I was scanning the Ligonier blog and came across this excellent post by Sinclair Furguson. Increasingly, our secularized culture is pushing the historical Christmas aside. We’re increasingly ready to drown our empty lives with binge shopping, to gorge ourselves on commercialism. Santa, the fulfiller of our every material want, is often the only hero of the season kids hear about. And so the birth of Jesus is relegated to nice story, one that for many, if at all recognized, is the bringer of nice fuzzy feelings or a comfort that if we’ve been somewhat “good people” and if Jesus is really out there we’ll get some brownie points in the game of life. Hopefully, those being material blessings. And so most of America makes Christmas one of the few times out of the year that they darken the door of a church, paying homage to the Santa Christ. Totally missing the life-jarring truth of the coming of a prophesied Deliverer who came to save us from the darkness of our own souls. Santa Christ satisfies a short-term pain. Jesus saves from the American dream.