Tag: Christmas

How should Christian parents handle “Santa Claus?”

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Somehow, parenting has become more complicated over the past 40 years. When I was a child, Christmas was simple. We enjoyed a huge dinner with extended family on Christmas Eve, exchanged presents, chatted and played card games or dominoes, then went to bed.

My grandfather always slept in the same room as us kids, vowing to help us “stay up and catch Santa Claus.” In reality, he was the lookout, the one responsible for making sure we were all asleep before the adults brought out the big toys brought to us by “Santa Claus.”

At some point early Christmas morning, I’d be awakened by a cousin or an adult who discovered, “Santa’s been here!”

It was fun. It was joyous. And, it was make-believe.

Later that week, we’d go to church to worship God and learn about Jesus.

It never occurred to me to question the fact that the same adults telling me about Santa were also telling me about Jesus. The thought never crossed my mind that “if the adults are perpetuating the Santa hoax, what if Jesus is a hoax as well?”

The thought never occurred to me because I never really bought into the Santa Claus myth.

Even as a grade-school student, I understood that the Santa legend was make-believe, and a fun way to celebrate Christmas, and that God was real.

I never believed in the mall Santas (and was actually somewhat bothered by them). I never actually expected to catch Santa in my house. (I was actually trying to catch the adults so I could say, “A-HA!”)

That’s a skill that I not only possessed, but that was very common in my generation. We seemed to have a knack for separating fantasy from reality, even if we preferred to indulge and live within the fantasy as much as possible.

This skillset, however, is not unique to my generation. I believe kids today are also highly capable. In fact, kids today are more likely to leave the fantasy at a younger age thanks to information available via YouTube and Google, which is at their fingertips as they play CandyCrush on Mom’s new iPhone.

You think they reached level 10, but they’re actually going down a rabbit hole of information on a 4th-century saint who cared for children.

Which brings me to the topic at hand… how should Christian parents handle the myth of Santa Claus?

I believe the best approach is to treat Santa Claus as a fantasy, while teaching kids the true meaning of Christmas.

It’s okay to indulge the fantasy with “Maybe Santa will bring you one,” or “Are you going to be on the naughty, or nice list?” and to sing songs like “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Just like my earlier post on Halloween, I will again advocate for letting the kids have fun and allowing childhood to be “magical.”

Childhood is under enough pressure as it is, with every political group and social organization trying to destroy it in the name of their cause without us taking away what little joy remains to satisfy our piety.

So, convince the kids to go to bed early so they can wake up to see what Santa brought. Leave milk and cookies out for him (because, you know… Dad), and act surprised and overjoyed when they discover their gifts on Christmas morning. Have fun. Make memories. Be warm and happy.

But… under no circumstance, should we let the meaning of the holiday be lost in that.

First, keep the reason for Christmas front and center, the birth of Christ, and the salvation He brought for all people. That’s the true gift of Christmas.

Secondly, teach the kids a little Christian history. There’s nothing wrong with them learning who Saint Nicholas really was. Their learning will help the transition from fantasy to reality, while maintaining a healthy sense of “play-pretend.”

Finally, when they question the reality of Santa, instead of trying to keep their faith in a mythical being that doesn’t exist, respond by telling them how much fun it was to indulge this fantasy.

It’s rare that the myth of Santa Claus is successfully used to destroy a young person’s faith in Christ. Still, by successfully navigating the balance of fantasy vs. reality, you can establish yourself not only as a great parent, but also as one who can be trusted for guidance, mentorship, and entertainment.

Scrooged! What We All Miss in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’

When reading written works, most people apply the lessons learned to other people. Few have mastered the art of applying a lesson to oneself.

When we read the Bible, we easily see the sin of others while excusing ourselves of our own sin. Or, redefining our own sin so it’s not sin. Or, reframing it so it does not seem so bad. I digress.

When we read the classics like “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens, we identify a villain (Ebenezer Scrooge), and we apply a lesson to the villains in our lives (the greedy rich.)

I mean, isn’t that the moral of “A Christmas Carol?” Greed hurts others and will lead you to an untimely death?

And since I am not rich, and I am not withholding anything from anyone else, it makes sense that this is a lesson intended for others. And, I should be the one to tell the greedy rich capitalist that he is responsible for Tiny Tim’s death.

The problem with that interpretation is that it lets me off the hook too easily.

Classic literature, like “A Christmas Carol,” always carried a message. Authors saw an injustice, or a fallacy in society, and crafted intricate stories to illustrate their points.

