father, then there would have been no need for His Son Jesus to come to earth, live a sinless life, and die to pay the price for our sins. Christmas could then rightly be relegated to the non-religious, feel-good message that may or may not include mention of Jesus, but certainly would remove the impact of the birth of the Child whose mission it was to die for us and redeem fallen man from his sin. He was called Emmanuel—God with us—to demonstrate His love in spite of our condition…an unconditional yet costly gift of love. At Parkview, we are committed to an uncompromising Christian worldview that includes mankind’s sinfulness and our need for a Savior, who came to earth as a baby. So while we may give Santa and his elves a nod, our focus will be on Jesus. It really does matter! Mr. Jim Apker, Head of School |
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