BETTER WATCH OUT: SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. – Php 4:5

 “You better be nice now, you don’t want to end up in Santa’s ‘Naughty’ list, now do you?”

Christmas is not just the season of the Christkindl (the Christ child), it’s also the season of Kriss Kringle (i.e. Santa Claus). Whether you call him Saint Nicholas, Père Noël, Julenisse, or simply Father Christmas, he’s still the same person: the one who’s supposedly responsible for the gifts children are to receive this season… if they are NICE.

The song, “Santa Claus is coming to town” aptly summarizes the philosophy surrounding Santa, and also gives us a reflection of our common moral belief system.

You better watch out

You better not cry

Better not pout

I'm telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town

Hmm!

Replace “Santa Claus” in the above verse with “Jesus Christ” and it begins to sound familiar, doesn’t it?

However, we don’t worship Santa, and Santa didn’t die on the Cross for us, yet we somehow project the “Santa” iconography unto Christ.

He's making a list

And checking it twice;

He's gonna find out

Who's naughty or nice…

That’s “Santa” by the way, not Jesus; but many would not know the difference.

He sees you when you're sleeping

He knows when you're awake

He knows if you've been bad or good

So be good for goodness sake!

Again, that’s “Santa,” not Jesus.

The spirit of piousness based on fear and not love permeates the church today. But the image of Jesus up in heaven with pen and clipboard in his hands monitoring all your movements is not biblical.

Heb 10:12 says, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.”

No Santa, we’re not “good for goodness sake!” We’re good because we’ve been given the gift of NO CONDEMNATION.  “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1Jn 4:19).

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. – 1Jn 4:10.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN