The timing of this article is admittedly awful. In one sense, answering this question in January could be the least helpful time to do it. My apologies, but I honestly didn’t think about addressing this topic until now. And now that it’s in my head and heart, I don’t want to wait for 10 or 11 months, and then try to remember to bring it up at the end of 2019.
I think there are several reasons that it hasn’t dawned on me to address this issue before:
A. It didn’t seem like a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
B. My family doesn’t include Santa in our celebrations. So, I just don’t think about it much in December.
C. Each December, I preach on something related to the Biblical Nativity/Incarnation; sometimes it is the traditional passages from Luke and Matthew, other times it is less traditional passages like 2 Samuel 7:16 or Galatians 4:4-7. Either way, Santa isn’t in there. In other words, if a preacher sticks to teaching Christmas texts at Christmastime, he probably will never address Santa.
And yet, for some reason, this year it is sticking out to me - mostly because of a meme I saw on Facebook. It’s the one that tells parents to only credit Santa as the giver of small inexpensive gifts, so that children who come from poor families won’t feel bad that Santa only got them socks while their friends got iPads. When I read that meme, I thought to myself, “…or we could just tell our children the truth.”
So, I guess that last sentence gives away my position on this matter. I hope you’ll keep reading and consider four thoughts on why teaching your children that Santa is real isn’t a good idea:
1. It’s a lie. Let’s start with the basics: Christians are people who are not supposed to say false things. Paul told the Ephesians: “Since you put away lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.” Christians are not to deceive their children, getting them to believe that mythical beings are real, and then produce false evidence to further trick them once they begin to doubt the falsehoods they were told.
Now I’ve heard some people make the claim that there is a third category between true and false that could be called, “fiction.” In other words, when C.S. Lewis writes about Lucy talking to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (in his book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) he isn’t telling a true story, but he isn’t lying either. He’s creating a work of fiction. And that’s all that Santa is. He’s neither the truth nor a lie; he’s a fun myth.
Ok, sure, I can buy that argument as far as it goes. There is nothing wrong with sharing fiction with your children. Yes, read them the Chronicles of Narnia, the Magic Bicycle series, or whatever else is good. And if your son asks you if talking beavers are real, you would, of course, say to him, “No. C.S. Lewis made them up. And isn’t it a wonderful story?” And even if your daughter doesn’t flat-out ask you about it, but rather lives her life as if Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are real, it is your responsibility as her parent to explain to her what fiction is.
And all of that applies to Santa. As parents we must guide our children through the categories of true, false, and fiction with all integrity.
2. It’s (potentially) worldly. In December, Santa is a primary focus among people who are not Christians. And there’s an obvious reason for this. They don’t believe in the Incarnation like we do. So, they must celebrate something else. We, on the other hand, have something very important to focus on during the Christmas holiday. And we should think through just how many distractions we ought to let through the gate during the same time period.
Another thing that I mean by “worldly” is that many of us have taken our cues as to whether or not it is all right to deceive our children about Santa based upon the idea, “Well, it must be OK. After all, everybody does it.” However, “everybody does it” is not how Christians determine right vs. wrong or even wise vs. foolish. There have been many times in history when the majority was wrong.
3. Being trustworthy prepares your children to believe what you say about Jesus/God. If you spend time getting your children to believe in mythical beings, only to let them one day figure out that none of it was true… what might happen to some of those same children when they get to high school and they hear that Jesus/God is a mythical being who was also pushed on them by their parents? Because, you know that they will get taught that eventually. And how might your relationship with true/false and fiction/nonfiction affect them on that day?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that every child who believes in Santa will grow up to be an atheist. Nor am I saying that rejecting Santa will “atheist-proof” your children. I’m simply saying, that if we want our kids to adopt the same beliefs that we have, we ought to shoot straight with them. There’s too much at stake to let your kids find you to be untrustworthy.
4. But what about St. Nick? I can imagine someone protesting, “But Mario, Santa is real. He was a Christian bishop known as St. Nicholas. He lived hundreds of years ago, and he gave gifts to poverty-stricken girls so that they wouldn’t be forced into prostitution.”
That is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the fictional fat man who slides down 300 million chimneys simultaneously each year. If you want to teach your children about bishops who lived during the 4th Century, you go right ahead. More power to you.
