I was reflecting on these lyrics the other day, and I was actually quite startled by the message that we were feeding the children of America.

“You better watch out, you better not cry,
You better not pout, I’m telling you why,
Santa Claus is coming to town!
He’s making a list and checking it twice,
He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice,
Santa Claus is coming to town!
He sees you when you’re sleeping,
He knows when you’re awake,
He knows if you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake.”

This is how Santa operates. He watches you like some supernatural Big Brother figure. He checks very accurately to see if your merits match up with his moral standards. Then he gives gifts accordingly. Thus, the reason we are watching out, the reason we don’t cry or pout, is because we want to be good in Santa’s eyes. The song says that we are to be good for goodness sake, but in reality, our good works will be motivated by some combination of selfishness, pride, and guilt.

Now, this is how Jesus operates.

“For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).

This is the absolute opposite. Jesus is giving the ultimate gift—the life of God—not because of our goodness but in spite of our sins. Paul does not write, “After we stopped sinning, Christ died for us.” He writes, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God does not check daily to see if our merits match His moral standards, but rather He says in Hebrews 8:12, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

As a result, our good works are not motivated by some desire to obtain gifts, because we already have the ultimate gift. We are freed to do good simply because God is good, and our identity has been reunited with that goodness.

And that is why Jesus trumps Santa Claus.

Larry