Why I am not a fan of "Elf on the Shelf"

As the Christmas season drew near I started having some questions…

"Where is the line between American Consumerism Christmas, and our holy celebration of our Savior coming to the earth as an infant?"

"Where did all of this red & green, tree, santa claus, elves, reindeer, frosty the snowman stuff come from? How did we get here?"

"What points back to our Savior? And what is just fluff offered up as "tradition" that we keep doing year after year because it makes us HAPPY?"

"Should we as Christians stand up and celebrate this season differently because it is about our Savior?" Should we look different from the world or look just like it?

We have big green trees with ornaments and lights…. Why?

We talk of a large jolly man who delivers presents…. Why?

And NOW there is an elf…. Why?

Are we hijacking a celebration intended for one thing and making it our own? Because it makes us "Happy"?

Lots of questions.

So, I feel that the Elf on the Shelf is just one further step away from Jesus. Another American creation that does not promote the gospel or celebrate our Lord.

Call me and extremist, call me a Bah-Humbug, call me whatever you want. I am not trying to delete the fun, just question our motive and direction and cause.

I discovered some beautiful things when I started questioning:

Saint Nicholas the inspiration for this jolly red man, loved the Lord Jesus Christ with his whole heart. He gave all he had to the poor children in part so that they would not be sold into slavery. He traveled to Jerusalem so that he could walk where Jesus walked and know his Lord more intimately. His is a beautiful story of faith and servanthood. One that has been forgotten and glossed over with fairytales and cartoons.

Trees are a symbol as well. A missionary who traveled to Germany discovered them worshiping trees in honor of Thor and Oden. As he chopped it down they thought for sure he would be struck by lightening. When he wasn't they listened to this missionary's message, he used the tree to explain the Trinity with the triangle shape explaining God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. As a celebration of the One True God, believers in Germany started cutting down trees and bringing them in their homes to celebrate the coming of the Lord Jesus to save them.

The Elf on the Shelf is a creation less than 10 years old that watches you all day and judges you and tells "Santa" on you if you are bad. - No Thanks, no history, no gospel, no thanks.

The Christmas season is full of distractions further taking away the attention of the magnificent miracle that happened 2,000+ years ago. The Holy God in heaven came down from his throne to be a lowly vulnerable infant to save all mankind from the payment of sin, by being our payment on the Cross. So that we can one day stand in heaven with Him.

Be warned a SOAPBOX is coming: I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I made a decision 10 years ago to not watch rated R movies. I felt that it was a conviction from God in my heart. And since I have given that up I have noticed a higher sensitivity to crude language, violence, gore, you name it. I also am noticing how it is popping up all over TV now. Breaking Bad & Walking Dead for example, the most popular shows could be Rated-R, I have not seen them, but I see a lot of my fellow believers that LOVE them. Even leaders in the faith, and this makes me wonder. How as Christians, if we look at what the world looks at and LOVE it, How are we different from the world? 

Romans 12:2  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Because what we put in to our brains is what we think on. ALL DAY. I am guilty of this too, that is how I know it's true. I watch one episode of TV and that is what wanders into my idle brain. Because I am seeing it and giving it my full attention. And not the bible. If I read the bible as often as I watch TV would my mind wander there? Wouldn't that be better?

Phillipians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

What we love and enjoy and give our attention to is what fills up our brains. And what is in our brains and our thoughts is what we become. Movies and TV are just one example, but I don't see in our American society Christians standing up and going against the grain of our society, I see them merging into it, accepting it, trying to look like the world in order to "reach the lost for Jesus" Well Jesus didn't go with the flow, He went against the grain, ticked a lot of people off and changed the world. So, fellow Christians, if we look like the world, How will we change it?

Psalms 101:3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes

I found an article online that does a really good job of putting it into words The Rated R conviction better than I could. 

http://ramblingprophet.blogspot.com/2006/08/biblical-rationale-for-avoiding-r.html