Santa Claus vs. Jesus Claus

I have been thinking about how Santa is perceived versus Jesus. It is something that always comes to mind when we are reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. For some reason even though we know that Christmas is born out of the birth of Jesus we still get caught up in the busyness of shopping and decorating and all of the parties that we oftentimes put the heart of Christmas on the backburner. I know this is especially true when we are driving in traffic near any mall on the planet. Anyways, God really gave me an interesting thought that I wanted to share with you all and encourage you to pass it along.

Santa Claus vs. Jesus Claus

The thought of Santa Claus vs. Jesus Claus came after I was taking my 4 year old son to preschool and a lady asked a boy that was standing nearby, "Is Santa going to bring you some nice gifts this year?"
The boy responding without blinking an eye, "Yes, I have been more good than bad!" I realized at that moment something interesting. There are two conditions that must be met in order to receive gifts from Santa. The first condition is that you must believe in Santa Claus and the Spirit of Christmas. You must believe that Santa is real. The second condition is that you must be more good than bad. I began to shiver as I thought to myself, "What would Jesus require for gifts?"
Jesus Claus would require something as well. In order to receive gifts from Jesus Claus you must believe in Jesus. You must believe He is real and He is who He says He is. The second condition is that it doesn't matter if you have been more good than bad as long as you meet condition number 1. In fact, the kid who is the most obedient kid doesn't get any more gifts than the kid who is always in time out or never seems to listen to their parents or do anything right at all.
This got me thinking even more. What does this say about what we believe about Christmas? There is so much focus on our behavior that we fail to see that the Love of Christ comes to each and everyone of us no matter how good we are. You see the standard for who receives the reward of heaven is absolute perfection. There must be no disobedience, no moment in our lives that we don't love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and no moment that we don't love others more than ourselves. Big Problem. I fail everyday. I would never get the reward or gift. Of course the great news is that the standard of perfection shows us that a Perfect God cannot live with imperfect people. God must punish sin and it must be done with total separation from Him, in other words, the payment is death.
Here is the "Santa Claus" problem. Many Christians and many people who try to understand what it means to be a Christian believe that being a Christian is more like Santa Claus than Jesus Claus. Many people believe that if you believe in Jesus and do more good than bad then you will get your reward. We don't live like we understand the truth that being a Christian is believing in Jesus and understanding you will never be more good than bad - we can never keep up to the perfect standard God lays before us.


Now the cool thing is that God has given us the coolest Christmas Gift we could get. If we believe in Jesus (Claus) and in what he has done (been the final payment of sin for us) then we can receive presents (gift of eternal life). All we have to do is believe in Him and what He has done and it is not based upon whether I have been more good than bad.
I don't think people question that God loves them or not, it is usually that we question whether He will accept us or not. Our struggle in understanding the truth of God stops when we fail to realize that God doesn't accept us because of our behavior. God accepts us because of our faith in Him. The only way to please a holy, righteous, perfect God is our faith in Him and what He has done. That our only chance for acceptance. We must realize that our acceptance is based in what has already been done on the cross.

I learned from a pastor one day a way to show my children how much I love them. Starting when they were just 2 years old I asked them if their daddy loved them more when they are good or bad. For the first few times I asked them they answered, "When I am good." I would reply back, "No, your daddy loves you when your good or bad." Now when I ask them they will respond, "My daddy loves me all the time, even when I good or bad." Then of course I look them in the eye and say, "That is how Jesus loves you too. He loves you when your good or bad!"

Thanks!

Kevin Deming
Youth Pastor
Annistown Road Baptist Church
Snellville, GA