SANTA, SAVED AND SANCTIFIED

Those people who say "Bah, humbug" to Christmas fun
should find a way to transform holiday traditions
into instruments of God’s love.

How do Christians make Christmas joyously special without it becoming either paganized or too commercial? Over the years I have become increasingly concerned with that question. And I am convinced that we who share the deepest faith of Christmas are not required to deny ourselves Christmas fun.

Our challenge is to find and show the way to a holy and happy celebration of the season.

Sadly, I’ve encountered many victims of "sanctified Scroogism." I’ve become wearied by those debunkers whose stock-in-trade is assailing every enjoyment-filled facet of Christmas on the proposition that God, truth and holiness are threatened by them. It’s not hard to find sincere souls who:

don’t allow their children to give or receive Christmas gifts because "to do so would be surrendering to superficial commercialism."

attack everything from "The Night Before Christmas" (written by a Bible scholar, incidentally) to "Frosty the Snowman" on the premise that a child will confuse these fictionalized representations with the miracle story of Christ’s birth.

exhaust all efforts to attack celebrating Christ’s birthday on December 25 because "no one knows the actual date of Jesus’ birth!"

lambaste Santa Claus as a demon-inspired figure whose mission is to distract us from Christ, infecting children’s minds with the idea that both he and God are imaginary personalities.

And the beat goes on¾ a "beating" that has left in the wake of its assault a much larger contingent of battered souls than blessed ones. Since my congregation has devoted itself for decades to joyous, child-like, Bible-centered, Christ-honoring, light-spangled "Christmasing," I’ve watched too many people get saved and healed to doubt the wisdom of such celebration.

Sure, the silly, superficial and senseless surround us everywhere during the holidays. But at the same time, most people display an incredible vulnerability from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.

I’ve picked up the pieces of too many mangled souls to believe the "anti-Santa, anti-celebration" program works. I can’t begin to number the people who have told me about turning from the Lord because of the way their church or parents attacked the joys of Christmas celebration. Nor can I number the souls who have received Jesus in the midst of our congregation’s high, festive, rejoicing times¾ some of them admitting they had no idea that God’s love and Christmas’ fun could be married in holy union.

Santa himself is a case study in how we can use cultural traditions to serve spiritual objectives. Whatever arguments are mustered against a commercialized Christmas centered in a secular Santa, I still like the old guy.

Santa was "converted" at our house when I was a kid¾ "saved" to serve our family’s priorities, which never diverted from Jesus. None of us and none of our own children were confused about who the principal personality was at Christmas. We never thought the family fun, secrets and teasing about Santa were in the same league as the family’s worship and conversations about the glorious fact that "unto us this day a Savior is born, who is Christ the Lord!"

Santa is a dramatic emblem of a world crying out for a larger-than-life daddy who will love his kids even when they are not perfect and give them gifts to fulfill their longings. He’s called "Father Christmas" in the Commonwealth nations; and at the holiday season, most of this planet softens up to acknowledge its need of someone like him.

Of course, that Someone is the real Father of Christmas¾ "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" who perfectly supplies the full answer to humankind’s universal longing for a loving and giving father: "For God so loved the world that He gave....."

I’m convinced that traditions can be applied without allowing world-mindedness to clutter our celebrating. A congregation or family that embraces Christmas, rather than embarking on a crusade against it, will do more than avoid traumatizing kids by trampling on traditions.

This reactionary posturing is worse than "Scrooging," not having a ghost of a chance at accomplishing anything lasting, other than breeding bitterness and turning people from the church. A church or family can transform many of our cultural traditions into instruments that serve the interests of evangelism and spiritual training.

One way to do this is to turn the Christmas tree into a testimony of Jesus instead of a target for derision. We did this more than 35 years ago in our home and nearly 25 years ago with our congregation. It’s worked wonders!

At church, December’s first Sunday marks the unveiling of our tree. It’s simply beautiful, but mostly because of the way we observe it. At that service, we sing a melody to the tune of

"O Tannenbaum" with lyrics I wrote to help convert the focus from the ordinary to the extraordinary:

Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ,
To praise Your name we gather.
Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ,
To praise Your name we gather.
Because You came, God’s love is here.
Because You came, God’s love is here.
Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus Christ,
To praise Your name we gather !*

During the holiday season¾ at home with our kids and at church with our congregation ¾ we draw spiritual lessons from the elements composing the Christmas tree. For example, I might make it a point of devotional mention before we move into a time of ministry:

"This Christmastime," I would say, "we’re worshipping Jesus in an atmosphere that reminds us of the many blessings Father God intended for us when He sent His Son. This lovely tree, surrounded by packages, for example, ought to speak of something far more than human giving.

"This tree in its verdant freshness is a living testimony of another tree¾ the cross of Calvary. That cross was the first Christmas tree, where our dying Savior was hung to bring God’s gift of salvation to us. Through His rising from the dead, Jesus’ life has burst through the deadness of our world. And this green tree around which we gather breathes of the life Jesus Christ is ready to give us today.

"Notice also that around the base of this tree are many gifts. This is an eloquent statement of the Holy Spirit’s readiness¾ even as we pray together now¾ to give gifts of healing, strength, provision and more. All these blessings are released to us because of the ultimate gift God had given us in Jesus¾ the first and greatest present ever placed on a tree."

Sometimes at dinnertime during December, Anna and I have led our kids in thinking of ways our Christmas tree reveals the Lord’s goodness in giving Jesus. The creativity of a child’s insight into truth seems to abound when given a chance to do so unpressured by "religious" motivations. Such times have garnered deep insights that arise simply from joyous gratitude for the way the splendor of Christmas so magnificently can symbolize the glory of God’s gift.

"Jesus is the bright and morning star," one child noted, "and the star on the tree-top reminds us of that." Snow on the branches brought the observation, "Because of the cross, our sins are washed as white as snow." The ornaments have different messages, depending upon their appearance, but all say, "God has decorated our lives" with beautiful things through Jesus. The lights radiate the testimony, "Jesus is the Light of the World."

I don’t know how to clarify completely the issue of a "converted Christmas" for someone ensconced in opposition to it. But I do know two things: (1) All our kids are committed servants of Jesus Christ, all are married happily, all are active in some ministry and all celebrate Christmas joyfully¾ and are teaching our grandchildren to do the same; (2) at Christmastime, we not only have a richly rewarding season of blessing with the body of our congregation, but we also garner a harvest of souls who come to Jesus¾ attracted to the true Light amid the lesser lights of celebration.

And in that Light I long that every believer could allow and experience such blessing. My Christmas prayer is three-fold:

I pray for God’s wisdom to discern the times and seasons and perceive the possibilities of penetrating our culture, rather than attacking it.

I pray the truth of Christmas becomes a liberating one, filled with the warmth of the Father’s family love and overflowing with the joy of Jesus, spreading a holy contagion over everything.

I pray for the Holy Spirit to help us prophesy like Zacharias, give like the wise men, shout like the angels and sing like Mary.

* "Lord Jesus Christ," lyrics by Jack W. Hayford ã 1983 Annamarie Music. Administered by Maranatha! Music. Used by permission.

Santa, Saved and Sanctified ã 1993 Jack W. Hayford, Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA 91405