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December 21, 2007

I have to side with the pro-Santa Richard Hall and Rod Dreher (thanks to gjoe for the link) in the Great Santa Debate. I totally respect the anti-Santa position though. A good friend of mine from college, her father a Baptist minister, was told early on that Santa wasn't real. Her parents' reasoning behind it was that they weren't going to lie to her about Santa, because they didn't want her to think someday they were lying to her about Christ as well. I can buy that logic, even if it's not my position.

I think one can celebrate the good of the secular Christmas with one's children without losing touch with the significance of the holiday. Children should be able to enjoy the silly stuff--Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, and so on--while being reminded (1) that most of this is silly and (2) there are more important aspects of the holiday. Parents need to act as filters of the secular and commercial mumbo-jumbo, letting in the good while keeping out the bad. Internet Monk Michael Spencer, who has been pure gold this Advent, has some good advice on how Christian families can celebrate Advent and Christmas season (italics mine):

1) Make a clear differentiation between the secular celebration and the Christian season. Don't let children be confused about what Frosty and Rudolph have to do with Jesus. Get the secular Santa out of the Nativity scene. Abandon the idea of Christians "reclaiming" the secular celebration. The secular, pagan celebrations roots are deep and it has its own meanings and story. The occasional "contact points" between the secular celebration and our season of Advent and Christmas are superficial. Make this clear to your children and proceed forward to make Christmas about Christ and special to your family.

2) Participate in the positive aspects of the worldly celebration without guilt or needless messages of avoidance. Wherever possible, serve and love as Jesus while drawing attention to him in those "Christmas" activities that you can take part in. Our culture's celebration of the Holiday has many positive aspects we should appreciate and affirm, especially concerning good will, family, compassion and artistic excellence. We don't need to despise all aspects of Christmas to celebrate our own way.

I think our resident Scrooges can appreciate this one:

5) Help your family find the mood of Advent, in contrast to the manic acquisitional madness of the secular Christmas. Advent is a time of preparation, prayer and sensing our need of a savior. Cultivate this in contrast to the world's mood. Then, when Christmas arrives, celebrate and feast for the 12 days.

And finally, IMonk echoes what Zach said in our first post in the Advent saints series:

8) Consider introducing your children to Saint Nicholas and his legacy of faithfulness to Jesus. There is an abundance of Saint Nicholas material on the net, including stories that children will love, his legacy as a Nicene father and many things that relate to compassion for the poor. By stressing the real Saint Nicholas, you can put the mythology of Santa into perspective.

[...]

9) Saint Nicholas Day is December 6. In Germany and elsewhere, this is a day to receive gifts of candy, nuts and fruit in your shoes. It can be a day to do all your giftgiving, leaving the rest of the season to focus on Christ. Another good suggestion is to use December 6 as a day to do something as a family for the less fortunate, or to participate in a ministry/mercy project together.

However you decided to do it--with Santa or without--Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Posted by David Darlington at December 21, 2007 05:22 PM

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Posted by: Joshua Claybourn at December 21, 2007 07:16 PM | permalink

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