“Traditions
are there for a reason: to provide us with guilt when we don’t do them
correctly.” Kelly Wickham
Since my children are all adults, there are “new”
traditions with Christmas with which I’m completely unfamiliar. One that sprang
up in recent years is the Elf on the Shelf. It developed from the 2005
children's picture book by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell. The book
tells a Christmas-themed story, written in rhyme, that explains how Santa
Claus knows who’s naughty and who’s nice. It describes elves visiting children
between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, after which they return to the North
Pole until the next holiday season. The Elf on the Shelf comes in a
keepsake box with a picture book and a small soft toy elf.
The elf shows up at your house and keeps an
eye on your children to ensure that they’re “good.” He reports back to Santa
every night then comes back to your house and hides somewhere new where he can watch
the kids. Children are taught that Santa is watching them through his minions
so that they will behave. Parents randomly hide the elf in different places, to
keep the kids on their toes. It’s a fun challenge to find the elf and when they
spy the elf, it reminds them that they’re always being watched and had better
be good…or it’s lumps of coal for Christmas.
One Canadian mother thinks that this is a
horrible idea, and probably akin to child abuse. Suzanne Beaumont is on a one
woman crusade, encouraging parents to ditch this holiday tradition in favor of
something with a more positive message. She believes that Elf on the Shelf
sends a message to kids that they’re under constant surveillance by Santa and
his pointy-eared minions. After reading the book, she felt “really disturbed” and
felt something must be done to counter the tradition, so she came up with a
new, more positive twist: What if the elf actually taught them something? What
if his role was to be the example and give them an opportunity to practice
kindness, compassion and gratitude? So she brought the elf home and gave him a
new moniker, “Kindness the Elf” and explained to her daughter that the elf’s
purpose was to bring kindness to them during the holidays and to encourage her
to be good for goodness’ sake, not out of fear of punishment. Her daughter wakes
up every morning and heads straight for the mailbox. That's where she
finds instructions from Kindness the Elf
telling her what positive things she should do that day.
Now before you decide that I’m the Grinch,
there’s nothing wrong with a little make-believe and fantasy. Christmas should
be fun, particularly for children. Personally, I think folk like Ms. Beaumont
have probably had a bit too much egg nog. And while we chose to not teach our
children about Santa Claus, we were committed to making Christmas a lot of fun
for our threesome. So if you want to teach your children that there’s a Santa,
or Elf on the Shelf, or the Tooth Fairy, that’s a parental choice.
Elf on the Shelf opens the window for a vital
biblical truth. While most adults are far too “sophisticated” to believe someone
is always watching, He is. His name is God. It’s what theologians call
“omniscience.” That simply means that God is all-knowing; that He encompasses
all knowledge of the universe past, present, and future. In the beginning, God
created the world and everything in it, including knowledge. In other
words – God knows everything. Not only does He know everything, Proverbs 15:3
says that God sees everything. “The eyes
of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”
And that’s my big problem. Since God knows
everything, there really is a “naughty list,” and my name is on it (probably at
the top) and so is yours. And what’s worse, I can’t ever be good enough to get
my name off the list. As Romans 3:10 says, “None
is righteous, no not one.”
Santa, Elf on the Shelf, the Austrian Krampus,
the Dutch Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) the German Knecht Ruprecht, to name a
few…all have one thing in common – the Law. But Jesus came to bring us the
Gospel (Good News). The most important truth that you need to know and teach
your children and grandchildren is the distinction between and the Law and the
Gospel. God is not another Santa Claus.
While we’re absolutely incapable of ever being
good enough to receive anything but coal in our stockings, the only hope for
goodness is only found in the only One capable of absolute perfection. His name
is Jesus.
Most of the world believes in some sort of
Santa Claus and it’s not just at Christmas. It’s 24/7, 365 days a year. It’s
the lie of “do good and you’ll be accepted by God and will receive good things.
Do bad and you’ll be punished.” It’s the Law, it’s Karma…it’s even typical parenting.
But the true message of Christmas is about the Gospel! Thank God for the
Gospel! Thank God for the incarnation of His Son who came to earth to save us from
this filthy mess into which we’ve gotten ourselves! As the angel said to
Joseph, “you shall call His name
Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). And
later as the angel announced to the shepherds, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who
is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
We can be free! We no longer live have to
live under this burden of guilt and sin, but now can live in the freedom of
Christ. That’s what Christmas is really about. We no longer have to live within
the confines of the Law. The Holy Spirit was not left to look over our shoulder
to make sure that we’re being good enough for God. Jesus didn’t come for those
who were good enough and He certainly didn’t come to rat us out. The Son Of God
humbled Himself in His incarnation into the restricted form of a human body,
lived a sinless life, and then willingly hung on a tree to die for those who
deserved not only coal but much worse. He did this all knowing that you and I could
never be good enough to appease the Father. We could never earn a righteousness
of our own so God’s gift to us was the righteousness of His Son wrapped up in a
blood-stained, tragic death, which culminated in a cry of “It is finished.” That cry, “It
is finished” declared once for all Jesus’ annihilation of the naughty and
nice list. With that cry that He stuffed Santa down the chimney and shoved that
Elf off the shelf so that we could be free…free for all eternity.
Mercy means withholding judgment and
punishment that we fully deserve. After mercy, grace is giving us blessing,
goodness and Heaven too…none of which we deserve. It’s all a free gift, God’s
Christmas gift to us. Have you accepted God’s gift for forgiveness and
salvation?
This Christmas rest in Him, rest in His
goodness and not your own. And please, give your children the greatest gift
they’ll ever receive – the grace that tells them that they have a Savior who
loves them and has come to rescue them from the crushing news that they will
never be good enough.
Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI -- .
No comments:
Post a Comment