"You better watch out, you better not cry.
You better not pout, I'm telling you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town"
I am 28 years old.
And I believe in Santa Claus.
Seriously, I do.
I adore the entire idea behind Santa Claus and in our house this figure of holiday cheer is a part of our traditional Christmas celebrations. But there is a hot debate among present day Christians whether or not it is appropriate to participate in this folklore fantasy. Some say that to perpetuate the lie of Santa teaches our children that truth is relative and that it is okay to fib for the sake of fun. Some say that it takes away from the true meaning of Christmas, which should be to focus on the birth of Christ.
It is interesting to read the origins of this day that we celebrate every December 25th. Some may be surprised to know that the word "Christmas" is never mentioned once in the Bible. To celebrate the birth of Jesus was never a command given by our God. In fact, the only thing Jesus ever commanded us to commemorate was the Lord's Supper. Christmas is not quite as "holy" as some would make it. The first recording of the "Christ's Mass" was in 1038 and I suppose Christians have been in some way celebrating the amazing miracle of the birth ever since. Unfortunately much of what we celebrate as Christmas has no spiritual origins at all. In fact everything from the tree to the gifts to Santa is some "stolen" pagan tradition that has managed to incorporate itself into the holiday. Or rather, Christianity has managed to incorporate itself into these traditions.
Here's the deal. As Christianity moved west during the crusades and other evangelistic missions, we found that the people of many European countries had pagan traditions and beliefs with holidays and feasts already in place. These pagan festivities included a Winter Solstice festival, a festival to the god Odin, and I am sure others existed as well. It seems that December was a popular time of year for partying. Christians, instead of completely negating these traditional celebrations began to incorporate the story of Jesus into the mix and over time it has become an accepted intermingling "hodge podge" of traditions. I am not suggesting that the Christians just hopped on board and said "let's talk about Jesus too". But it seemed easier to encourage the memorialization of the miracle of Christ at a time when they were already accustomed to celebration. And over time Christmas has become more and more popularly viewed as a "Christian" holiday.
What is my point?
Well my point is that very little of what we "celebrate" is truly focused on Christ. Sure you may read the Christmas story, attend a church play, and sing "O Holy Night". Maybe you participate in advent services, decorate with a nativity scene and encourage sacrificial giving. But the point is that all the other stuff, no matter what correlations we have managed to come up with, has little to do with Jesus. In fact, very little of what we celebrate all year long has little to do with Jesus. A weird stealing bunny has become the hallmark of Easter, a time dedicated to Christ as well. Or what about the other completely secular holidays such as Valentine's Day, Memorial Day, The Fourth of July, and even Thanksgiving. These are holidays that we celebrate and enjoy because they are fun and a lot encourage family time and spreading of love and joy. Some may have origins somewhere else (certainly Memorial Day is a day of remembrance of those who fought bravely) but our society focuses on cooking out, candy, etc on these days. We live in an over-commercialized consumeristic culture that has taken most of the "meaning" from many days of celebrating and made them about what we can do and what we can get. Christmas is no different.
My question? If all of a sudden we have a problem incorporating Santa into our holidays then we should get rid of it all. Why have a double standard or just pick and choose what would make us holy or not? Because honestly, none of it is Christ centered. Maybe you find things along the way that you can relate back to Christ and scripture and that's great but it doesn't mean that it was ever intended as a Christian command or celebration. When we start picking and choosing, it just gets confusing (hey that rhymes). Because if I say that we don't "do Santa" because it's not Christian, then we must take down the Christmas tree because it isn't either. We must cease to participate in the 4th of July fireworks because they aren't Christian. We have to do away with the turkey on Thanksgiving because it's not directly Christian. It just gets messy to start muddling through life that way. Messy and legalistic.
What am I suggesting?
