Keeping Christ in Christmas- It's not a to-do list.

It’s my favorite time of year! Truthfully, I love the circadian rhythms of the calendar and the welcoming changes that they bring…the splendor and glory of the autumnal days, the lazy days of summer, the anticipation of spring, and the wonder of winter. My husband would disagree with the “wonder” part of winter, stating that I am rather crazy for my adoration of those fluffy white frozen particles that are better known as snow.

Christmas is my favorite holiday and right now, we are in the midst of quite a bit of anticipation and preparation. My three boys, ages 7,6, and 4 are practically counting down the hours until tomorrow night when Santa and his reindeer come calling.

Like most young couples with their first child, we began processing early on in our pregnancy what we would implement as far as family traditions and rituals. And, like most young Christian families, the issue of the celebration of Christmas was near the top of the list of items to discuss. Would we introduce Santa? If so, how would we go about it? Would he be a big focus or would he be downplayed? Would he leave presents, and how many? Or would he just fill stockings?

Celebrating Christ in our family’s celebration of Christ-mas was a given. But the deeper question that pervaded was, would the adoption of one of our culture’s biggest childhood experiences, Santa Claus, overshadow the deeper meaning? We wanted to honor Christ in Christ-mas and we were in knots over the “oh my gosh” and “what ifs” of what a lot of churches say, and don’t say, about this seeming battle of the Church vs. the World.

There are a lot of misgivings, at least in what I have come across, in the Christian circles over a family’s individual decision to “teach their child to believe in Santa Claus.” It is after all, up to the individual family to decide what is best. But the unspoken word from most is that if you overemphasize Santa then you are worldly and “not a very strong Christian.”

This is a big deal. It is one that many often don’t want to discuss. My suspicion is that the conversation between parents that are on different sides of the fence on this would get quite heated. But seriously, aren’t we free in Christ?

There is a lot of legalism that the church has yet to address. Fearful of losing paying members of the church, the leadership often abdicates their positions on such matters, and the judgments continue. And by position, I am meaning that the church take a stand against legalism, without overtly condoning one side or the other. One of the first questions I received about my potential parenting techniques was, “So, will you teach your baby to believe in Santa Claus?” As though of course, teaching him to believe in a magical and mythical figure in Americana folklore would be teaching him that Christ himself was not real.

Sigh. Why do we judge one another so harshly? Are we not all equal at the foot of the Cross?

My biggest beef is undoubtedly with the fundamentalism that has crept into the foundation of the Church. The fundamentalism that teaches that obeying a certain credo, or set of man made rules, will bring you one step closer to Christ and one step closer to holiness. Gag.

I grew up in one such family.

Christmas in our home was solely focused on Christ, and not very much on fun. Not that the focus shouldn’t be on Christ, but Christ did not come to condemn and He certainly did not come to ask us to eradicate our lives of fun, creativity, and freedom. He is the Author of “every good and perfect gift.” He is the Author of freedom, the Author of creativity, and the Author of fun. He is the one who has gifted children with innocence and wonder.

I believed in Santa until I was about six, when I was told he was no longer real. From then on, every Christmas with family posed a new conundrum. I was trained to view Santa with a very skeptical eye, viewing him as something that was wrong with Christmas. Christmas, I was trained to believe, was only for Christ and the problem with Christmas (and the lack of feeling that He was the center of it) was the worldly idea of Santa Claus. Those who allowed their children to believe in Santa Claus were lying to their children and were intensely worldly and “lost souls.” Hence the judgment that set in on our extended family. In particular, the brainwashing and judgment that was passed on to my by my mother was then in turn passed on to my cousins. Family gatherings turned into an awkward event where Grandma would instruct, “Don’t tell your cousins that Santa isn’t real.” To which my little legalistic spirit would flare up and rebel and then proceed to tell them that he wasn’t. After all, Santa was wrong. But the deeper issue was that I felt out of place and wanted my cousins to believe what my mom prescribed as the truth so that I wouldn’t feel so different and…odd.

Many of our friends refused to even put up a Christmas tree, stating that it was a pagan and worldly ritual. The tradition of the Christmas tree differs, depending on where you get your information. I prefer to believe that it was Martin Luther who started the tradition of placing candles on a tree, pointing to the resemblance of that starry night when the Babe in flesh appeared and the angel choirs sang. Just as it is with Halloween or Easter, there are many legends and stories to explain why we do what we do.

The point is not to be so consumed with the dos and don’ts and the to-do list of Christian traditions and beliefs that the entire meaning is swallowed up by the side issues. The point is that Christ was born, Christ was the best gift ever born, and the story is beautiful- in all of its rustic, raw and majestic beauty. And the point is not to condemn, for that is not why Christ came. The point, my friends, is that no matter whom, how, or what you teach (or don’t) your children to believe about Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph, is that you not condemn those of us who do and vise versa. The point is that love covers over all offenses, all quandaries, and all questions of such matters. The point is that Santa is not what the season is about, and that applies to the area of Christian parenting as far as whether or not you do or don’t believe in him. The point is that those who make these things (Santa and his reindeer) the focus of the “problem” with Christmas are the same ones who have missed the true meaning of it: Christ came into this world to be acquainted with grief and to save His people from their sins. To love is Christ and Christ never condemns or judges.