Harper Lee did it in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” George Bernard Shaw was a master at this art, especially in his work, “Major Barbara.” John Steinbeck was a major progressive voice in his novels “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Pearl.”

Their messages were sharp. Their indictments were merciless. They pulled no punches as their laid out the evidence that would convict society.

This is why these works are read in high school and college classrooms. Not so much to promote the messages contained therein, but rather to teach students to analyze written works in light of their context, and to think.

With “A Christmas Carol,” Dickens was no different. While most people see Bob Crachit as the protagonist, and Scrooge as the villain, the story actually has more to do with Scrooge than Crachit.

The reader was not intended to see himself in Crachit, rather, the reader was to see himself in Scrooge.

In Victorian England, life centered around religion, which all too often missed the Gospel and became self-righteous in nature. As a result, compassion for the poor was lost, and many treated the poor with contempt because they saw poverty as the rightful curse of a sinful lifestyle.

Dickens saw this cruelty first-hand as a child, when his father was thrown into debtors’ prison and he was forced to sell his book collection and go to work. He saw the effects on the many children who were denied education and placed in the mines and the mills.

So, Dickens creates a character who is wealthy, who has disdain for the poor, and who is leading a life that is as harmful to society as it is to himself as the protagonist. And, to make sure the Victorian reader’s sympathy lay with this despicable protagonist, Dickens sets the surrounding characters as people whom the Victorian reader wouldn’t dare admit to sharing commonalities with… the poor.

In the story, Scrooge is unloved as a child, faces poverty in his youth, but works his way up into a partnership with Jacob Marley, and lifts himself out of poverty. Then, he becomes the insufferable miser who is too cheap to allow Marley more coal to stay warm and refuses to allow a full day off for Christmas.

The thing about Scrooge is that he never demands from anyone else what he has not demanded from himself.

Scrooge is not sitting in a warm office while Crachit freezes in the foyer. Scrooge is just as cold. Scrooge is not taking a week off for vacation on Christmas while demanding Crachit work through the holiday. Scrooge is working as well.

Scrooge is not basking in luxury while Crachit’s family starves. Scrooge is thrifty, and barely spends anything on himself.

When Scrooge is asked for donations, his responses (Are there no prisons, are there no workhouses), are rooted in his demand that everyone do what he has done. Work hard, save money, provide for yourself.

And when Scrooge said to let the poor die and decrease the surplus population, he was expressing no value in human life, if that human life was not willing (in his mind) to sustain itself by all means necessary.

What Dickens captures in Scrooge is self-righteousness, and a disdain for anyone who has not attained to his level of self-sufficiency (which is Scrooge’s standard of righteousness.) Scrooge is a man who believes he pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, and everyone else should do the same.

Essentially, what Dickens was presenting in the character of Scrooge was the Victorian manifestation of Pharisaism. I earned it. I’m better. God is pleased with me.

It’s not until Scrooge is faced with eternal judgment (death) by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come that he reconsiders his ways. Having realized that his life and value system leads to death, Scrooge repents. Scrooge then emerges on Christmas Day a new man, one who is benevolent, generous, and cares about the plight of Crachit and his family, as well as the poor at-large.

This change in Scrooge is one reason why many see the Christian theme of redemption and salvation in the novel. And perhaps Dickens was trying to demonstrate to his predominantly Christian audience what redemption looks like.

Mainly, however, Dickens was calling his audience to repentance from their sins of pride, self-righteousness, and hatred of the poor.

Again, it is human nature to take these themes and apply them to others. We all know people that are self-righteous, bigoted, and who harm others by their selfishness. However, Dickens’ plan is for us to see ourselves in the Scrooge character.

Right now, our culture hurts. We are being ravaged by political fighting, economic uncertainty, divisive messaging in the news media, and a constant assault on our way of life.

It would be easy for us to fall into the “us vs. them” way of thinking, and to drift into the destructive lifestyles of self-righteousness. Instead, let’s remember that we are blessed because God shed His grace upon us. And instead of trying to defeat “them,” let’s try to win them over.

Like Scrooge began to share his wealth with others, let’s share the grace with which God has blessed us with others.

When the people of God view life through the Gospel lense, and live accordingly, there is no limit to what God can do.

It’s Time for the Great Pumpkin!

For some reason, I always identified with Charlie Brown. I always understood his plight. Nothing ever seemed to work out for him, and he always seemed to be laughed at.

Which is one reason why, when Halloween rolled around, I always enjoyed watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

The show was whimsical and full of childhood experiences with ironic twists. In a time designed to scare people, it was just plain fun.

