As we drive up our street toward our house we pass another home that has a huge inflatable Santa. Our twin girls start shouting, “Daddy, I see Santa,” and keep shouting until I acknowledge their words. Santa is everywhere during the Christmas season, and he has become the embodiment of the holiday, for most people replacing Jesus. I am not an anti-Santa dude, but I do believe care is needed as parents try to explain the meaning of Christmas and the overall concept of the birth of Christ against he meaning of Santa. But beyond the commercialism represented by the jovial guy with a belly that wiggles like a bowl full of jelly, the basic message Santa has for our kids is exactly the same as religion, be good and do good, then Santa will love you and bring you presents. Oh how sweet the Gospel of Jesus is, that declares you won’t be good, you won’t do good, but God loves you anyway and Jesus came for you. This clip by pastor and author John Piper says it so well. Watch and be challenged.
I couldn’t agree more. Santa is “god lite” — bestowing gifts on those who “follow” him, all-seeing, all-knowing. But as Piper so eloquently says, Santa is judgment only, no grace. And none of us can “deserve” our way into favor.