I am suggesting that we focus on Christ EVERY day and make Him a part of EVERY activity of EVERY moment. Scandalous, I know. But think about it... if Christ is a part of your family already then how is it detrimental to allow your children to participate in an imaginary story once a year? Which of course, by the way, there is at least one real person who existed by the name of St. Nicholas who was honestly a Christ follower and gift giver. In my house, I encourage my children to play "pretend". How is that any different than what we do every year with Santa? Well in my opinion, it's not. That's not to say that we heavily focus on Santa, because we don't. He is, however, a part of our family traditions. We scatter "reindeer food" on the front lawn and make amazing sugar cookies on Christmas Eve. But we also read the Christmas story, make Jesus a birthday cake, talk about giving to others, and reflect on the miracle. I guess you can say that we have figured out a way to balance the "pagan" with the "Christian" in our household. Well that doesn't sound good, but I suppose its the truth.
You see when I was saved, God made me a new creation. I'm all His. I'm His when I'm at church, I'm His when I'm out to eat, I'm His when I'm driving down the road, I'm His when I'm doing laundry, I'm His when I'm relaxing with my family. My life is His, completely. Which means when I decorate my house with colorful lights, I'm still His. I'm not disrespecting my God. When I make cookies for a pretend fat man, I'm still His. And that's what I want my children to understand. Not that I'm lying to them or promoting unchristian behaviors but that I'm encouraging them to live with Christ at the center of their lives in everything that they do, so much so that they can enjoy the season, understanding the miracle of Christ's birth and enjoying the beauty of the cheer. I am saved and able to live a life of joy and celebration no matter what I am doing. Christmas is one time of year, in particular, that I can focus even more on the reason behind my joy, Jesus Christ. And in our family we celebrate Jesus with trees, lights, and yes even Santa.
Each family is different and whatever choices your family makes to include or not include certain festivities is your decision. I am not condemning anyone or suggesting that my way is the only "right" way. What I am encouraging is fully thought through actions. Does Santa take away from the miracle of Jesus? I suppose it can. Just the way daily cartoon watching can take our kids away from the truths of God Word. Does putting up a tree make your house "unholy"? I suppose it can. Just the way watching a raunchy movie or TV show can. Life is full of choices that force us to find the "middle road" between our flesh motivated selves and our Christian motivated souls. What you choose to be your "middle road" is up to you.
For my house, at Christmas our middle road includes bells, lights, carols, sugar cookies, candy canes, gifts, advent wreaths, stockings, the baby Jesus, and yes... a bearded jolly fat man.
Maybe I'm a heathen. Maybe you would call me a pagan.
But really, I'm just a happy Christian that enjoys a good story and delicious treats. So whatever you do, do it with Joy. And may everyday be a celebration in your house, a celebration of the gift of Jesus.
And just for clarification purposes.
ReplyDeleteI don't for one second believe that it is okay to participate in sinful behaviors and to consider that be the "middle road". Sin is sin. Beyond that we have to decide that if we are personally convicted of something to do away with it. And that's what the Santa debate is all about... personal conviction. We make choices to participate in, watch, sing, etc things that may or may not be directly scriptural or Christ-focused. It is the constant work of the Believer to do that which will draw us closer to God, not further away. For me, Santa does encourage me and motivate me to joy and cheer. Our celebrations that include Santa have not disrupted my spiritual relationship with Christ. But if it does disrupt yours, then leave behind the jolly fat man. Jesus is much more important than any man-made creation.
Well said.
ReplyDeleteAnd, it's been my JOY seeing my "scrooge of a son" return to Christ, meet his helpmate(who is full of the JOY OF CHRIST) & along with her & their family ENJOY emphasizing Christ in celebrating life to the fullest.Whether it be "trunks of treats" at Halloween or the Jolly Ole Elf at Christmas!
Hey, Katie! I shouldn't make my first comment a disagreement - but since I know you are open to this stuff and I think you trust my love and respect for you, I hope you're okay with it!
ReplyDeleteDaryl is such a truth speaker that he won't even do surprises for me where he has to lie to get me there, etc :) I'm all for surprises and I thought this was silly at first, but he and I both agree that with Santa it is a lie we perpetuate over and over and for the sheer purpose of entertainment and perhaps because we are tempted to believe that without this part of "christmas" none of us will enjoy it as much.
But when Christ is elevated as our highest treasure we are promised to have the highest joy - and, the Bible is clear about always speaking the truth. If you don't have to lie to keep Santa in your house, great, but if you do, how do you justify that against Scripture?