Which is what the Halloween holiday has become in our culture… just plain fun.

Kids dress up in costume and “play-pretend.” Sometimes, even adults dress up as well… not just for the children’s Halloween party later that day, but for work as well. Walk into any insurance office, and you may find Elsa from Frozen, the Wicked Witch of the West, or Morticia Adams.

The objective for the kids is simple… leverage your Halloween costume as best as possible for as much candy as possible. In the words of Sally from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, “Get while the gettin’s good.”

That will be the objective this evening, as a trunk or treat will be held in the parking lot of Spieker Stadium before tonight’s game between Hermleigh and Ira.

It may seem like good clean fun, but is it?

While the face paint is being applied, and costumes are being fitted, blogs and social media posts from various individuals and groups are criticizing Halloween as a satanic holiday and urging people not to participate, even in fall festivals and trunk or treats.

Are they correct?

To explore this, we’ll look to two sources. Bro. Ray Brooks, who served as president of Texas Baptist Institute-Seminary, and Romans 14.

It was approximately 21 years ago, on the morning following Halloween. Apparently, none of us had the nerve to celebrate the holiday around campus or in student housing. I vividly remember panicking when my classmate and next-door neighbor, Mike Gribble, caught me in the act of making a Jack-O-Lantern.

Mike, great man of God that he is, and gracious as he is, gave me a devotional about how the transformation of the pumpkin into a Jack-O-Lantern is similar to our transformation in Christ. Thus, I could now legitimately make a Jack-O-Lantern (my favorite activity of Halloween.)

Almost all of us were married with children, living in seminary-owned apartments and houses. Some of us stayed home. Some went to fall festivals hosted by our respective churches. Apparently, no one took their kids trick or treating around the neighborhood, and absolutely no one took their kids trick or treating to the president’s door.

He expressed his disappointment the following day in chapel, telling us to “let the kids have fun.”

The argument against Halloween centers on the holiday’s pagan roots. Yet, I don’t believe anyone can say with a straight face that a young girl dressed up as Princess Elsa, or a young boy dressed up as Chewbacca, are really trying to engage in spiritualism or the worship of the occult. And worshipping the occult and summoning satan is not something you do accidentally.

The holiday may have been rooted in the occult centuries ago, but the modern version centers around costumes, imagination, play-pretend, and candy. There’s no spiritualism to it. It’s just good plain fun.

If pagan roots are to deter us from celebrating holidays, then we have to wipe Christmas and Easter off the calendar as well. Both were created as the Catholic church co-opted pagan holidays and rebranded them as Christian in order to convert pagan tribes to Christianity.

But, when Christians celebrate Christmas, they’re not celebrating a pagan season. They’re celebrating the birth of Christ. When they celebrate Easter, they’re not celebrating a Norse god, but rather the resurrection of Christ. (The eggs and bunnies are just an excuse to eat more chocolate.)

While some have taken the step of refraining from celebrating Christmas and Easter, others understand that the holiday is what you make it, and meanings change over time.

Christmas may have started as a pagan holiday, but Christians made it their holiday, and Coca-Cola made it a retail holiday. The Christians I know center that day and the entire month on the birth of Christ.

Easter may have started out as a pagan holiday, but Christians made it their holiday, and Hershey, Mars and Nestle made it a chocolate holiday.

And Halloween may have been a pagan holiday, but Americans turned it into a chocolate and candy corn holiday.

Basically, what you celebrate is determined by what’s in your heart. Are you celebrating Christ, cola, new toys, debunked ancient gods, or chocolate?

In the case of Halloween, it’s chocolate.

Now, all of this sounds good, but where’s the scripture?

Romans 14:1-8 says, “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. ²For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. ³Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. ⁴Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. ⁵One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. ⁶He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. ⁷For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. ⁸For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

In all truth, the context of these verses deal with the Old Testament Jewish feasts and festivals. Still, the concept remains. Some eat, some don’t. Some celebrate holidays, some don’t. The ones who eat, do so with thanksgiving and eat unto the Lord. The ones who don’t, refrain from eating in order to honor the Lord.

Those who celebrate holidays do so for the Lord. Those who don’t celebrate refrain for the Lord.

So, regardless of which camp we fall in, we belong to the Lord and we live for the Lord.

The point to Romans 14 is that we are to leave each other alone and allow each other to live for the Lord in a way that our conscience can be settled.

So, at Christmas, if you want to celebrate Jesus’ birthday, please do so with your whole heart. And if you’d rather not celebrate Christmas, then honor God with your non-observance.

