Santa?

What do you do about about balancing Santa with the Nativity during this holiday season?

I have friends who hold different views ranging from not telling their kids about Santa at all (cause they don't want to lie to the kids) and not talking about Santa (cause they think he is a secular invention that overshadows Christ) to those who run with all things Santa (and put Jesus at a distant second place).

I grew up with the Santa myth. I don't remember thinking that my parents were horrible lying monsters when I found out the truth. I also have no reason to believe that their advocacy of the jolly old elf caused me to be less likely to trust in Christ. I didn't come to faith as a child but that was due to my parents lack of engagement with the faith in general, not because I was disillusioned by the falsehood of Santa.

Therefore, I have decided (with my wife) that we would carry on the Santa tradition in our house. We have a couple of conditions though...

- Santa is always secondary to the birth of Jesus. Thus we keep our Little People Nativity right next to the tree, this allows us to actually play out the nativity story with our boys on a regular basis, thus opening the door for conversation about who Jesus is.

- We never stress the "better be good" aspect of Santa. I think that notion is pure legalism that actually could impact a childs understanding of grace in later years. For us, Santa brings presents regardless of behavior.

I have been pretty happy with this middle ground where we engage with the culture and also keep Christ central. I wonder how others view the issue and what basis they have for their take on it.

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In a related note:

- We were watching "Santa Buddies" with Everett the other night and I got pretty upset inside. The whole movie is about a talking puppy who is the dog version of Santa Claus. He decided he doesn't want that job and he tries to go live a normal dog life. In his absence the North Pole falls apart. Elves and other dogs work hard to get him back to the Pole so that Christmas can continue. The moral of the movie centers on learning that the "true meaning of Christmas" is about selfless giving and not selfish receiving.

Uh...no. The true meaning of Christmas is the birth of Christ, which could be seen as God's great gift to us I guess. Unfortunately, the movie never mentions Jesus. It struck me wrong.

However, we did watch the "Nativity Story" movie as a family the other week. Everett liked the wise men and he is funny imitating Mary as she gave birth with squinted eyes and grunts.

- Lastly, I saw this commercial for something called "Elf on a Shelf." The premise is that Santa's elf sits on your mantle and keeps track of your behavior thru December. If you're good, he'll report that to Santa and you get gifts...obviously, if you are bad - nothing.

Holy mackrel. That is freaky to me regardless of the theological issues I have with it. I can see his elf eyes following me around the room now...