Story Time

It is common, this time of year, for Christians to shift uncomfortably while they discuss the presence of Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty, and other seasonal myths in their home. Some Christians and denominations loathe and expunge the amiable characters, while others have gone to great lengths of defend their right to keep these myths around - and a whole slew of believers land somewhere in between. I'm not here to comment on who is right, but to pause on a Scripture that may just bear on this situation:

"And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel."     - Judges 2:10

The sad tone of this verse is only plunged deeper into sobriety by its context: it comes right after the end of Joshua, the book chronicling God delivering on all the oaths He made Israel concerning the Promised Land and their peace.

He has done everything for them, and they couldn't even bother to tell their children.

Did you catch that subtext in the verse? The first generation was gathered to their fathers, a euphemism used for a godly generation of Israel, it presumes that at least the majority of them are with the patriarchs in heaven. At a basic level, this implies that they had believed God's promises and worshipped His faithfulness. But then, the verse talks about the next generation - their children - not knowing about the LORD or what He had just done!

What would have been different if they had told their children the stories of God? Why didn't they share their eyewitness accounts of the Lord in action with their own children? What we see of this generation is that they do know the entire sacrificial system, the ins and outs of the temple, and every detail necessary to Israelite culture.

Perhaps, then, the danger is in what they talked about with their children.

In other words, do you talk about Santa as much as you talk about your own journey of sanctification? Do you sing about Rudolph with the same joy that you sing about your redemption? Do you find yourself wanting gifts as much as you want grace? Is Jesus the reason for the season but Frosty the reason it's exciting?

Are our cultural myths, lessons on manners, and education on cultural practices consuming all the time we had to talk about Christ, about salvation, about grace?

The Christmas myths aren't inherently bad, but they can be distracting. Particularly when we realize that our children will remember what we tell them stories about and that the Bible holds us responsible for what our children do and do not know.

When we are gathered to our Lord, what do we want to be said of our children?