At Easter, if you want to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, then do so and glorify God by proclaiming the Gospel. If you want to refrain from celebrating Easter, then honor God by regarding every Sunday as resurrection day.

And at Halloween, if you want to play dress-up and eat candy, have fun! For God never forbad fun. But, if you’re uncomfortable participating, then you are honoring God with your abstention.

But no matter what you do, recognize that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. That we are all honoring and living for God as best we know how, and that there are times that we need to step back and let God work the relationship between Himself and His people. Meanwhile, we keep our fellowship between each other.

But… one hill I will die on… unless you are a severe diabetic, chocolate is always appropriate.

May God bless you with a wonderful evening this evening, and a beautiful autumn weekend.

Why I celebrate Christmas with toys and trees…

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It was 10 p.m. last night, and the Walmart parking lot was still full. My wife and I had already hit the Heartland Mall looking for gifts for our seven children. Having loaded up on several gifts, we went to Walmart looking for toys to fill out the space beneath the Christmas tree.

Even at 10 p.m. in a small town like ours, traffic was heavy with holiday travelers and last minute shoppers. The shoppers had filled every store in town, dwindling the gift selections and extending the checkout times. Every year, this happens. Every year, I get caught up in the holiday rush, and every year I promise that next year will be different. I promise myself that, next year, I won’t wait until the last minute to buy my Christmas gifts. Then, every year, I do.

Those who know the true meaning of Christmas know that it has nothing to do with trees, Santa, or gifts. The true meaning of Christmas is remembering God’s promise to send us a Savior, His only begotten Son, who is Christ the Lord.

God stated that promise in Isaiah 7:14, when He promised that a virgin would conceive and bring forth a Son, and His name would be Immanuel, which being interpreted means “God with us.” He stated this promise again in Isaiah 9:6, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.” Isaiah 9:6-7 promised that this child, God’s only begotten Son, would bring eternal peace and prosperity to us. This would be accomplished by redeeming us from sin (Isaiah 53) and by delivering us from the pain of this world, and healing us (Isaiah 61).

Scripture records how God kept this promise in Matthew 1-2, and Luke 1-2. Christ was born, went to the cross where He purchased our redemption, rose again to defeat death, and sits at the right hand of the Father advocating for us until the day God sends Him back to earth to establish His Kingdom and complete the promises of eternal peace, health and prosperity.

With that being the true meaning of Christmas, why was I in a supermarket checkout line last night with a buggy-load of Christmas presents, tired and exhausted from a long day? After all, my kids know the true meaning of Christmas. We could forego the tree and gifts, honor the birth of Christ by scripture reading, and then send money to less-fortunate people overseas. We could do that. The kids would go along with it. Instead, I have to ask myself what my true motivation in doing that would be.

Christmas was the defining event for the year in the house where I grew up. The entire family would converge on my grandfather’s house on Christmas Eve. It was a small farm house designed for a family of three, not to entertain dozens of guests. Still, every year, my mom and dad, uncle and aunt, great grandparents and great uncles and aunts, cousins, siblings, in-laws and even friends of the family, would come over, enjoy a Christmas dinner of turkey, dressing, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni, etc etc etc and pecan pie, and celebrate the holiday.

Then, we exchanged gifts. Following the gift exchange, a televised basketball game, and some hilarious yet sentimental conversations, we’d all retire to bed. You read that right. This was a giant sleep over for adults and children. There were sleeping bags and fold-out couches. Sometime early on Christmas morning, before the sun rose, someone would loudly announce that Santa had come, and the gifts were out. We would then see what the jolly fat man brought us, collect our gifts, enjoy a breakfast of sausage, biscuits and dinner leftovers, and go home to recover. Those were good days.

We knew the true meaning of Christmas. There was a birthday cake for Jesus. There was the reading of the Christmas story. We celebrated in such a huge fashion because we were thankful for the family, friends and gifts God had blessed us with.

If the birth of Christ brought joy and peace, then why not celebrate His birth with a Christmas celebration that fosters joy and peace in our family? Celebrations like the one we will have this year, full of songs, gifts, and, of course, the scripture reading, brings joy and hope to our children, and that’s what I want to give them for Christmas. That’s why I braved the shopping crowds and holiday traffic, and that’s why I emptied my wallet. It’s a small price to pay to give the gifts of joy and peace to my kids, after the huge price the Lord paid to give joy and peace to me.

Merry Christmas. I’ll see you on the other side of the holiday.