Redeeming Santa

Growing up I remember many cold December evenings when the Jackson family would pile into the van and sing Christmas songs while driving around aimlessly looking for Christmas displays. One of those songs that became very familiar to me was Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. Do you remember how it goes? You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout. I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town. He's making a list, Checking it twice; Gonna find out who's naughty or nice. Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good. So be good for goodness sake!
I know that among Christian households there are various opinions on whether we should or should not teach our kids the legend of Santa Claus. I appreciate and respect the decision of many who choose not to speak of Santa because of their noble desire to preserve the true meaning of Christmas, which is Christ’s birth. With that said, I am writing this article mainly to those who choose to make Santa a part of their Christmas tradition.

Without doubt, Santa is not God, but then again, neither is a human father, an earthly king or a lion named Aslan, yet all of these can be used to help illustrate to our children the greatness of God in ways they can understand. I want to challenge you this Christmas to redeem the fictional legend of Santa Claus. The typical two-pronged theology of Santa says,

1. Santa is looking over you all the time ~ He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake.
2. Santa gives gifts according to your goodness ~ Santa Claus is coming to town. He's making a list, Checking it twice; Gonna find out who's naughty or nice. Santa Claus is coming to town.

Sadly, this theology of Santa is also the world’s theology of God. Children often connect the mythical Santa to a real God by thinking, “God is watching, and He will reward me if my niceness outweighs my naughtiness.” I want to challenge you this year to redeem this fictional character of Santa so that he may mirror and teach your kids the character and love of the one true and living God. To do this, you cannot tell your children that “Santa gives gifts according to their goodness” but rather that “Santa gives gifts despite their naughtiness.”
If you think through this traditional Santa theology, it is actually very contradictory. We are told that Santa gives “gifts” to those that earn them by being nice, yet a “gift,” by definition, cannot be earned. You see, an earned “gift” is not a gift at all, but rather it is a reward. But because you are too naughty, God cannot give you a reward, because you have not earned it. Because of our sin God has to give you a gift, The Christmas Gift, and it comes in the form of a baby, His very own Son, Jesus Christ.

Rom 4:4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due…Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Enjoy your gift from God and have a very Merry Christmas

Dual Identity

My Own Worst Enemy is one of TV’s newest action thrillers. On its website, NBC explains that the show “explores the duality of a man who is literally pitted against himself” and asks the question, “Who can you trust when you can’t trust yourself?” In the show, Christian Slater plays a man with dual identities, Henry and Edward. “Henry is a middle-class efficiency expert living a humdrum life in the suburbs with his wife, their two kids, a dog, and a minivan. Edward is an operative who speaks 13 languages, runs a four-minute mile, and is trained to kill… Henry and Edward are polar opposites who share only one thing in common - the same body.”
While I have never actually seen the show, I have to admit that I can identify with the character because I too have a dual identity (No, I am not a secret agent on my days off…or at least that is what I want you to think). Then again, I am not the only one that has a dual identity; you do too, as well as everyone in your family, at your office and on your street. All people have the identity of being an image bearer of God, but all people also have the identity of being fallen, it is a dual identity which shares only one thing in common – the same body. Francis Schaffer described your dual identity as a glorious ruin.
First, you are glorious, because “God created man in His own image.” (Gen 1:27) Unlike the animals you have a unique spiritual component that is woven into the very fabric of your soul. This component allows you, and all men, to contemplate God, to make moral decisions, to exercise dominion over the earth and, most importantly, to have a relationship with Christ if you trust in Him.
Secondly, you are ruins, because your sin has corrupted every aspect of your life. It has corrupted your righteousness, your mind, your motives, your will, your tongue, your relationships with others and your relationship to God (Rom3:10-18). To put it simply, the affects of sin in your life are pervasive and they ruin your perfect glory as an image bearer of God.
Like Henry, as a person with dual identities, you are literally pitted against yourself. There is a war waging inside of you, a battle between the two identities for your thoughts, your actions and your heart. Such inner turmoil leaves us with this question, “Who can you trust when you can’t trust yourself?” The answer is simple, trust in Jesus, who is the perfect image of the invisible God and who wants to re-create you into His perfect image for all eternity.