Like a Child's Faith in Christmas -- Con't

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:8-11

As we enter into this Christmas season, I’m filled with both a sense of joy and a sense of sorrow. On the one hand, I get to experience the child-like wonderment of the Christmas season through my daughter: the memory of what life was like when there was still magic in the world, when we were amazed by the beauty in the world, and we hadn’t become bored with snowflakes, lights, and the Christmas pageantry.

This season is also somewhat of a sad time for me, in that this is probably the last year my daughter will believe in Santa Claus. I remember when she was three or four, I wrote her a note from Santa thanking her for the cookies; that was the highlight of her young life. She still talks about that and mentioned it the other day by commenting, “I know Santa is real, because how could the mommies and daddies drink up all that milk and eat the cookies all by themselves?” I think she’s at the age where she wants to believe, but some of her little friends are beginning to question or deny the existence of Santa Claus.

Now, I respect the fact that not everyone encourages their kids to believe in Santa Claus, so I’m not trying to convince you that you should tell you kids about Santa or justify the fact that we keep the Santa story alive. My point in writing this is that Christians don’t have to be anxious that Jesus will be thrown in the same category as Santa Claus. As a parent, I can understand why a mom or dad might have this concern; I’ve been told many times that my faith in Jesus’ birth is as foolish as believing in Santa Claus. A lot of times, therefore, it’s easier to avoid the hard questions about how the two are different, and to ask and think, “Why do I simply believe like a child in the Christmas story?” and “ How is that different from a child’s faith in Santa?” Ultimately, the reasons why we believe in these two are grounded in two very different things.

The most significant way in which these two differ is in what it would mean if they weren’t true. If the prophecies about Jesus’ birth were just made up, it would mean our faith is a lie, which would be worse then holding a child-like faith in Santa. Lets face it, if Santa Claus turns out to be a lie, you and I haven’t lost much. Now that sounds ridiculous, but if you believe in Santa Claus, and you’re wrong, no harm, no foul; you haven’t hurt anybody over it and you haven’t been hurt by it.

This point, therefore, illustrates how different Santa Claus is from Jesus. Nobody is going to torture and take away your rights for not believing in Santa Claus. Nobody fights wars over the existence of Santa Claus. Humans do, however, fight about the rightness of our God and religion, because there is an actual God. We may fight over a wrong idea about God but, once again, you don’t fight over something that doesn’t exist.

Likewise, it’s of no consequence if we retell the story of Santa Claus. If people are convinced that Santa Claus exists and later find out it’s a lie, they haven’t been caused permanent injury. Children come to understand that you can tell the difference between a myth and reality by how it affects your life. A myth causes no lasting impact on your life and can offer you no real, lasting improvement.

Consequently, people would think you foolish to spend your life trying to convince people of Santa’s reality or laying down your life in a foreign country for the cause of Santa. Santa doesn’t ask you to lay down your life for his cause, and one simply doesn’t do such things for a non-existent concept that has no power to affect your life.

On the other hand, we all have written on our heart the reality that God does exist. Most people who believe in the concept of God believe He commands certain things from us and has the power to improve our lives or condemn us. Humanity would not be able to agree on this broad definition of God unless He really existed.

As Christians, we go further by insisting that God asks you to lay down your life for His son. Therefore, If Jesus is not God, then God is most cruel and evil for sending the angels to proclaim the Messiah’s birth that night. He would be evil for asking the shepherds to go worship a human who was not God. He would be most cruel to inflict a life of devotion onto the shepherds. How cruel it would be for someone to convince you to suffer and die for a lie.

Ultimately, Christianity is either a cruel lie or the most magnificent event in human history. There are no two ways about it. So what will you do with the Messiah that was born that night? What will you do with Jesus who gave Himself for those who will believe (Rom 1.16)? Will you consider him a fable and a myth or will you give Him His proper worship?

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