Here comes Santa Claus

Here we are again, only a month or so away from every western developed-nation child's favorite time of year, Christmas.  And no, I'm not calling it "Winter Break" because Jesus Christ is - and will always remain - the reason for the season, even if political correctness and atheism wants us to ignore this fact through, among other things, a name change.

But what started this degeneration in our understanding of Christmas, I argue, was the commercialization of Christmas nearly a century ago.  I won't get into the history of this because it can be found from other sources, but the figurehead of this "new" Christmas was a commercialized rendition of a third-century Christian named Nicholas.  His story can be found at this link, among others.  When the Coca Cola company created the modern rendition of Saint Nicholas, or "Santa Claus", bearing the red-and-white clothing that resembled the colors of the famous soft drink in order to promote sales, it can be argued that the commercialization of Christmas began in earnest.  And with that commercialization began the emphasis away from Christmas being about Jesus and remembering what his birth and time on earth meant for all humanity.

Now the world today is absolutely starving for a hero, craving a savior.  Anyone who doubts this need only consider the worship-like attention and money poured out by the masses into the coffers of media and sports personalities, including fictional personalities like comic book heroes.  Their popularity has grown in direct proportion to people buying into the lies that attempt to discredit the Bible and the historical accounts of humanity's only true hero and savior, Jesus Christ.

And Christmas is no exception.  When watching the animated movie "The Polar Express" for the first - and last - time two years ago with my wife and kids, I was aghast at just how far the deification of Santa Claus in place of Jesus has come.  When these kids finally made it up to the North Pole, it was as though they had reached every materialist's version of heaven.  And when they met face-to-face with its god, Santa Claus, they reacted as though this was akin to meeting face-to-face with God Himself.  As a Christian parent, I was absolutely dumbfounded - even angered - by this portrayal of a fictional character (again, based originally on the factual Nicholas) as though he was god-like.  It was then that I realized just how out of hand and ridiculous the attempt to remove Christ from Christmas had become.

I cannot finish this post without commenting on how too many modern Christians have been seduced by non-Christian influences regarding Christmas.  In particular, I can't believe that ANY so-called Christian parent would even entertain the notion with their child that the modern rendition of Santa Claus is for real.  Yet far too many take their kids to Santa Claus parades and wait in line to sit on his lap at malls and corporate functions.  They get their kids hyped-up on getting rather than giving by asking them what they want for Christmas, and they write "From Santa" on their kids' gifts under the tree.  Then their child enters school and eventually finds out that Santa is a hoax, that their parents fed them the lie in order to give them warm fuzzies so that Christmas could feel all good and nice and special for them - as though telling them the Biblical account of Christ's birth alone wouldn't cut it, nor the memories of special times with family and friends during the Christmas season.

I wonder if any so-called Christian parents have wondered how this might impact their children's trust level in what they they are told and taught by their parents?  I wonder how many kids in such families have secretly wondered whether what they're being fed about Jesus and the Bible are for real if Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy were not?  Perhaps this is part of the reason why recent statistics show how at least 61% to 90% of all Christian kids (depending upon the study) grow up and leave home only to be indifferent about living out the faith they were taught or to abandon it altogether, especially if they go on to post-secondary studies. (Source:  Focus On Parenting conference, November 14, 2009.)

I am totally convinced that it is the indifference of Christian parents to the influences of the outside world that is causing the decay of Christian influence in the modern world.  And this undiscerning acceptance of Santa Claus into their homes and lives is one such example of how and why this is happening.

I will finish with how my wife and I have approached Christmas since the birth of our first child.  We have told them since they were old enough to understand that Santa Claus is not for real, that he was just made up by people who don't believe in Jesus.  We've also obviously never taken them to see Santa, or if one happened to be there they were perfectly okay with not sitting on his lap.  Rather, we have emphasized that 'Jesus is the reason for the season' and that the gifts we give AND receive symbolize the gift that Jesus was to humanity - of how he gave his life so that those who believe in him will have abundant life here on earth and eternal life after their body dies.

What has been the result of this experiment of taking Santa Claus out of Christmas:  Do our children mope around on Christmas morning wondering why they never got a gift from Santa Claus?  Do they resent us for telling them that Santa isn't for real?  Are they sad that we kept them from sitting on his lap, or writing a gift list for him, or sending a letter to him, or from putting out milk and cookies for him?

You might be surprised to know that our children get just as excited as any others do about Christmas.  They love giving and getting gifts and spending good times with family and friends.  They in absolutely no way have been saddened by the absence of Santa Claus from their Christmases and instead have a joy about the season based upon their good understanding of what Christmas is truly about.  As a Christian parent I am very glad about this.  We have bucked the massive forces of the non-Christian world that try to make us tow the line in this regard, and I believe that we as a family are better off for it.

My hope and prayer is that stories like this will inspire other Christian families to honor God and quit giving in to the ways of the world.  Many non-Christians think that to be a Christian is to be wimpy and spineless, but in reality choosing God's ways in a sea of ungodliness takes more strength than one can imagine, and the growth in godly character is well worth the effort.

What is love? Part II

The following passage on love is a favorite at most weddings:

"Love is patient; love is kind.

Love does not envy; is not boastful; is not conceited;

does not act improperly; is not selfish;

is not provoked; does not keep a record of wrongs;

finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth;

bears all things, believes all things,

hopes all things, endures all things."

