The Crucified Santa

Religious studies and sociology scholar Clifford Geertz told a story of a visitor to Japan who went into a Tokyo department store during the Christmas season. Among the displays was a Santa Claus on a cross. The “crucified Santa” no doubt represented a misperception of images and confusion about western culture and Christian belief.

Or perhaps not—perhaps the truth is that outsiders see us more clearly than we see ourselves. A Santa on the cross may be the perfect symbol for a United States cultural religion—a materialistic, feel good about yourself, pseudo-Christianity.

American cultural Christianity is often little more that self-help conveyed in theological rhetoric. Some sermons focus much more on financial success than on forgiveness of sin.

Instead of the sovereign Lord of all creation, the contemporary Jesus of many Americans is Santa Claus. He fills our stockings if we are good little boys and girls. He wants us to be entertained instead of educated in the truths of the faith. American Christianity is far too much Christmas and not enough Good Friday and Easter.

We have indeed dressed Jesus up in the red suit and relegated him to the self-help version of a jolly old elf. Perhaps the department store worker who set- up that display was not confused. Perhaps that is precisely the image of Christianity we project. If so, are we not guilty of taking Christ’s name in vain (i.e., making empty the meaning of his name)?

If so, then is it any wonder that there is such moral confusion in American culture today? For if the American Jesus is a Santa Claus who gives us our wish list, then should we be surprised that we have become a nation of takers instead of givers? A nation where doing whatever is necessary to gain financially and materially is fair game, regardless of who it hurts and the long-term consequences. I love Christmas but despite the emphasis on giving, it does become about receiving. Have we become a culture of little children scurrying down the stairs to check our stockings instead of believers following the Lord and his commands?

It might be that the department store did understand who our real god is.

Can God Be Trusted?

The conversation between the serpent and Eve in Genesis 3 sets the stage for the basic question with which the Bible confronts us. It is the fundamental question of human existence: can God be trusted?

The thrust of the questions raised by the serpent and his argument to Eve can be restated as: “God is holding out on you. He knows that if you eat of that tree, you will be equal to him and God does not want that. Therefore, to cover his own selfish desires, God told you that you would die. You will not die—that is just his way of making sure you don’t eat of the tree. You cannot trust what God says or his motives for saying it. God cannot be trusted!”

In the story, Adam and Eve no longer trust God and the mistrust led to disobedience (the eating of the fruit). Ironically, the failure to trust God led them to no longer trust each other; thus, the need to cover up their bodies.

The entire biblical narrative then becomes story after story of the results of trusting God and the consequences of not trusting. Take Abraham for example: in Genesis 12, God tells him that if he will leave the comfort of the known and step out into the unknown (he is not, at that point, told where he is going), then God would bless him. The essence of the whole conversation is God asking Abraham, “Do you trust me?”

With the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, God has, spiritually, placed each human at the foot of another tree (the cross) and confronted each of us with the same question: “This is the path to me and to my Kingdom—do you trust me?” Each person must answer that question. Each of us becomes Adam and Eve facing the same decision as they did. Each of us must decide whether we can trust what this God says and his motivation for saying it. As with Adam and Eve, our destinies hang in the balance on that question.

Adam and Eve’s mistrust led to their disobedience; in contrast, trusting God leads to obedience. If we trust him, then we will obey his commands since we trust that he has our best interests at heart. Disobedience is rooted in a failure to trust.

Donald Spoto, in his excellent book on Joan of Arc (Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became A Saint. HarperSanFrancisco, 2007) reminds us that “[t]his abandonment, this absolute trust in God, lies at the core of all Christian spirituality; it is also the incontrovertible mark of authentic prayer. It does not imply inactivity or passivity: it is the mark of a life that gives up trust in self in order to give that self over to God.” (p. 33).

As the Apostle Paul said, “The righteous will live by faith (trust).” Each of us should ask daily how we are doing on the “trusting God” meter.