Christmas and Spiritual Defilement

By Okey Ikechukwu

Christmas! Despite the economic downturn and insecurity in the land, the smell is still unmistakable. Even as it is perhaps tainted here and there by thoughts concerns about security, the kidnapping of school children and road travelers, the general environment still has something to show for it.

The festoons! The special Christmas lights! The bright-eyed children and their new clothes! The lit-up streets! And the carols! Even if subdued here and there, they are  still there.

But what is Christmas really all about. The regular answer is that Christians use the occasion of to remember the birth of The Saviour. Many who answer thus may not be able to tell you what exactly He saved them from in any coherent manner, but their answer suffices for them to feel deeply involved in the merriment that goes with Christmas.

Its true essence concerns the birth of One Who came to show us how to be real and true human beings, according to the Will of God. That is all. Christmas ought to be a time for the believer to reflect on the Message of Salvation brought to mankind 2000 years ago. Through such reflection, the true Christian is supposed to weight his life, to see whether it measures up to what The Saviour expects, and demands, of him.

Thus, Christmas is supposed to nudge us towards a rededication to Truth and inner rebirth: To becoming such true human being as would be admitted into the Kingdom of God, because they are living according to His Will.

But that is has now been almost completely overshadowed by commercial considerations, and tourism-driven activities; which have nothing to do with the original kennel. What the world mostly celebrates as Christmas today, with its accompanying excitement, wears itself out in a frenzy of frenzied social activities without hinting at the essence of Christmas.

Because Christmas should ideally reconnect us with, and remind us of, Christ’s mission on earth so that we rededicate ourselves to living up to Christ’s Message of Salvation, we shall take up a question that was once been addressed on this page some two years ago, namely: How true is it to say that Christ came to this world to cleanse us of our spiritual defilement, so that we could go to heaven as children of God?

To address the above question, I invite you to the aforementioned dialogue. Here we go:

John: Uncle, since after you told me that the message of Jesus Christ was intended to save us from further spiritual defilement, I have been trying to grapple with that statement to no avail. Could you please break it down and explain it aghain, perhaps with some examples?

Uncle: Look at it like this: A human being who acts against the laws of God automatically deviates from what is good for him as a creature of God. It also means that such a human being is doing what would prevent him from going to heaven.

John: Oh, I see! But how about the issue of defilement? It is written in the 11th verse of the 15th chapter of the book of Matthew: “It is not what goeth into the mouth that defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the man…”

Uncle: Yes?

John: My question now is this: How can it be that it is only what comes out of a man that can cause defilement?” The statement contradicts common sense and I do not know what to make of it.

Uncle: If a human being is just the physical body, then whatever unclean, substance enters the body has defiled the complete human being. But ‘physical’ defilement is not the same thing as spiritual defilement. We cannot say that someone is sick because his clothes are unclean. We also cannot say that a driver is sick because his car, which is an instrument designed to carry him from one place to another, is not functioning properly.

John: Hmmm, this is all sounding a bit peculiar; I must say. But I think I can see the point. So, to defile the body is not quite the same thing as to defile the man?

Uncle: No, it is not. Now, going back to the Mission of Christ, the priests, Sadducees and the Pharisees in Israel were more concerned about physical cleanliness than spiritual purity an uprightness.

John: Really?

Uncle: But of course. Think of the damage disobedience to the commandments of Go can do to us spiritually. That is why Christ asked the children of Israel to focus on what really mattered and be saved from spiritual death.

John: I still don’t quite get it.

Uncle: It is what we think, what we say and what we do that could bring us good or bad karma. They are like seeds we sow into creation, with each seed producing its kind and returning it to us.

John: Sorry, Uncle, could you explain the sowing and reaping part again. I want to know what this has to do with all we are trying to say about what defiles a man, please.

Uncle: If you annoy someone and he gives you a slap, you have sown and reaped something unpleasant.

John: Yes.

Uncle: If you drink a glass of poison, it will kill the cells of your body and the body will stop working, leading to physical death, right?

John: Yes.

Uncle: But since the body is only a covering for your spirit here on earth, the way a shirt is a covering for your physical body when you come out in the street, the death of the body is not the end of the real you.

John: Yes indeed, the destruction of a shirt does not mean that the person wearing it has been destroyed.

Uncle: Precisely! The thoughts, words and actions of a human being that can create bad karma for him are things that “proceed out of him.”

John: Oh, I can see that quite clearly now.

Uncle: Sin undermines the spirit, hangs on it like an external, inferior or inappropriate attachment that is not original to its true nature. This is the defilement I believe that Christ came to save us from.

John: But how do I ensure that I do not reap the bad karma that someone else has sown? There are no policemen in these matters; and I don’t really understand how it works.

Uncle: Let me explain it with an example, if you don’t mind?

John: But of course, sir!

Uncle: If you make a hole in the ground and put one grain of corn, one bean seed and one grain of rice into this single hole and water them, they will all sprout and grow according to their kinds, will they not?

John: Of course, they will!

Uncle: Think of the three different seeds sown into in the same hole. It is in the same way that various seeds take only what they need from the same soil that good and bad volitions develop and bring their fruits to the originators.

John: You are saying that spiritual defilement cannot occur unless a man’s heart sends out evil thoughts, words and actions that then draw bad currents to him?

Uncle: Yes, that should follow from what we have been saying so far. If you go to a restaurant and request for a plate of food and it is given to you, surely, we can say that you asked for the food you got, right?

John: Yes, that would be the right thing to say in such a situation!

Uncle: If what you ordered leads to your having a sour taste in your mouth, we can also say that it was you who asked for what brought the sour taste into your mouth, am I correct?

John: Well, yes, you are.

Uncle: Just as nothing in a hotel kitchen will come to your table and enter your mouth, except you ask for it, so will no radiation in Creation approach you without you first giving cause for it.

John: You are saying, sir, that it is just our actions and decisions, rather than our circumstances, that determine our spiritual welfare?

Uncle: That is correct. That is also why the celebration of Christmas should really be a festival of thanksgiving to the Almighty for sending One Who could show us the way to the right type of thoughts, words and actions.

John: But, Uncle, have you considered that poverty could drive people into doing all sorts of things? Surely hunger can make a man to steal or become an outright criminal! Can we not excuse such a person?

Uncle: It is not hunger that leads a man to steal, but an act of his will, a decision. It is not just the world around us that makes us to commit murder, but our rejection of the commandments of the Almighty and our decision to operate as renegades in Creation. It is not just desperation that pushes people to deeds of madness, but the condition of the core of their spiritual being.

John: That sounds rather harsh, sir! Surely some excuse can be found for many wrong things that people do.

Uncle: That excuse is usually invented by people who are dishonest with themselves. Following the teachings of Christ is a strong help and an antidote to spiritual defilement. That is what why we should celebrate this Christmas by seeing it as the antidote to spiritual defilement and eternal damnation.

John: Hmmm, so you talking about a totally different approach and focus whenever we speak, or think, of Christmas?

Uncle: Yes indeed, John.

John: I am most grateful for your explanations and your time, Uncle.

Uncle: You are most welcome, John.