...This is a continuation of a post from yesterday. Please click here to read Pt. 1

    If the world wants to celebrate a fictitious person then so be it.  However, when Christians begin to embrace Santa and try to meld him in with the celebration of the birth of the Messiah I fear that we have lost our grip on reality. When well meaning parents explain that they simply want their kids to be able to experience the “magic” of the season I wonder if they truly understand the incomprehensibly profound act of God becoming man so that he could save the world from the power of sin. Is there anything more magical, more incredible than that? Is there any need to celebrate or focus our hearts on anything but this mighty act? Claiming that your children will “miss out” on the fun and excitement of Christmas without a mythical character at it’s center is paramount to saying that Jesus isn’t enough. Really you are saying that you, yourself don’t believe that Jesus is enough to bring joy and excitement to your Christmas celebration.

    I am not trying to make the case that Christmas has always inherently been about Jesus and that there is no room for other celebrations. I am well aware that Christmas finds its roots in the long celebrated Winter Solstice and that it was only when the Pope declared December 25th to be the anniversary of the birth of Christ that it became a Christian holiday. What I am trying to say is that as Christians our celebrations should be inherently and distinctively Christian.

    There should be an obvious difference in the way we rejoice in and experience Christmas when compared to unbelievers. Let the world raise their children to believe in Santa Claus while we raise our children to believe in the Christ, the Son of God! Let the world teach their children that Christmas is a time when you get glorious gifts while we teach our children that Christmas is a time to celebrate the most glorious gift of salvation! I understand that tradition is hard to break and that it is emotional. But if you love the Lord and desire for your children to experience that same love diverting their attention to a mythical being may not be the most helpful exercise. There is one who is greater, lovelier, and much more gracious than even Santa and his name is Jesus. The children who miss out on Christmas are actually those who’s attention is divided between Santa and Jesus. There is no way to whole heartedly appreciate and be excited about an Invisible God when at the same time a visible, tangible, and physical, gift giving man is also being endorsed and encouraged by your parents. But this, I think is the problem. It doesn’t so much bother us that our children might be half-heartedly excited about Jesus (or even a fourth-heartedly for that matter). We just want to see the smiles on their faces as they awake to see the presents that Santa left for them under the tree.

    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.

    I have heard parents say “they are only children once, let them have some fun and enjoy Santa while they can!” My only response to that statement is this: Children are only children once, you only have one opportunity to instill in them a love and adoration for Christ; use this time to teach them how to find their joy and excitement in the eternal God who never changes and will never fade.