Yes, You Better Watch Out

Oh, I know not very many people will like me after this posting. I may even receive my first hate mail. But I'm passionate about sharing truth. Before I get started on the Santa Claus issue, though, let me make a disclaimer: this post is directed to those who profess to believe in God of the Bible and who profess to follow the Jesus that Christmas celebrates. If you are not a believer, you are "free" to believe what you wish...although I pray that you may come to know and embrace Truth.

Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, let me get to the heart of the matter. This is another truth that hit me hard as I was listening to some Christmas carols recently (I am getting beat up quite a bit this holiday season, but it's all good). We all have heard this one, right?

"You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry,
You'd better not pout, I'm tellin' you why,
Santa Claus is coming to town..."

So far, so good. I don't see any problems with a big, fat guy in a red suit coming to town for a visit...

"He sees you when you're sleeping;
He knows when you're awake.
He knows if you've been bad or good,
So be good for goodness' sake...."

Whoa. Let's hit the pause button for a second there. What kind of qualities are we attributing to this jolly, old fellow? I have listened to this carol for years, and I guess I never really grasped what we've turned the Santa Claus figure into...until now. It seriously disturbs me, especially when I start to hold it up to the light of God's Word. Now I can almost see the eyes starting to roll and to feel the indignation pouring through my computer screen as people read that last statement. What's wrong with Santa Claus? He's just a harmless little thing, and you're out to spoil it for all the little kids. I know, I know. I'm trampling on some supposedly sacred ground here. But is this belief in Santa Claus a truly harmless thing, especially for those who claim to believe in God?

Let's take a look at the first claim in this Christmas carol: "He sees you when you're sleeping; he knows when you're awake..." Huh, that sounds pretty similar to what I read in Psalm 139:1-3: "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways." Now, did you catch that? Read it again s-l-o-w-l-y. This carol highlights some essential beliefs about Santa Claus that put him on equal footing with God. Think about that for a second or two. I don't know how Santa Claus feels about that, but I DO know how God feels.

"I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another."--Isaiah 42:8

In other words, God is not about to share the stage with anyone. Not even Mr. Claus.

While you mull over that, let's take a look at Santa's second claim to fame: "He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake..." Again, this idea sounds familiar. Jeremiah 17:10--"I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." So here we have both Santa and God making a judgment on a person's behavior and rewarding him accordingly. I'm not really sure where Santa draws the line between good and bad. In the movie "A Christmas Story", the main character abandons his friend in an emergency, beats up a bully, curses, and lies to his mother (about where he learned the curse word). He wonders all along if he will be able to get the present he's requested. Christmas comes, and the present is there. Whew! He made the cut apparently. God's standard, on the other hand, is written out very precisely in the Bible. He doesn't leave us in any suspense about where we stand: we've ALL failed His good/bad test.

"As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.'"--Romans 3:10-12 and Psalms 14:1-3

No wonder Santa is so popular.

Having said all this, I come back to my earlier question. Is believing in Santa Claus truly harmless? As believers is it something that we can teach kids and expect that they will outgrow or leave behind at a certain age? I don't think so. I read an article back in August that referenced the National Study of Youth and Religion. In the study teenagers who identified themselves as Christian had a hard time articulating their beliefs. Could this difficulty come from confusion between Santa Claus and God? I don't know for sure, and I'm not sure that the study even goes there. It does make me wonder if there isn't a connection, though. The Bible is very clear about not mixing other stuff in with God. In the spirit of Hebrews 3:13, I encourage my fellow believers in the body of Christ to seriously consider this issue and seek the Lord about it.

"Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,..."--Joshua 24:14, 15a

90-Day Challenge: Why do it?

Oops, I guess this is the kind of thing I should have written at the beginning of the challenge, not in the middle. But I've been thinking about it as I have gotten behind in my reading and worked to catch up. Why do it? Why keep it up? Why encourage others to join me?

First off, let me be very clear: I am NOT doing this as some kind of religious exercise. Nor am I encouraging others to do it as a religious exercise. I am not looking to give myself or anyone else a pat on the back at the end of it all and say, "Look what I did! Aren't I great?" Ugh. I hate that tendency in me and am desperately trying to move away from that. That's not the point of this whole thing, and that's not what keeps me going.

If I was going to give myself a pat on the back, I would have already done so, because if the truth be told, I've already read through the Bible in 90 days. That's how I know that it is possible. So if I've already done it, why do it again? One of the reasons is because I believe it's an important principle in leadership. It isn't right to ask someone else to do something that you're not willing to do yourself. So if I'm challenging others to read the Bible in 90 days, I'd better be doing it right along with them. And I am. Are you finding it difficult to keep up? Me, too. You have questions about what you just read? Me, too. If you've read through parts of the Bible before, are you wondering how you missed certain instructions or stories? Yep, me, too.

I must confess: I am absolutely fascinated with the Bible. That wasn't always the case for me. Actually, I became more fascinated with it as I grew in my relationship with its Author. Every time I read it, He speaks to me and shows me things I never noticed before. I've read lots of books multiple times, but the Bible is alive in a way those other books are not. Maybe you're reading this and thinking I'm crazy, or you're questioning my statement about the author part. That's okay--if that's the case, then please leave a comment or contact me with your questions. I am not out to argue or beat anyone over the head with what I believe. I am ever in pursuit of truth and am simply happy to share what I've discovered in my journey.

So why did I choose the 90 days for this reading adventure? One, that is how long it took me the first time I purposed to read the entire Bible cover to cover. Also, cramming a large project into a small deadline was something that I learned to appreciate when I participated in the National Novel Writing Month a few years ago. Writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days doesn't leave you any time to obsess about the details. I figure the same is true with reading through the Bible in a short amount of time--it helps to move things along and to see more of the bigger picture. Now don't get me wrong; I believe it is very important to study the details of the Bible, especially if you claim to be a Christian. But we have this tendency to pull out verses without seeing them in the larger context of the entire Bible. When you read through the entire book, you can start to see the themes and connections between all its various parts.

So there you have it. If you're thinking that it's too late to participate, I say, "No way! Come join me!" You can always go back and read what you've missed. I don't think it's ever too late to read the Bible.

Eight Days In

So the first week of the 90-day Bible-reading challenge has passed. It's a lot of reading in a short amount of time, but I find that this helps me focus on the major themes and the bigger picture. I'm not sure who all has joined me on this little adventure--if you haven't joined yet, why not now? You can always go back and catch up on the books/chapters you missed at the end.

So what caught your attention as you read this week? What surprised you? What did you like? What did you not like? These are the kinds of questions I was hoping to ask the people who joined me in reading, but I don't know who took me up on my challenge (except one). I guess that means I'll share this time. Maybe next week some other readers will come forward and share their own discoveries.

What impressed me as I finished Exodus was how God was fulfilling His part of the covenant with Abraham. Abraham was promised many descendants who would be slaves in Egypt for a time. Then God would bring them out of Egypt and back to the land that Abraham was living in at the time. So at the end of Exodus, we see God guiding hundreds of thousands of Abraham's descendants toward their Promised Land. He has been working for hundreds of years to keep His end of the bargain. And now in Exodus, we also see God instructing the people how to keep their end of the covenant.

There are lots of extra materials out there to explain what covenants are and how they operate. One that I have found extremely helpful is "The Blood Covenant" by E. W. Kenyon. It has an excellent illustration of a "modern" blood covenant, which sheds some light on the covenants in the Bible. I recommend reading it, although if you're pressed for time you may want to wait until the 90-day challenge is over.

That's all for now. Good success to all on week #2 of the challenge!

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."--Heb. 10:24 (NIV)