Why Not Santa Claus?

A few years ago, I wrote this post called Santa.  It subsequently went on to be published in our local Desert Christian News.  Recently, I came across a similar but more eloquent piece by blogger, Jessalyn at Desiring Virtue.  She wrote 3 posts on the same topic and I just wanted to share it here. 

I realize people have strong feelings on either side of the fence regarding Santa.  As I stated in my previous post, we are not threatened by Santa or any other Christmas-like symbols such as reindeer, snowmen, elves and so on.  We do not ban them from our home or talk negatively about them to our children.  This is not about bashing Santa.  When it comes down to it, it’s about grace.  The notion that children are either on the “Naughty or Nice list” based on their behavior all year long is one that is completely opposite from the gospel of Jesus Christ.  None of us can ever be “good enough”.

God knew we would all sin and be on that “Naughty List” but in His great LOVE for us, He sent His one and only Son to be born on Christmas Day.  The Son who was blameless and perfect in every way would sacrifice His life by being brutally crucified so that you and I could be reconciled to God, through faith. 

That’s the true Christmas Story.  The story we want our children to know and love.  The Good News and the Greatest Gift of all is ours to unwrap in Jesus!!

I like what Jessalyn had to say at the beginning of her post…

Please understand that I am not saying it is absolutely impossible to cultivate a Christ-centered Christmas that includes Santa. Rather, my hope is to challenge you to contemplate the purpose of including Santa in your celebration as well as the benefits and consequences of including him in your celebration. 

I pray this may be an encouragement to those that share the same convictions and simply food for thought for those that do not.

"The topic of Santa Claus is very interesting to me. How is it that a fourth century bishop who was known for his generosity to children, the poor and the destitute became the center of a an entire holiday season? When and why did people feel the need to mold this real and supposedly God-honoring man into an idol?"

Read part 1 here.

"Ultimately it comes down to our hearts as parents. What do we value? What do we want our children to value? What do we want the world to see that we value? Are we content with teaching our children to have divided affections? Are we satisfied with our Christmas celebrations knowing that, though we tried our hardest to make “Jesus the reason for the season,” our little children were too caught up in the magic and excitement of Santa to really care? We have to ask ourselves if we really care."

Read part 2 here.

"However, having experienced the joy and excitement of Santa as a child I can honestly say that I would have rather been taught how to worship and enjoy Christ instead. My parents tried their best to tell me about the birth of Christ, even reading the Biblical account, but I never really gave it much thought. In my childish mind I understood that these moments of thinking about Jesus were supposed to be the real purpose of our celebration, but in my heart I really only cared about getting to the part where we unwrapped the gifts from Santa."

Read part 3 here.