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| Manger artwork: Dona Gelsinger. Santa artwork: unknown. |
Have you
ever taken a good moment to think about the relevance of Santa within our
Christian lives? I love Christmas time. It is a time of family and friends
coming together, enjoying special meals, exchanging presents and gifts, and most
importantly, celebrating the joy of Jesus having come to this world and given
us His good news, and the ability to join our heavenly Father at the conclusion
of our lives here on Earth.
Part 1: The Spiritual Impact.
Teaching kids to believe in a lie is a sin and compromises your trustworthiness.
There are over fifty references in the bible to lying. Leviticus 19:11 (NKJV): “You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie
to one another”. Also from the new testament, Colossians 3:9 (NKJV): Do not lie to one another, since you have
put off the old man with his deeds…” I think these verses say it pretty clearly. There are numerous other
examples in the bible that discourage lying to one another. Not only does it compromise
your trustworthiness as I mentioned before, but it also it displeases God. For
churches, promoting things such as photos with Santa, or wearing Santa hats
show you endorse teaching lies, even if they seem small. A strong description
is ‘hypocritical’, because we teach against false doctrine and lies, yet we are
promoting a lie. No lie, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is harmless
fun, especially when God warns us so many times about it. So now that I have established that supporting Santa is displeasing to God, take note of what the bible says when sinning it is intentional. 1 John 3-7 (ESV) says, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared, to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you...”. Is it worth possibly destroying a child's trust in the parents? If you uphold an elaborate deception to your children for years, do not be surprised if your child starts to question other truths you share. If a child cannot believe their parents about Santa, can they believe their parents about Jesus and God? If you live a Christian life where supernatural signs and wonders are not a common occurrence, then I would argue that your children risk leaving God. Why? because if they cannot see real evidence of God, then what is to stop them thinking that God is just like Santa? Granted this is a worst case scenario, however I was talking to someone the other day where this was almost the case for one of their family members when they learned that Santa wasn’t real. As you can see this can become a slippery slope depending on one's spiritual life and experiences.
Furthermore,
if you are a church leader and you use Santa, or even the Easter Bunny in your
congregation, rather than rebuke such activity, take a moment to think why? Is
it just for ‘church growth’, to entice the unchurched into your building? If
so, this is dangerous, as you are bringing non-christian people into your
church under false pretense that this is what Christianity and Jesus are about.
Then later they learn that this isn’t what church is like at all. Using
drawcards such as photos with Santa, or Easter Bunny to increase numbers is
reckless, and just a way to develop popularity, rather than give glory to God
as these things subtract from God. Isn’t Jesus good enough? Galations 1:10
(ESV): For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to
please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of
Christ.
Part 2: Santa Isn’t As Nice As You think.
In my opinion, Santa is an evil construction of people. For example, he only
gives good presents to those who are "good". In legend he also leaves
a bad present, a lump of coal to naughty children, just to rub it in the wound.
What about those less fortunate who haven’t parents who can afford gifts? Is a
child to think that they are a bad person and therefore Santa doesn’t care
about them? Then what about when a child asks or learns the truth? Santa then
abandons them forever, leaving a shipwreck of distrust towards the parents. On
that last point, I have heard several stories from parents, where their
children were devastated upon discovering that they had been lied to for years.
In addition, look at the song ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’. In it, Santa
does nothing to prevent the other reindeers bullying Rudolph until an inconvenience
requires him to guide the sleigh. All of this is contrary to the gospel of
Jesus, who brought the gift of life and renewal, plus the Holy Spirit to bring
the supernatural into the natural. Not only that, God gives it freely to all
who are genuinely willing to receive. Jesus paved the way so that it doesn’t
matter if we sinned yesterday, God will still forgive us today. Jesus loves us unconditionally,
whether we are naughty or nice. I think this is much more generous than Santa.
Part 3: Santa is not Saint Nicholas.
Many people claim that Santa is okay
for Christians because St. Nicholas is the basis of Santa. Nicholas was a man
who did great works for the name of Jesus. It is said that St. Nicholas used
everything he had to provide for the poor, sick and needy. Yes that is true,
however St. Nicholas the historical figure did what he did because he followed
the teachings of Jesus. Whereas Santa does not give Jesus any credit for the
season. Instead Santa says that the true spirit of Christmas is everything but
Jesus. All Santa references will ignore everything to do with the gospel of
Christ. No redemption for our sins, just be nice to others and have time with
family. Whereas Jesus came to give the free gift of redemption to all that seek
Him regardless of what they have done during the year; Santa will only give
gifts to those that have been ‘good’ that year.
So what do I do now?
As a child I was not brought up with Santa. Does that mean
that I did not celebrate Christmas? No, of course I celebrated Christmas, but
for the reason of the season, Jesus Christ coming into this world to take away
our iniquities. I knew that my parents bought me presents every year, to which
made Christmas even more special. I knew I had parents who loved me enough to
tell me the truth and who would bless me with gifts. It was more than that
even, because we all exchanged gifts in our family. We each gave to each other
because of the love we had for one another. My brother and I would wait for our
mother to come home from work every Christmas before opening our gifts, because
we wanted her to join us in the joy of gift giving.
Jesus
always gave a way out, a way to be redeemed. If you are a parent who has taught
your children that Santa is real, you can make it right. It’s tough and
no one likes to do it, but the bible says that we must confess our sins and
repent. 1 John 1:9 (NKJV) says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Then just as with God, we must see those whom we have sinned against and ask
for their forgiveness. It might sting for a while, but it is better in the long
run. That means sitting down and apologising to your children, telling them you
have made a mistake. They might be sad, or even angry with you for a while, but
it is better to tell someone the truth before they start to question your
integrity.
The same
concept is so if you are a church leader and have participated in exactly what
is preached against, then the first step is to acknowledge your sin and admit
it to God. The next steps are to repent of your wrong doing and ask the Lord
for forgiveness. If you are sincere, God will willingly forgive you. And
lastly, the most difficult, apologise to the people you lead. Once again, it is
a scary thing to admit wrong doing and make things right again, but as
Christians we are to forgive and forget.
Author: Patrick Smith
