Yesterday, I posted about why I don't like the whole Santa thing.
But contrary to popular belief, not everyone who decides to not participate in society's story of Santa calls him Satan Claus.
I actually have had some great interactions with my kids about what Christian giving is about. So, here I offer my top 4 ways to reclaim St. Nick.
1. Uh... tell the story of St. Nick.
See, yesterday's post was completely and totally (as in 100%) about Santa Claus. The one from the "A Visit from St. Nicholas" poem by my relative Clement Moore. Or that one in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." (A catchy song that will easily stay in your head for days.)
But this isn't the real story. And even though we may not have all the details of the real story, we do know that he was a real person or people that gave to those in need in secret. This, my friends, is an inspiring story.
But our kids won't know this story from looking at our culture. It's up to us to teach it.
2. Tell the story of Jesus.
As we're telling our kids about St. Nick, let's help them understand that his actions were an appropriate and natural response to worshiping a God like Jesus. We give gifts because Jesus gave Himself as a gift to us. Not because we earned it. Not because we're good enough, but exactly because we're not good enough.
Something we try to be intentional about is helping our kids see the difference between earning God's love and acting out of God's love. St. Nick did good deeds, not to fix his relationship with God, but because God already fixed the relationship. It is only Christ in us that can make lasting work. While anyone can give material gifts, it is only Christ that can give eternal gifts.
3. Go follow the example of St. Nick, who was following the example of Jesus.
Scripture tells us in many instances (not the least of which is Philippians 3:17) to look to others who have trusted Christ for an example of what our lives might look like when we walk by the Spirit. It's this awesome and humbling concept that Christ speaks to his church through his church.
So, as we approach Christmas, maybe we could find people to whom we can give anonymously in the name of Christ. If one was so prompted, I might not even have a big problem with saying the gift was from St. Nick (although I would probably give a small write up of who that was, in order to avoid confusion between St. Nick and modern-day Santa.)
But see, yesterday, I mentioned about how talk of Santa is typically focused on what we are getting this year. The giving of St. Nick and of Jesus was focused on what someone else is getting, often to the point of us sacrificing for it. So, we reclaim St. Nick when we direct our kids to thinking of others and providing for their needs.
4. Have fun celebrating a real hero.
This is all fun for me and my kids - without the culture's definition of Santa, without a false character that we tell children is real. This is what we do with St. Nick at our home and we have a blast at Christmastime.
We can still do fun things like the advent calendar and opening presents. We participate in Christmas parties and my kids dance in Christmas recitals and entertain crowds with community theater. There are so many aspects to Christmas that we can celebrate, and as part of that we prefer to have fun celebrating St. Nick as a real person.
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