No Santa No Jesus?

It is Christmas morning and we are in a hotel room in Plano Texas. Many of Stacy's family from all over the states have congregated at her aunt Kathy's house. Instead of us driving the hour back and forth from Bristol, Stacy's brother Andy graciously provided a nice hotel room for us to stay in. It is wonderful. We have a queen size bed with a small kitchen; complete with stove and cooking utensils. There is a green couch with small red diamonds that turns into a roll away bed. The living room set is complete with two table stands, three lamps, and a plaid love seat. It does feel pretty close to home. The only thing missing, really, is our Christmas tree. If I were a child this arrangement might not be half bad.

However, if I were a child, I would wonder how Santa was going to make into our room. I would have asked my dad all kinds of questions that would put him in awkward position of being pretty creative. I can see his face now. It would have expressions of amazement and torment. Later on in life we would laugh about it, but at the time, I would I have to go bed trusting my dads explanations. Needless to say, that did not happen last night. Why?

Like many Christians, my wife and I aim to keep Christ at the center of Christmas. There are many things we try to do to set parameters to keep us on track. One of them is denying the existence of Santa. I know, this is sacrilegious in some respects and almost down right UnAmerican. How could we deprive our children of one of the most influential characters of their childhood? Simple, we love them to much.

There is an interesting relationship between Santa and Christ. Both require faith to believe in them. Both of them require that we obey and do what is right. Both of them know are names and have written them down (Santa has a naughty or nice, Jesus has a book of life). Both are not physically seen, yet perform miracles. There are many other similarities between the two. However, the problem is that one is real and one is not.

If I tell my children to believe in Santa who does not exist, how will they react when I tell them to trust in Christ for their salvation, who does exist? How can they know I am telling them the truth? I have gone to great extents to elaborately keep the truth of Santa hidden from them, until mere logic forces the truth out. For some kids this is devastating.

We have gone to extraordinary lengths to build Santa up. He resides in the North Pole. He has a family and is surrounded by elves. He receives mail from all over the world. He gets around by riding reindeer that fly. He works all year to bring every boy and girl in the world a gift. (This in itself is harsh. Not every boy and girl in the world receives a gift. As a matter of fact, most in the world don't. The majority of gifts given out is in the West; namely America and Europe.) All of this comes crashing down the moment Santa is identified as a fraud and faith is lost.

The souls of our children are far to precious to do this to them. Unbelief is already afflicting them to begin with, why in the world would I stoke its hell driven flames with an imaginary savior? We have one that is alive and well. His name is Jesus. When I tell them of His birth and how he lived, his death and resurrection, where he is now and when he is coming back, I say it with complete confidence. There is a proverb that says, "If you don't tell a lie, you don't have to remember what you said." I don't have to create any elaborate stories about Christmas. God created one them moment He sent His Son into the word. The most loving thing I can do for them is tell them the truth about Christmas by pointing them to Christ.