Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/215736
Jesus and Santa Claus SCOTT KLINGSMITH, PHD ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MISSION AND INTERCULTURAL STUDIES M issiologist Paul Hiebert tells the story of a Christmas play in an Indian village. All the traditional characters are there—Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the camels, the baby Jesus. As the play reaches its climax, with the wise men worshipping the newborn child, out from behind the stage jumps the red-clad figure of Santa Claus, who passes through the audience handing out gifts. For Westerners this seems absurd. We cry "syncretism!" and see a mixture of Christian and pagan characters. We know that there is a Christian Christmas, with the holy family, and the secular Christmas, with Santa Claus, elves, and reindeer, and we know that they are two separate things. Baby Jesus belongs in the church; Santa Claus in the mall. We're able to compartmentalize them in our minds. But people in most of the rest of the world, who have no such sacred/secular divide in their worldview, are able to combine them without difficulty. "AND SHE BROUGHT FORTH HER FIRSTBORN SON, AND WRAPPED HIM IN SWADDLING CLOTHES, AND LAID HIM IN A MANGER, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO ROOM FOR THEM IN THE INN." (LUKE 2:7, KJV) It's easy for us to condemn syncretism in others, but do we recognize our own syncretism? Today we're a long ways away from the original story, in time, distance, and culture. Are we aware how our own culture has shaped how we hear the story? For example... "No place in the inn." Our picture —Motel 6 has a "no vacancy" sign lit. Actuality—if someone in a Judean village refused to exercise hospitality to strangers, the entire village would be shamed. The fact that there was no room meant the shame of accepting such a disreputable couple was greater than the shame of not being hospitable. Whether the word "inn" means a place only prostitutes and criminals stayed, or the more generic "guest room" or "lodging," the point is the same. An unwed pregnant couple was so despised that no one made room for them. "Wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger." Our picture—a sterile birthing bed in a warm, well-lit barn, a cute little bassinette on wheels, a few sticks of hay hanging out over the edges, cow and donkey placidly looking on. Actuality—feed trough, mud and muck, foul smells. Nothing romantic or pleasant here. Poverty, shame, and misery characterized the experience. 12 DECEMBER Let's not allow our culture's depiction of that scene lead us astray from the reality. Our Savior came as the lowest of the low, so that we might be lifted high to the God of the universe. DENVER SEMINARY CHRISTMAS 2013 17