In summary, there are multiple reasons why Christians should mostly reject the Santa Claus story (with the exceptions of treating him like Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, and/or telling them about the historical Saint Nicholas.) And one last thing. If this article has convicted you (meaning, you kinda’ feel like a liar now) I wanted to remind you that it’s not too late. You can confess this to your children. You can tell them that you are going to be much more careful about truth vs. fiction from now on. You can even ask God to forgive you for dishonesty. In fact, that’s one of the best parts of the (real) Christmas story! God sent Jesus to save His people from their sins. If you are a believer, that would include forgiveness for every lie you’ve ever uttered, and every time you’ve done something sinful in your parenting. Confess your sins, turn from them, and live according to God’s ways as best as you know how. With the Holy Spirit’s help, you can do this.
Now I’ve heard some people make the claim that there is a third category between true and false that could be called, “fiction.” In other words, when C.S. Lewis writes about Lucy talking to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (in his book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) he isn’t telling a true story, but he isn’t lying either. He’s creating a work of fiction. And that’s all that Santa is. He’s neither the truth nor a lie; he’s a fun myth.
Ok, sure, I can buy that argument as far as it goes. There is nothing wrong with sharing fiction with your children. Yes, read them the Chronicles of Narnia, the Magic Bicycle series, or whatever else is good. And if your son asks you if talking beavers are real, you would, of course, say to him, “No. C.S. Lewis made them up. And isn’t it a wonderful story?” And even if your daughter doesn’t flat-out ask you about it, but rather lives her life as if Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are real, it is your responsibility as her parent to explain to her what fiction is.
And all of that applies to Santa. As parents we must guide our children through the categories of true, false, and fiction with all integrity.
2. It’s (potentially) worldly. In December, Santa is a primary focus among people who are not Christians. And there’s an obvious reason for this. They don’t believe in the Incarnation like we do. So, they must celebrate something else. We, on the other hand, have something very important to focus on during the Christmas holiday. And we should think through just how many distractions we ought to let through the gate during the same time period.
Another thing that I mean by “worldly” is that many of us have taken our cues as to whether or not it is all right to deceive our children about Santa based upon the idea, “Well, it must be OK. After all, everybody does it.” However, “everybody does it” is not how Christians determine right vs. wrong or even wise vs. foolish. There have been many times in history when the majority was wrong.
3. Being trustworthy prepares your children to believe what you say about Jesus/God. If you spend time getting your children to believe in mythical beings, only to let them one day figure out that none of it was true… what might happen to some of those same children when they get to high school and they hear that Jesus/God is a mythical being who was also pushed on them by their parents? Because, you know that they will get taught that eventually. And how might your relationship with true/false and fiction/nonfiction affect them on that day?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that every child who believes in Santa will grow up to be an atheist. Nor am I saying that rejecting Santa will “atheist-proof” your children. I’m simply saying, that if we want our kids to adopt the same beliefs that we have, we ought to shoot straight with them. There’s too much at stake to let your kids find you to be untrustworthy.
4. But what about St. Nick? I can imagine someone protesting, “But Mario, Santa is real. He was a Christian bishop known as St. Nicholas. He lived hundreds of years ago, and he gave gifts to poverty-stricken girls so that they wouldn’t be forced into prostitution.”
That is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the fictional fat man who slides down 300 million chimneys simultaneously each year. If you want to teach your children about bishops who lived during the 4th Century, you go right ahead. More power to you.
In summary, there are multiple reasons why Christians should mostly reject the Santa Claus story (with the exceptions of treating him like Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, and/or telling them about the historical Saint Nicholas.) And one last thing. If this article has convicted you (meaning, you kinda’ feel like a liar now) I wanted to remind you that it’s not too late. You can confess this to your children. You can tell them that you are going to be much more careful about truth vs. fiction from now on. You can even ask God to forgive you for dishonesty. In fact, that’s one of the best parts of the (real) Christmas story! God sent Jesus to save His people from their sins. If you are a believer, that would include forgiveness for every lie you’ve ever uttered, and every time you’ve done something sinful in your parenting. Confess your sins, turn from them, and live according to God’s ways as best as you know how. With the Holy Spirit’s help, you can do this.
