It seems there is an evangelical war over Santa. Some have decided that parents who perpetuate the Santa myth are downplaying the significance of Jesus. Others argue that to touch Santa in an way would be to ruin Christmas for children.
I heard all of the critiques and complaints. I read Mark Driscoll's take on how we can redeem Santa (instead of rejecting or receiving it) by concentrating on the original Saint Nicholas. I agree that Santa can be redeemed, but I believe it can be done even more so than simply speaking of the man in church history.
When I defended Santa during my first semester in seminary, my response was a little like Jon Acuff's. No one is walking around with a "Kris Kringle complex" as an adult, refusing to believing in God because they felt fooled by Santa as a child.
Are there issues, however, with the way culture over-emphasizes getting, as opposed to giving, focuses on Santa and not the Savior? Absolutely. I think there is a middle road that does not reject parents pretending to be Santa, but actually uses him to draw attention to the Gospel.
I would make one change to the way Santa Claus is currently practiced by most people, including Christians, to help him be Gospel-centered. Here's how.
Why does Santa bring gifts according to most traditions – the kids have been good. Children better "be good for goodness sake" because Santa Claus is coming. He knows if you are naughty or nice.
Parents use anticipation of Santa as a leveraging tool for forcing their children to listen to the them and be kind to their siblings. You'd better be good. You know Santa is watching you. They do this with full realization that they will still buy their child presents no matter how poorly they may behave.
When we do that, we are explicitly tying blessings to behavior. If you are good, Santa will give you gifts. They are earning their gifts with good behavior.
There is nothing inherently wrong with earning things. Working hard and earning a wage from your job is a good thing.
If gifts, however, are the reward for good behavior, they are not gifts they are wages. They are not given. They are earned. This is a crucial distinction in understanding the Gospel.
Salvation from God is not tied to our works. We cannot earn it. Ephesians 2 is clear. We were dead in our sins, before God saved us. It is only by His grace that we are saved.
That gift will not be ours because we behaved a certain way or made all the right moral choices. Salvation will be ours, if we accepted God's grace by faith in Jesus Christ. That's it.
With that in mind, here is my proposal for a tweak to the celebration of Santa. Unlink the gifts from behavior, so that the presents become gifts of love and not rewards for behavior.
Children do not earn gifts or lose them because of their behavior. They have them because they are loved. They need only to accept those gifts and be grateful. That much more closely resembles the Gospel, which is, to use an already worn-out cliche, "the reason for the season."
Teach our children to be grateful for the gifts that are given, even if they wanted something they did not get. Teach them to be thankful to the giver of the gifts, which will transition from Santa to us, as parents, and hopefully, ultimately to God.
Perhaps using the story of the original Saint Nicholas, tell them that Santa wants Jesus to receive the attention, which is why he does his work invisibly. He wants children to understand that God gives us the gift of salvation even when we didn't deserve it, because we all have messed up.
Yes, this removes from the parent the ability to use gifts as a threat to coerce behavior from their children, but, if we are honest, that doesn't work and only reinforces poor choices by both the children and the parents.
As Christian parents, are we trying to bring about behavior modification or oversee Christ-centered character development? There is a significant difference between the two.
Having a Gospel-centered idea of Santa, one that lovingly gives gifts even when we don't deserve them, can soften a child's heart to the idea of Christ being the ultimate gift that no one deserves.
Hopefully, that's our ultimate desire for our children – not that they have a memorable Christmas filled with all of the gifts they ever wanted, but that they live a faithful Christ filled life recognizing all the grace they never deserved.
I heard all of the critiques and complaints. I read Mark Driscoll's take on how we can redeem Santa (instead of rejecting or receiving it) by concentrating on the original Saint Nicholas. I agree that Santa can be redeemed, but I believe it can be done even more so than simply speaking of the man in church history.
When I defended Santa during my first semester in seminary, my response was a little like Jon Acuff's. No one is walking around with a "Kris Kringle complex" as an adult, refusing to believing in God because they felt fooled by Santa as a child.
Are there issues, however, with the way culture over-emphasizes getting, as opposed to giving, focuses on Santa and not the Savior? Absolutely. I think there is a middle road that does not reject parents pretending to be Santa, but actually uses him to draw attention to the Gospel.
I would make one change to the way Santa Claus is currently practiced by most people, including Christians, to help him be Gospel-centered. Here's how.
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| Photo from RGBstock.com by John Nyberg |
Parents use anticipation of Santa as a leveraging tool for forcing their children to listen to the them and be kind to their siblings. You'd better be good. You know Santa is watching you. They do this with full realization that they will still buy their child presents no matter how poorly they may behave.
When we do that, we are explicitly tying blessings to behavior. If you are good, Santa will give you gifts. They are earning their gifts with good behavior.
There is nothing inherently wrong with earning things. Working hard and earning a wage from your job is a good thing.
If gifts, however, are the reward for good behavior, they are not gifts they are wages. They are not given. They are earned. This is a crucial distinction in understanding the Gospel.
Salvation from God is not tied to our works. We cannot earn it. Ephesians 2 is clear. We were dead in our sins, before God saved us. It is only by His grace that we are saved.
That gift will not be ours because we behaved a certain way or made all the right moral choices. Salvation will be ours, if we accepted God's grace by faith in Jesus Christ. That's it.
With that in mind, here is my proposal for a tweak to the celebration of Santa. Unlink the gifts from behavior, so that the presents become gifts of love and not rewards for behavior.
Children do not earn gifts or lose them because of their behavior. They have them because they are loved. They need only to accept those gifts and be grateful. That much more closely resembles the Gospel, which is, to use an already worn-out cliche, "the reason for the season."
Teach our children to be grateful for the gifts that are given, even if they wanted something they did not get. Teach them to be thankful to the giver of the gifts, which will transition from Santa to us, as parents, and hopefully, ultimately to God.
Perhaps using the story of the original Saint Nicholas, tell them that Santa wants Jesus to receive the attention, which is why he does his work invisibly. He wants children to understand that God gives us the gift of salvation even when we didn't deserve it, because we all have messed up.
Yes, this removes from the parent the ability to use gifts as a threat to coerce behavior from their children, but, if we are honest, that doesn't work and only reinforces poor choices by both the children and the parents.
As Christian parents, are we trying to bring about behavior modification or oversee Christ-centered character development? There is a significant difference between the two.
Having a Gospel-centered idea of Santa, one that lovingly gives gifts even when we don't deserve them, can soften a child's heart to the idea of Christ being the ultimate gift that no one deserves.
Hopefully, that's our ultimate desire for our children – not that they have a memorable Christmas filled with all of the gifts they ever wanted, but that they live a faithful Christ filled life recognizing all the grace they never deserved.
