Jesus vs. Santa Claus
No, it's not Celebrity Death Match or a South Park episode. I just thought I would take a moment to compare and contrast the two major figures of Christmas.
I. Santa lives at the North Pole; Jesus lives in the hearts of those who believe in Him.
"The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." - John 14:17
II. Santa knows whether we've been naughty or nice; so does Jesus.
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." - Hebrews 4:13
III. Santa requires good behavior; Jesus requires only belief in Himself.
"Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'" - John 6:28-29
IV. Santa lets the little children come to him; so does Jesus.
"But Jesus called the children to him and said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'" - Luke 18:16
V. Santa gives gifts; Jesus is the gift.
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6
VI. St. Nicholas died; so did Jesus.
"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" - Philippians 2:8
VII. St. Nicholas is still dead; Jesus is alive.
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" - Luke 24:5-6
I. Santa lives at the North Pole;
I take it you consider Santa to be different than St. Nicholas? For here you say Santa lives, yet in VI. and VII. you say St. Nicholas died and is still dead.
III. Santa requires good behavior; Jesus requires only belief in Himself.
What of Matthew 25:34-46? It seems pretty clear there that Jesus expects more than mere faith, but also works of righteousness: if one doesn't feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, he is condemned to eternal punishment; but if one does those things (the "good behavior" of righteousness), he is granted entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Well, yes, I suppose I view Santa Claus as an imaginary character derived from the real person of St. Nicholas.
And on to the faith/works debate...
My understanding of how the two interplay is this: good works are the natural (er... supernatural?) result of true faith and the power of Christ to effect change in a person's character. Righteous acts are the visible evidence that a person's faith has taken root and is not just lip service. If there are none of these outward expressions of one's faith, then there is a question as to whether the faith is real to begin with. Only God knows the answer to that question and He demonstrates as much in Scripture. The thief on the cross next to Jesus didn't have a chance to do any good works when he came to faith, yet because He knew he had true faith, Jesus promises him paradise (Luke 23:39-43). God also knows whether good works are truly an outpouring of faith or just for show. In Matthew 7:22-23, Jesus says, "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!'" The righteous acts God is concerned with are those that involve Him, that He has ordained. And these can only be accomplished by those people who have aligned themselves with Him. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:8-10)
(And just so you know, I am using "God" and "Jesus" interchangeably here as coequal personages of a triune Deity. Thank you.)
Posted by: Meredith on December 12, 2003 01:06 PMThe righteous acts God is concerned with are those that involve Him, that He has ordained. And these can only be accomplished by those people who have aligned themselves with Him.
Is that to say that the acts which Jesus lists as those of a righteous person cannot even be performed by, say, an ancient pagan Roman or a modern atheist, or that such acts, if performed by such a person, don't count in God's eyes?
Posted by: Jeff on December 13, 2003 10:53 AMWhat do you mean by "don't count?" Don't count as far as gaining admittance to heaven? Not even righteous acts performed by Christians count by that criterion. It is not the works themselves that God looks at, but the motivation behind them. "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (I Samuel 16:7) God sees past the good deeds to whether or not the person has received Jesus as His Representative on earth and believed what He said. To help your fellow man in a vague attempt to win points with your Creator, but then disregard His explicit instructions is foolish and is not without consequence.
Now, when you talk about ancient pagans, do you mean people who had no exposure to the account of Jesus' life and ministry? One of the principles in the Bible is that we are responsible for whatever level of truth about God has been revealed to us. The "general revelation" of God in nature is available to everyone, even if the "special revelation" of Jesus Christ may not be. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:20) These pagans may have been acting on what they know of God, however limited; I don't know. God's judgment in such cases is not made known to us.
Modern atheists don't believe in God anyway, so I don't see why they would care if their works won't get them into heaven.
Posted by: Meredith on December 13, 2003 01:34 PMGod sees past the good deeds to whether or not the person has received Jesus as His Representative on earth and believed what He said. To help your fellow man in a vague attempt to win points with your Creator, but then disregard His explicit instructions is foolish and is not without consequence.
I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here. You say that faith is the only thing required for salvation; but then you say that if you don't perform the right acts, you'll have to face the consequences.
It's always interesting to me to hear other people's concepts of God and interpretations of the Bible. I've met some people who were taught that only faith is necessary (so someone could go out and break every commandment, but as long as he had faith, he'd get into Heaven), and some people who believed that works were the important thing (and that, given God's forgiving nature, even an atheist who led a righteous life out of a belief that it was the right way to act had a chance at Paradise).
The church I was raised in taught that both faith and works were important in God's sight.
Sorry, I should have clarified. By "explicit instructions," I meant things like John 6:28-29:
Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent,"
and Romans 10:9:
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
God is forgiving, but He will not impose His forgiveness on us, just as He will not impose His limits on our behavior. To do either would be to violate our free will. We must willingly choose to accept His forgiveness, and to do that we must believe in the event that made it possible: to satisfy His wrath toward mankind, God sacrificed Himself in the Person of Jesus.
And I agree, it is interesting to hear other people's take on things.
Posted by: Meredith on December 16, 2003 02:50 PM