We also don't want our kids to ever be able to look back and think we weren't truthful with them and not trust us for something important (but that's a secondary issue and my parents telling us about Santa didn't do that to me).
So we have told our kids the story of St. Nicholas and how it has involved in our culture (as much as they can understand), but we don't make it the highlight of Christmas (same with gifts or anything else) or allow them to believe that he is bringing them gifts or watching them. When I was little my brother was explaining to me that Santa was "just like Jesus". He could see us everywhere, etc. My mom immediately informed us of the truth. Not only is Jesus the only one who can see us all the time, He doesn't reward based on our works - sheerly out of His mercy.
We also believe Christmas is a great time to use to teach our kids about the value of Jesus and provides SO MANY teachings about the reality of Christ - not just fantasies that won't satisfy in any comparison. While the actual holiday isn't in the Bible as you said, the birth of Christ and the mystery of God become man is all over to help us understand the great love of God for sinners and also how we are to be like Jesus once we have been changed by Him (by giving, by telling the truth, etc).
So Christmas for us is wrapped up in Christ as much as we can - as well as Thanksgiving and Easter and even Valentine's Day. So we let our kids paint Santas or rudolphs or bunnies or what not, but we elevate Jesus the most. And we minimize the other things MUCH in comparison and at age appropriate times discuss why our culture uses those other things and how we believe much of them are to distract from Christ.
(the second part of my own blog post on your blog - lol...I always was too wordy)
ReplyDeleteWe take the holidays to read them books about Jesus and His work correlated to that time, not just about turkeys or bunnies or other things. And music, too. While all gifts from God should be enjoyed, they should point us to Him. I don't think that playing thousands of songs primarily about Santa and gifts, making the gift giving the thing they are most excited about during the season, or whatever else is glorifying to God.
There is so much in life that is good but that has become a distraction (subtly for most of us) from Christ and the reality of all that is spiritual. This includes even blogging, movies, friends, etc, so I'm not just picking on Santa nor the people who place him in their holiday traditions. LOL. But, I do think we must be careful and guard our souls and our childrens. It is our job to do all that we can to help them see the value of Jesus and not learn to love and adore other things more.
You're right - it is a daily thing, too. No day should be about us, or gifts, or anything else primarily. It should all be about Jesus. I remember a friend telling me about my wedding day, "It is still not your day." I would enjoy it most by living it to glorify God. So I agree with your part about our day in and day outs -
Is Jesus being elevated as our highest joy? And is that what others see in us? Never completely, but let's strive for that :)
Thanks for your post, Katie! Love you!
I completely agree Lauren and was just talking to my High School friend Robin about this (Robin there's your 15 minutes of fame... haha). And that's exactly what I believe is important. Not lying. We don't tell our kids that Santa is watching. We don't lie about it, we just make it silly and fun. Don't know if that makes sense. Do we watch Christmas movies? Yes. We love ELF :) And we spread out the reindeer food and make the cookies but I have never tried to force any silly story on them. I'm such an honest person that I couldn't lie even if I wanted to.
ReplyDeleteI think fantasy is important. Imagination is important and that's we do. We allow ourselves the silliness of playing pretend but we have never done so at the risk of lying to the kiddos or making Santa seem the same as Jesus. Because you're right, it's not and should never be compared in that way to Christ.
I think part of the balance of parenting is allowing our kids to imagine and play while still keeping them grounded in the truths of the Word.
I hope that is what I do with my kids.
And seriously, I do LOVE the whole concept of Santa, the silly factor, the pretend and fun. It's a part of some of my favorite childhood memories. And I hope to pass on that same joy to my kids while still keeping them rooted in the foundation of the truth that is God.
So all that to say.
:)
That I completely agree with all you said Lauren and I think we're on the same page. Maybe I wasn't clear in my original blog, of course I was afraid I had already written too much, lol. But though we participate in the "Santa" stuff, we don't lie or over-emphasize it. We keep it real. We keep it fun. And somehow we manage in the midst of our consumer driven world to keep it about Jesus.
Hope that makes sense, and that you don't think I'm heathen... j/k :) Love you too Lauren! Wish we loved close enough so our babies could meet and play!
WOOTWOOT!!
ReplyDelete