One of the more interesting Christmas stories I saw this season involved the latest high-tech method for resolving the theft of crèches and other sacred objects at this time of year—Global Positioning System devices.

In 2006, a town in Florida lost baby Jesus twice from a display at its community center. So, last year village officials mounted a device inside the life-size ceramic figurine. When it disappeared again, sheriff’s deputies quickly located the missing item and arrested an 18-year-old woman for the crime.

Although initially charged with a felony for the prank, a columnist for the Palm Beach Post wrote that the town agreed to leniency so she could enlist in the Marines.

The interesting aspect of this story was the number (70) of churches (and synagogues) that used a free month of security cameras and GPS products by a firm capitalizing on interest in the case.

"People are very security conscious, and this is simply a precaution," Rabbi Yochonon Goldman of Philadelphia said of the offer from a New York-based security company. "It’s sad…but it’s the reality we’re faced with."

Thefts of crèches, vandalism and defacing religious property aren’t isolated incidents, either. According to various newspaper stories, this has happened lately in such places as Eureka Springs, Ark., Philadelphia and Kittanning, Pa. In Eureka Springs, the culprit also took off with the manger and a concrete block and chain used as a deterrent.

Given the tools available to deter would-be thieves and vandals, it’s hard to argue with churches that seek to protect their property and stop offenders, whether they are driven by hatred or thoughtlessness.

Yet, behind this issue lie deeper, spiritual considerations, particularly the motive for employing GPS safeguards. Once the criminal is arrested, how will a congregation respond?

Recently I saw another story about an example of redemptive action involving Truett Cathy, founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain. Until he retired from the job recently, Cathy was a longtime Sunday school teacher.

After two pre-teen girls who said they were "bored" broke into a home Cathy owns in Florida and caused $30,000 in damage, he arranged for their punishment to include writing, reading and avoiding television.

In a deal worked out with their parents, Cathy agreed the girls must write "I will not vandalize other people’s property" 1,000 times, read a good book, and avoid TV and playing video games. (Wonder how much good the latter would do for millions of students’ grades?)

"I am not after money; I am after their attention," Cathy said. "I want them to realize the importance of a good name and reputation." Nor did he want them to have a criminal record.

If a church’s only interest is to catch criminal Christ thieves and to mete out punishment, it will be seen as just another hard-hearted organization. Instead, the more important message from a church this Christmas should be to point others to the Babe who came as a free gift from God—not a doll to be stolen.

Perhaps even more important than the question of why churches are employing security for their nativity scenes is why are people stealing Jesus? And what do they really want? Probably the same thing we all want—redemption.