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Christians, Christmas, and Santa Claus (Redux)

This is a repeat from last December…but I think it timely.

Is it ok for Christians to tell their children about Santa Claus?

That is the question for many Christians this time of year.  On one side we have the “who cares it’s part of Christmas” crowd that loves the whole mélange of American cultural eccentricities abounding at Christmas—especially the fat man. On the other side, we have the “very serious” Christians who not only are dubious about Christmas itself, since it is actually a pagan holiday taken over by the Church in the Middle Ages, but also are completely opposed to any distraction from worshiping the Lord Jesus on any given Sabbath. And of course, they say, Santa plays the role of the chief distraction!

While I certainly do not want to attempt, or even act as if I could, give the definitive answer on this topic, I do think that some thought should be given to this that comes up every year. What do Christians do, especially with their young children, about Santa Claus?

The most common answer, unfortunately, is an uncritical and uncorrected acceptance of the Santa Claus motif as the primary part of Christmas. I just watched, with my young children, a Christmas special on TV about Shrek–the big green ogre who did not know what Christmas was all about. It turns out, according to the TV, that Christmas is all about family, tradition, gifts and Santa Claus.

Or, alternatively: “We have decided that we are simply not going to lie to our children,” says the Christian who never speaks of Santa Claus. The concern is that if we “lie” to our children about Santa Claus, they will doubt our word when it comes to the important things of life, such as Jesus, God, the Gospel, and morality. We don’t want them questioning their faith when they realize the impossibility of Santa Claus. Christmas, supposedly,  is about the very real and very unique coming of Jesus as a human being, and anything that takes away from that is “idolatry.”

Most of us have encountered both of these types of people. While I understand their answers, and I certainly respect the ideas and the feelings behind them, I have concerns with both. First of all, Christmas is not about us; it is about the Lord Jesus Christ taking on human flesh, so that he could be the ideal and suitable redeemer for us. Only a human could live the life that we should have lived, and die the death that we should have died. Truly, we should revel and marvel at his incarnation, and to the extent that certain cultural practices like Santa distract from that reality, they are unbiblical, idolatrous, and to be avoided.

Second, there is not an exact correspondence between Santa Claus and Jesus Christ in the mind of a child, unless that correspondence has been put there by the parents! What I mean is this: if Jesus only comes around once a year, like Santa, then there might be a problem. However, if robust discipleship is woven into the fabric of the family, then there usually is not an issue. We need to model for our children what it means to be a Christian family year round through things like regular family worship, committed involvement in church, and a family-life of repenting and forgiving in Jesus’ name.

There is also a more fundamental issue to consider in the “Santa Question.” Christians must be careful that we do not defeat one set of unbiblical cultural assumptions by using, and thus strengthening, another set of unbiblical cultural assumptions. Here is what I mean: most cultures throughout history have usually recognized the existence of something bigger than and outside of themselves, but our cultural assumptions teach that we can understand everything—eventually. Our culture teaches us that the universe is a large machine with rules and predictability, that the cosmos is a lifeless vacuum decipherable to those who know the laws of astrophysics, and that nothing out of the realm of the natural occurs.  Since there is nothing outside of the universe and its rules, life is rationalized, and everything is simply a matter of measurement and classification. Therefore, nothing transcendent or mysterious exists. These cultural assumptions make Christians feel foolish when we pray, sheepish for believing in God, and immature for actually believing in the bodily resurrection of Christ.

Yet, our covenant-children do not have those same hang-ups, at first; they have to be taught them. Could it be, that perhaps, the childhood belief in Santa Claus, in something magical, wonderful, and supernatural, could be an aid in building their imagination and acceptance of the transcendent and mysterious? Could our allowing the things that create wonder and awe, like Santa Claus, actually preserve our children from being captive to an anti-supernatural culture? Could nurturing our children’s disbelief in a dead machine-universe, through things like Santa Claus, actually help establish them in their belief of truths such as the Resurrection and Virgin Birth?

While I do not want to make any recommendations, I will leave you with a personal story. Our daughter, Shaylea, having figured out that there was no Santa, announced her conclusion to her mother and I one evening. Wanting to get the answer straight from the source, I asked her, “Shaylea, since we told you about Santa, and now you know he is not real, do you think we made up Jesus also?” My daughter looks at me with a jovial-yet-quizzical expression and says, as only a 7 year old could, “Don’t be silly Daddy! Jesus is real. We, like, talk to him all the time!”

Merry Christmas!