I once made the mistake of provocatively stating that “Santa” about as close as you can get to the Anit-Christ. The mistake I made was not checking who was in the room. One of the youngsters in the church was present. Fortunately, I made the mistake in a Bible study/prayer meeting and not in a school assembly. The family were understanding and I didn’t make it into the national papers as the minister who ruined Christmas that year.
However, I was making a serious point. Think about how Santa/Father Christmas is portrayed. He’s the one who makes a list, who sees you wherever you are at all times and is able to assess whether or not you are good or bad, naughty or nice. That is what determines whether or not you get presents. The tradition has reached the stage where you can even buy gadgets to act as St Nic’s eye and and even “elf on the shelf” to get up to tricks instead of you.
Now, the point about anti-Christs is that in many respects they ape the real Christ even as the rival and oppose him. So, it is true first of all that Jesus is the one who brings gifts of great value, in particularly, the gift of eternal life. It is also true that as the judge of all that he is the one who knows every aspect of us, past, present and future.
However, Christ is different from Santa. His gift is not linked to our goodness. He doesn’t determine that the naughty ones are unworthy. Instead, his gift of love, forgiveness and life is offered unconditionally. Furthermore, unlike Santa, he doesn’t just offers gifts, he offers himself as the greatest gift of all.
This gift is explicitly for those that find themselves on the naughty list.
Faithroots 