Some people are surprised to learn that this beautiful passage is from the Bible.  Actually, it is an excerpt from an entire chapter of the Bible, referred to by some as "The Love Chapter" (chapter 13 in the book of I Corinthians), with this excerpt being the most popular portion of the chapter spoken at weddings.  Despite being in the Bible, this passage is so popular that I've not only heard it read aloud at non-Christian weddings, but even at weddings where neither spouse is a believer in God.

I thinks it's great that this passage is so popular even at these kinds of weddings.  But I wonder if either marriage partner actually thinks that he/she believes they can be consistent at living out more than a couple of these characteristics over a long period, especially if the true source of love - God's spirit, or the Holy Spirit - isn't living within them?  So although it's nice for a couple getting married and their audience to learn about the characteristics of what true love really is, living it out is very difficult - even for Christians.

In my previous post on this topic, I mentioned near the end how true love is choosing to stick with and support a person and deciding to serve the needs of that person.  In other words, it is a selfless act of service to another person, even when it's inconvenient and even painful.  Now I didn't just pull these observations out of thin air.  "The Love Chapter" is but a small taste of what the "Book of Love", i.e. the Bible, has to say on this subject.  So no, I'm not some kind of 'love guru', but I'm merely relating concepts recorded in God's word (the Bible) by the source or originator of love, God Himself.

So where am I going with all of this?  Well, since the Bible is authored by the source of love (men did the actual writing, but God revealed to them what they should write), then it should contain the best and most comprehensive examples of what true love is and how we should live it out - whether we're believers in God or not.  In other words, what's the point of having a passage read like the one above on a wedding day with no follow-up on what it is and how to live it out?  An understanding of this could save many marriages from disaster.

I'm sure most people have heard the phrase, "God is love" (I John 4:8), and the Bible is filled with examples that prove this.  Here is what God's Son, Jesus Christ, has to say about the ultimate gift of love to mankind:

"For God loved the world in this way:  He gave His Only and Only Son [Jesus Christ], so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish [spiritually] but have eternal life."  (John 3:16)

So God's gift of love to us is being able to live forever simply by believing in the One He sent to earth for us, His Son Jesus Christ.  One definition I've heard of "believing in" is putting the full weight of your trust in someone or something, in this case in Jesus Christ in order to save you from the penalty of your sins:  eternal punishment/damnation.

But later on in the same book of the Bible, John's Gospel, Jesus gave a command to his disciples during the last meal He ate with them before his crucifixion:

"This is My command:  love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do what I command you."  (John 15:12-14)

There's so much that Jesus tells us about His love for mankind in this passage, but the main thing is that the greatest act of love one can do is to die for someone else.  We've all heard this in many love songs and poems, but it's one thing to tell someone you'll die for them and entirely another to actually do it!  Well, Jesus actually did it, but not just for the sake of those disciples that He was eating with at the time, but for the sake of everyone who has ever lived.

By voluntarily being nailed to a Roman cross and dying for the sake of all humanity, Jesus performed the greatest act of love in history.  I'm sure that other people throughout history have sincerely given their lives in order to save the lives of others, but only Jesus' death meant something beyond this life:  if Jesus didn't die in our place to pay the penalty of our sins, NOBODY would be acceptable before a perfect, holy God and therefore nobody but Jesus would be able to enjoy an eternity with God after their bodily death.  Jesus' death was the fulfillment of God's love for humanity.  There is certainly no better example of sacrificial love than this!

Now that we know what true love really is and who the source of it is, let's relate this to how we should live it out while here on earth.

As I alluded to before, a person is truly incapable of loving another person apart from the help of God's Holy Spirit living within them.  And the Holy Spirit only comes to live within a person once they've been cleaned or forgiven by God.  How is this done?  Again, believing in Jesus to forgive you of our sins is all it takes:  no religious rituals, no regular church attendance, no amount of trying to be clean or perfect, no amount of giving or serving.  If you've done all this and not asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you'll be one of the flabbergasted and horrified try-hards that Jesus describes in Matthew 7:21-23!

So does this mean that only Christians - those with the Holy Spirit living within them - are capable of expressing true love?  No, but it's a whole lot harder to express it without Him living within you!  I guess my real point here is that Christians have a much better understanding of true love because they've read many examples in the Bible of what this is and how to live it out.  I'm not saying that Christians are much better at living it out - God knows how selfish people professing to be Christians have withheld love and even harmed others throughout history.  I'm just saying that Christians should know better because they've been exposed to so many teachings about it.

Even if you're a non-Christian or non-believer, learning to better express true love to others involves opening your mind to some of the lessons in the Book of Love, the Bible.  You don't need to read or believe the rest of it, but the following passages might be of help in learning how to express true love to others:

"Husbands, love your wives, just as also Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her"  (Ephesians 5:25)

In other words, husbands need to express love for their wives in a selfless, serving, sacrificial manner.  I'm pretty sure that God would want wives to likewise love their husbands.

"... husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hates his own flesh, but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, since we [Christians] are members of His body." (Ephesians 5:28-30)

I've always chuckled as I read this verse, because Paul here is playing on the vanity of men.  Come on guys, I'm sure most of you have struck a pose in the mirror many times!  You've either checked out your hair or looked at what effect a workout (hopefully) had on you.  But all this passage is saying is that you need to also get your eyes off of yourself and onto the love and care of your wife.

"To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband."  (Ephesians 5:33)

Even though these last few passages have been geared toward married couples, it is my hope that believers and non-believers have been encouraged by learning about true love and how to live it out with all people, not just their spouse.  There's no question that our world would be a drastically better place if each one of us would strive to show just one act of true love per day.