I Still Believe in Santa Claus

Yes, that's right, I am 32 years old.  I have two "grown-up" jobs.  I pay my bills and have an M.A. in Sociology and I'm willing to put out there for the whole world to see that I still believe in Santa Claus.  No, I don't believe in a man in a red suit that is going to slide down a chimney on Christmas Eve.  I once lead a Bible Study where we talked about this subject.  At the time, I landed on I believed in Santa Claus as the anthropomorphic representation of the Christmas Spirit.  In a sense, that remains valid.  However, I've come to understand that a bit differently. 

As I've tried to grow in my faith, one of the things that I've come to accept is the doctrine of total depravity.  Essentially, the idea that mankind is rotten at its core.  To accept this though, I have had to reconcile it with the fact that humans also act in caring, compassionate, and altruistic ways.  These are usually tossed up as the evidences that the doctrine of total depravity doesn't work.  However, this isn't scripturally sound.  "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" ~Matthew 7:11

Knowing how to be caring, and even choosing to do so does nothing to eliminate the idea that we are innately evil.  One thing we've forgotten is that we are born under a curse, and we live in a world that is cursed.  We are sinful beings, no amount of good we might try to do will eliminate that.  However, we live not only under a curse, but also under common grace.  This is the grace that lets blessings fall upon the righteous and the wicked, offered to all even though it is undeserved.

This curbs the destructive power of sin.  I believe that common grace is connected to our having been created in the image of God.  That is to say, that even though all of creation is under a curse, we still are able to choose to do good.  Without this, all of society would collapse in on itself rather quickly.  The economic principle of the tragedy of the commons would be demonstrated even more rampantly.  So we are capable of making a good choice, of being caring and compassionate, even though at our core we are evil.

I believe in Santa Claus as the anthropomorphic representation of this common grace.  The best of what humanity could be.  Particularly during the Christmas season, it seems a lot easier to try and be generous, to take some time to care about the less fortunate, and to put forth a little extra effort to make a child smile.  Some of this might just be social pressure to behave more altruistically, but I like to think that some of it is connected to what I could only explain as the magic of Christmas. 

So yes, I believe in Santa Claus.  I believe that each of us is capable of making good choices.  I believe we can care about those less fortunate than ourselves and I believe that we can offer a helping hand.  Santa Claus has become the myth representing the best of what humanity can offer.  And that is the true sadness and the real beauty of Santa.  Santa Claus can give us temporary relief.  We get a moments joy, we get a sparkle in our eyes, but virtually the moment the wrapping paper is thrown away the joy fades.  Some things will stick with us, I still remember that feeling the year I got my first little stereo, but for the most part, all these things will fade away. 

Santa points us to Christ, in a way that I think would please the real St. Nicholas.  Offering people a gift, helping the less fortunate for a day, this all still takes place in a land where moth and rust destroy, where fire consumes, winds scatter and thieves steal.  If all there is good in this world is Santa Claus, we will always have to keep giving and consuming to try and feel fulfilled.  The only place we will find any real rest, the only chance we have to go beyond the temporary happiness and common grace of Santa Claus, is found in the joy offered to us through the saving grace of Christ.