Marc Hooks wears a lot of hats these days — and one of them is a Santa hat. Every Christmas season for the past few years, Hooks has worked as a professional Santa Claus.
And as a storyteller for TAB Media’s Ground Level Reports, a chaplain for firefighters and a former pastor of a Texas church, Hooks believes Santa is just one of the ways he’s able to point “kids” of all ages to Jesus.
RELATED: For more stories and videos from Marc Hooks (Santa Marc), stay tuned later today and tomorrow at GroundLevelReports.com and our social media channels.
“The other day I met a woman who was 99 who stopped to talk with Santa,” said Hooks, noting he inherited his Santa suit from his grandfather who also was a Santa many years ago. While being a Santa at a mall can be especially “grueling” at times, Hooks said it’s well worth the long hours and few breaks.
“It’s important for us Christian Santas to understand that we have an opportunity for both outreach and evangelism,” he noted.
“It might be something super simple like noticing that someone is wearing a ‘Jesus is the reason for the season’ shirt or a ‘WWJD’ (What would Jesus do) bracelet,” he added, “and being able to say, ‘Hey, I see you’re wearing that. You know, Santa loves Jesus, too.’”
‘Make Jesus show’
As a storyteller, Hooks has set out to show real people tackling real issues through all types of ministry — and being a Christian Santa is one of those ministries. This Christmas season, TAB Media turned the camera on Hooks and his role as a professional Santa Claus, while also asking pastors to share their thoughts on Santa and the Christmas season.
Bobby McKay, pastor of New Liberty Baptist Church in Morton, Mississippi — and a Sunday School writer for The Baptist Paper — shared his approach to Santa during the Christmas season.
“Teachers, church leaders, especially parents … are the ones that set the focus and the priority (of Christmas), and what you set as the focus and the priority will be what they deem important later in life,” said McKay, cautioning parents to “avoid the extremes” of going “all in on Santa Claus” and the other side of calling Santa “evil,” avoiding the historic perspective of St. Nicholas and his positive impact on others. “The best advice I can give is to make Jesus show. … That’s the key this holiday is to let Jesus show.”
Hooks remembers one girl asking him if Santa really knew when she had been naughty. When Santa Marc played along saying, “Santa always knows,” he said the girl became sad and said she hadn’t been a very good girl that year. While Hooks encouraged the girl, he said it was also a reminder of the opportunity Christians have to shine the light on Christ and share how “He gives us the best Christmas present of all, and that’s the forgiveness of our sins.”
To see more of this interview, go to TAB Media’s Ground Level Reports and check out more coverage on The Baptist Paper and The Alabama Baptist social media channels.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Shawn Hendricks, content editor for The Baptist Paper.
