“Christmas Hit and Myth” - Tim Phillips
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Well, not really, since I hate cold weather. But it is the time of year when folks get nostalgic about the so-called holiday season. I will hopefully be able to travel to Georgia on December 26 with my family to visit my mom (since the 25th is on a Sunday this year). I visited her the first week in November this year after she came from the hospital. I stopped at a Buc-ee’s on the way there, and they were already playing Christmas music! And Christmas decorations were everywhere! Thanksgiving was still 3 weeks away! The holiday season has now apparently consumes one-sixth of the year (at least).
With the holiday season comes the revival of certain “Christmas myths.” Some of these we probably already know. For instance, the “wise men” (or magi) almost certainly did not visit Jesus on the night in which He was born. There may or may not have been three of them, but the number is not mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel. And the most vilified person in all of Scripture, the innkeeper who supposed held up a “no vacancy” sign for Joseph and Mary, isn’t actually mentioned in Luke (and likely never existed). Even if these are popular “myths,” we would do well to stick with what the Bible teaches and not repeat them as if they are true.
But there are another myth I want to draw attention to – one which seems to fill up my social media feed every December. It involves that beloved figure associated with Christmas, St. Nicholas. Of course, there are lots of myths about St. Nicholas (or Santa Claus). For instance, he isn’t omniscient. And the American version of Santa is a bit different than in other parts of the world. In this country, Santa brings gifts to good boys and girls. But what if you are not good? Maybe he puts coal in your stocking (or maybe that’s only in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia; maybe it’s a lithium battery in California). In some countries in Europe, however, the penalty is far more ominous. If you are bad, then Santa hands you over to the Krampus, which is a hideous demon (Google it if you don’t believe me). Hopefully we all agree that’s probably a Christmas myth we can all do without.
A less ominous myth is that St. Nicholas (who really existed) once punched a heretic at an Early Church council. The story goes something like this: Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. The doctrine of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ was being challenged by a man named Arius, so Nicolas took it upon himself to either punch or slap Arius. It’s a nice story, and one that often gets repeated. But it most likely never happened. It is doubtful that Nicholas was even present at Nicaea, and the story does not appear to have developed until the Middle Ages. It is similar in many respects to the legends about George Washington (e.g., chopping down the cherry tree; tossing the coin across the Potomac River, etc.), events that almost certainly never happened. One author concludes:
To summarise [sic] again: there is no ancient evidence whatever that St Nicholas punched or slapped Arius at the First Council of Nicaea. The story is not found in any text before the late 14th century, and even that one mentions only ‘a certain Arian.’ In the next two centuries the legend mutates into Nicholas slapping Arius; and is then disseminated in works of popular fiction, and by the paintings of icons. It has no historical basis whatever.
This is not even the most interesting myth involving Nicholas. But it is one that probably needs to be retired. As pastors, elders, and Christians in the pews, we need to be careful about what stories we share and what we tell others. Christians are to be known as truth-tellers (Matthew 5:37; 1 Corinthians 13:6; Ephesians 4:25). I say this as someone who has shared this myth about Nicolas in the past. We need to be better, because if we are careless with these stories, why would we expect others to believe us when we tell them about Jesus? Perhaps they will also look at the gospel as a similar tall tale.
The word of the cross is foolishness in the eyes of the world (1 Corinthians 1:18), but the world needs to hear about the cross of Christ, and they need to know it is true. They also need to know that the truths of the gospel are not confined to one time of the year (or even two months of the year, if you stop at Buc-ee’s). Every Lord’s Day we celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrate His sinless life and His redeeming work. Every Lord’s Day we should rejoiced that He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). And we live out the implications of those truths as we live in this world. That should be our priority, not sharing memes about events that never happened.