Saturday, December 19, 2009

The Santa vs. Jesus debate

There has been a debate going on among active Jesus followers for some time concerning, "Do we tell our children about Santa or not?" It is kind of a Santa vs. Jesus debate. On more than one occasion church members turned to me, as their theological advisor, for an answer. I might have been wrong, but I always suggested that it wouldn't harm your child and his/her growing faith to go along with the Santa idea.

There is a current popular e-mail going around with the title, "Jesus is better than Santa." The last line puts this entire debate - dare I call it a silly debate - in perspective. It reads, "While Santa puts gifts under your tree Jesus became our gift and died on the tree."

Santa lives in the hearts and minds of our children for just a short period of time and then is simply a pleasant memory of a season past. Jesus is forever! A wise parent decided not to fight the whole "Santa vs. Jesus" issue, but used the belief in Santa to help her child gain a stronger relationship with Jesus. You can use your own imagination as to what she shared and how she shared it ... all I know is that her daughter had a better grasp of Jesus at an earlier time in her life than the other children in Sunday school.

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