Christmas Eve

Tonight's the night. It's not the night that angels sing or that Bethlehem receives her King. It's the night that a jolly fat man arrives at every single house at midnight to deliver toys to boys and girls around the world. It is the essence of Christmas.

I find the idea reprehensible.

What does this "Santa" teach us? Well, we know he knows. He's almost entirely absent and no one has ever seen where he lives, but he keeps a list of good and bad kids. You don't want to be on his "naughty list" because, well, just because. You see, the threat is "I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas, cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad," but the reality is that no kid ever gets coal in his or her stocking and "Santa Claus knows we're all God's children and that makes everything right." At least, so says the song.

From this we learn several important lessons. We learn that God might be watching, but He is certainly remote and certainly not present. We learn that to earn God's favor we must be good. Bad people don't get God's favor. We learn that being bad could result in a vindictive response from a mean-spirited God. We learn that good and bad are relative and literally of no consequence. We learn that justice is not to be had. We learn that God owes us good things. And if you were paying attention, we learn all this stuff practically in direct contradiction to this stuff. That is, God is mean and vindictive to bad people ... but there are no bad people. God is mean and loves everyone. God's favor is earned and it is given freely.

In short, Santa Claus teaches us the opposite of the Gospel. Instead of the good news, Santa teaches us the world's religion.

• Only good people will go to heaven.
• All people are basically good.
• Therefore, all people go to heaven. So, go ahead and do as you please. "Santa Claus knows we're all God's children and that makes everything right."

The Gospel says that all have sinned and stand guilty, but a just and loving God has provided a remedy (rather than a mere remittance) for their sin and those who come to Him in faith can receive His forgiveness. Two different messages for Christmas. Only one of them is true. Oddly, they're linked, and the Santa version nullifies the Christ version.