Let me begin this post by saying that what follows is my wife and I's personal conviction regarding how we handle Santa Claus with our children. We recognize and respect that other believing parents may come out with a different perspective than we do on this matter. Ultimately, each family must act according to their own convictions and not go against such. I find that it is helpful for me to write out my convictions and understanding of Scripture to aid me in better articulating them. I am with Augustine who said, “I count myself one of the number of those who write as they learn and learn as they write.” If nothing else, it will allow people to better understand why we aren't following the popular route with Santa Claus in our household and to avoid any misunderstandings which may arise.
It is always interesting whenever someone asks our oldest son, John, if he is ready for Santa to come or if he has been good for Santa to bring him something. Usually, the response is a "deer in headlights" look. Not because John doesn't know who Santa Claus is of course. He has seen him in cartoons and movies as well as part of decorations and people dressed up like him at the mall. But we have chosen to present him to our kids as a made-up character like Spider-Man, Bluey, or Mickey Mouse. Not as a real man who actually comes down the chimney every Christmas Eve that will only give gifts to those who have been good enough to deserve it. The reasons for this is because we want to avoid three things with our kids.
First, we want to avoid lying. We see no way around the fact that to present Santa Claus and all the mythology that goes with it as real when it is not would be in essence a violation of the ninth commandment. Even though it may seem like harmless fun, we recognize that we would still be bearing false witness to our children to speak of Santa as if he is an actual person who does the things the movies and songs says he does when the fact of the matter is that it is not so. Our desire is to be seen as honest and truthful to our kids in everything we say to them. Now, we certainly want to tell our children about the real St. Nicholas the myth or legend has been based on who was a champion of trinitarian orthodoxy. During the debates and church councils over the details of Scripture's teaching on the Trinity, he valiantly stood for the truth of who Jesus is according to His word. A few accounts have that he punched the heretic Arius who denied that Jesus has eternally been God in the face! He didn't "deck the halls" but he very well might have "decked the heretic". (My wife suggests I wait until the boys get older to include that detail.)
We also want to avoid confusion. Santa has a few characteristics which are very similar to Jesus. He is "all-knowing" or "omniscient." ("He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you are awake. He knows if you've been bad or good.") The fact that he can get around the world all in one night indicates that he is close to being omnipresent, "all-present", being everywhere at the same time. And he has been around so long that it makes it seem like he has eternally existed. Actually, many people's view of Jesus resembles Santa Claus more than it does the Jesus described for us in the Bible. They think that He only blesses them or gives them the gift of salvation if they have been nice and not naughty. (Sinclair Ferguson has pointed out that many today actually have a "Santa Christ" they believe in in the place of Jesus Christ.) But the glorious truth of the gospel is that Jesus gives the gift of salvation He has accomplished to those who rightly recognize themselves to be nothing but naughty due to their sinfulness and look to Him for that salvation. Emphasizing Santa giving gifts only to those who deserve it and that our kids must continually work to be good to earn such can easily translate to them thinking that they have to do the same for Jesus which can lead to a mindset of works righteousness. (Which is our natural default setting anyway with "grace" being a foreign concept.) We don't want them to equate Jesus with Santa in this regard in any way.
There is a concern as well with the confusion which could occur with presenting a fictional character such as Santa Claus alongside the factual person of Jesus. Such can blur the lines of the truth if talk of Santa at the North Pole is placed on the same plane as Jesus as a baby in the manger without any distinguishing between the two events. (Gene Autry's "Here Comes Santa Claus" demonstrates this well with the line towards the end of the song that always makes me cringe, "Let's give thanks to the Lord above, 'cause Santa Claus comes tonight.") And once a child learns that Santa isn't real when a number of years he was presented as he was, what makes them think that Jesus should still be seen as real since He was taught to them to be just as real as Santa who wasn't? Perhaps we can be accused of overthinking this, and maybe we are, but it is an important factor we have considered in making our decision not to do "the Santa Claus thing" with our children. And, obviously, this has not been the case for probably most children whose Christian parents presented Santa as real right next to Jesus. But the possibility leads us to pause in doing so.
Finally, we want to avoid distraction as well. An unlikely theologian once sang, "Jesus gets jealous of Santa Claus sometimes this time of year." Ultimately, we want our kids to get more excited about Jesus having come to earth to save sinners than they are about Santa Claus coming to town. It is so easy for Santa Claus with his bag full of temporary presents to overshadow Jesus with the much greater and lasting gift of Himself and the salvation He accomplished for those who believe in Him. For Jesus and His birth with all that entails to be pushed to a sideshow of the season rather than the main event He deserves to be. Regardless of what you do with Santa Claus in your house, be sure that he always takes a backseat to Jesus in your celebrations.
Some may say that it ruins the fun or magic of the holiday for the kids not to imagine Santa with them. However, our response to that is that true joy and something greater than any kind of make believe magic is found in Jesus so that a Christ-centered Christmas without all the fabricated reality of a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer would not be lacking for our kids in any way, shape, or form. Our oldest is still very much excited about the presents he will receive on Christmas morning, even though he knows they will be from us and other members of the family. That doesn't rob him of any of the joy of what he is going to get. And we are working to remind him that all of these lesser gifts serve to remind us of the greatest gift of all he can have with Jesus once he repents and trusts in Him as his Savior and Lord. Instead of seeking to be a "Grinch that steals Christmas," we're just wanting to be a Linus who points to what Christmas is all about and limiting a major distraction from that point in our culture.
And don't worry. We've already have had to have the conversation with John that it is the responsibility of other people's parents to tell them that Santa isn't real in their own timing. Not his to correct them. It took an argument that he told us broke out with him among some of his friends over the matter for us to realize we needed to do so before he sought to go out and set it straight for others so to speak. (It looks like he is inheriting his dad's "matter of fact" way of presenting things. Watch out world and I'm sorry!)
You may not find yourself in agreement with us and our reasoning here and think us to be strange or crazy. That's okay. I am discovering that there are a lot of things we do that appear weird in the culture we live in. But this is where we come down on the matter as we seek to honor the Lord and exalt Christ at the season of year where we specifically set aside time to focus on His incarnation and birth. As I wrote in the little disclaimer at the top of the post, it is up to every parent to decide what they are going to do with Santa in their home. This is where we come down to it and why. We respect others who take a different approach. But don't be surprised when our kids may look at you strangely when you start asking them about a fat man in a red suit entering our home on Christmas Eve night with a sack full of goodies to put under the tree or if they are going to put out cookies and milk for him before bed that evening. We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas celebrating the coming of our Savior and what He has done for all who believe in Him no matter what you may do with Santa who really cannot be avoided completely this time of year.
