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St. Nick And Santa
In the first half of
the fourth century, St. Nicholas of Myra punched the Trinity-denying Arius
in the face.
At least, that’s what
the memes on my newsfeed say.
Regardless of the
historicity, the motivation behind its retelling is clear: the true meaning of
Christmas has been watered down because a
secular, make-believe figure has been elevated to the same level as
Jesus.
The King of Kings now
shares the spotlight with Kris Kringle.
St. Nick Solution
St. Nicholas appears to offer some help.
On the one hand, he
offers a certain “Christian” flavor to the Santa myth.
In the war on Christmas, Christians have a secret weapon.
We have a man behind
enemy lines, hiding in plain, red-coated sight.
Likewise,
St. Nick grounds Santa in history.
The complaint of
Christian parents vis-à-vis Santa has long been: how can we say Jesus and Santa
are real without expecting our kids to doubt the former once they stop
believing in the latter?
You can see the
appeal of the St. Nick option.
Historically,
Jesus and St. Nick are both “real” in the same way King Edward IV and
Teddy Roosevelt both occupied time and space.
Spiritually, Jesus
and St. Nick are both “faithful” in the same way Thomas Aquinas and John
Bunyan were both Christian.
Once Santa is
established as historical, so goes the logic, we needn’t worry about our
kids believing in Christ today but becoming scorned atheists tomorrow.
Similarly, if Santa
is a thorough, trinitarian Christian, we needn’t worry about hanging our
sleigh ornament on a branch under the Bethlehem Star.
Both point to
Immanuel in their own way.
I just don’t think
this reindeer will fly.
Exalting God Over Santa
Sure, I’m sympathetic to the St. Nick option, and I certainly want
to give a brother in Christ his due for going fisticuffs with a heretic.
But Santa can’t be
helped, I believe, because the problem isn’t with our faulty view of him.
That’s not
why he overshadows Jesus. Santa overshadows Jesus because we have a faulty
view of God.
Even a cursory scan
of evangelicalism reveals that many view angels as little more than elves and
God as a cosmic Santa Claus: seasonal, jolly, and meritocratic.
The St. Nick option
assumes Jesus will take his rightful place at Christmas once Santa is
brought down to the level of a historical saint.
But the real solution
isn’t lowering Santa to his rightful place; it’s exalting God to His.
In order to have
“more Christ in Christmas” we need less sentimentality in theology—that is, we
must see God as the sovereign, holy, and merciful God He is.
Sovereign
Over Seasons
Besides an aisle in Hobby Lobby, we restrict Santa’s
influence to a specific time and place.
We tend to do the
same thing with God.
The Scriptures tell a different story, though: it’s
incumbent on the rulers of the earth (whether they rule a nation, a
business, a family, or an apartment) to serve the Lord in all they do—to “kiss
the Son” in allegiance (Psalm 2:12).
The first step in
putting Christ back into Christmas is realizing God, unlike Santa, has
“creator rights” over everything.
He will not be
relegated to a “season.”
The sun never sets on
His kingdom, and His reign has no end.
Heaven is not the
great North Pole in the sky, a distant land to which we occasionally send gift
requests; heaven is where God reigns.
And
one day His reign will so thoroughly invade earth that there
will be no need for the sun, for the Son will be its light (Revelation
21:23).
We don’t simply go to
heaven with our requests; heaven comes to us with an invitation to embrace
Christ and a commission to proclaim Him.
Holy Over
Holly and Jolly
Of course, this is
no accident. A committee of the New-York Historical Society designed His
image to be warm, approachable, and inviting.
This is how we often
talk about God.
From what He does, to
what He loves, to how He responds to sin—our thoughts about God are often based
more on what we’d like to be true than on what actually is.
Despite our most
earnest wishes, God will not be remade in our image. He is holy and wholly
different from His creation.
He
wasn’t committee-designed; He is eternally existent in three persons.
If you’re waiting to
approach His throne until He changes His disposition to suit your
sensibilities, you’re waiting in vain.
God doesn’t exist to
make us comfortable, and His gospel isn’t a marketing pitch—it’s a divine
summons to repentant faith.
Mercy
Over Merit
The logic of Santa is clear.
How often do
we use God in the same way, as a mere deterrent to doing wrong?
But God’s justice
system is entirely different than Santa’s.
Through His death and
resurrection, Jesus unites his Church to Himself, making every reward
that’s rightfully His available to His bride.
Divine mercy isn’t
simply the turning of a blind eye to naughtiness. No, Christ shares His
Father’s lavish gifts by absorbing our punishment in our place.
God sent His Son into
the mineshaft only to collapse it. Jesus took all the coal there was to give.
God only has presents
for His children now.
Only Real
Solution
Santa Tebowing at a manger in the front yard isn’t the
solution.
We must recognize
that the real problem is a folksy religiosity that pulls God the Father down to
level of Father Christmas.
Until we’re able to
banish such sappy thinking from our theology and see our Maker as sovereign,
holy, and merciful, St. Nicholas is nothing more than a band-aid.
In fact, our baptism
of Santa may only serve to codify and sanction the real problem.
The “war on
Christmas” isn’t being waged by those who’ve forgotten Santa’s true identity;
it’s being waged by those who’ve forgotten God’s.
Dustin Messer, a graduate of Boyce
College and Covenant Seminary, is senior fellow of theology and culture at The
Center for Cultural Leadership. He and his wife, Whitney, worship at Christ
Church (PCA) in Carrollton, Texas, where Dustin serves on staff.
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