“SANTA CLAUS GOSPEL”—THE CHRISTMAS IDOL
BASED ON BOOK
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE OF
HALLOWEEN, EASTER , CHRISTMAS
BY
ALLEGRA McBIRNEY
Critiqued
by
VERNON M. HERRON, D. Min.
Christmas is coming! The toy market is appealing to children. Children are persuading adults regarding their choice of Christmas wares and desired gifts. During my early childhood, I was fascinated in a state of expectation because Santa Claus was coming to town. The song text goes like this:
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He’s making a list
And checking it twice,
Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
Oh! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
The above folk song comes in form of a Santa Claus Gospel. This Christian idol not only pollutes a sacred story but also corrupts theological and spiritual truths. It has the form of omniscience but its appearance is without substance.
Christmas is that time of year when the focus should be upon that One for whom the day was named CHRIST-MASS- the Lord Jesus Christ. But every year that focus seems to shift more and more to an another –and that is to Santa Claus. Is is not easy to speak out against Santa Claus, because to attack him is to attack the Christmas idol.
Santa Claus has taken on some of the characteristics of an idol. (Innocence)
God’s Word says:
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”
Certain powers are attributed to Santa Claus which belong to God alone,
Example:
Santa
sees all they do
hears all they say.
In essence he is
Omniscient
Omnipresent
These are powers that are God’s alone. God’s word says, “I am God and there is none like me.” Yet children are taught that Santa Claus has God-characteristics
The role of Satan in this scenario
Satan is not presented as fiction--. He is presented as fact—real—living—and having involvement in their lives. Children are taught to believe in Santa Claus.
Satan is the Father of Lies
The Santa Claus gospel strives to make him seem alive and real and
strives to make the Very Real Saviour seem dead and fictitious.
Satan gets help from parents by:
Perpetuation of myth
Hanging of stocking at chimney vs parents’ love
Claiming that Santa knows child’s behavior
Claiming that Santa hears and answer specific petitions
Claim of his coming in person to their home.
Actually, these are mocking imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ—of Christ’s genuine Reality—of his real knowledge of each person’s behavior; his actual answer to specific prayer petitions and his authentic coming in person, not simply to the home but to the heart of each believer.
Even Santa’s elves seem strangely parallel to scripture’s account of ministering angles. Note the similarity between the words “Santa” and “Satan”.
The “Santa Claus Gospel” indoctrinates children with the idea that if they are “good”, they will get present from Santa Claus. This doctrine compounds the true Gospel of Grace. God’s presence does not depend on our being “good”. The Bible says “There is none that doeth good, no not one.” Romans 3:12
It does not depend on our goodness; we have none! But it depends on the perfect goodness, the sinlessness of the Son of God which qualified Him to pay for our badness, our sinfulness. On the cross Christ suffered for that sin as our substitute, died and rose again. By believing and trusting in Him, they will get eternal life as His present---earned by him, not by their own efforts.
Salvation comes by Faith, not by being “good.” Yet the “Santa Claus Gospel” of works has gotten to children and has left them resistant to the truth, that entrance into heaven is not determined by behavior but by trust in Christ and His sacrifice.
Another serious effect of the Santa Claus myth is that it can deter children from coming to Christ in faith. Once they discover that Santa Claus is a liar, they can be hesitant to put their trust in anyone further in whom they’re tried to believe but cannot see.