Is It OK to Teach Our Children About Santa Claus?

The Bible's Answers to Man's Questions

Key Verses:  Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The legend of Santa Claus, called by different names in different cultures, has been around for hundreds of years, starting first, reportedly, in Denmark.  It was an attempt to personify the spirit of giving, since the central message of Christmas is that "God gave".  Over time, the custom of giving and receiving gifts replaced the real religious significance of the day, and Santa Claus replaced Jesus as the chief symbol of the Christmas season.  In this time of the year, television is replete with stories about the "real" Santa Claus, and his various offspring, male and female.  Few or none of those stories make any mention of Jesus, and it is precisely because the name of the holiday contains the name of Christ that secular forces want to rename it as a part of the "holiday season", and to offer as an acceptable greeting "Seasons Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas!"

Though we can, and should, influence how Christmas is viewed in the world, our main obligation is to our own families and to other believers.  One of the most reprehensible things we as Christian parents can do, and do far too often, is buy into the Santa Claus myth for the sake of our children.  We see it as "harmless", and assure one another there will be no permanent effect on them after they are old enough to recognize we have lied to them for the first few years of their lives.  We also ease our consciences by teaching the real Christmas story at the same time, as if doing something right excuses doing something wrong.  What we are, in fact, teaching is the idea that the secular view of Christmas, including the obsession with material gifts, is as valid and acceptable as the one taught in scripture.

The Bible says that we should "train a child up in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6).  The messages we convey, and the lessons we teach, while our children are young will remain with them for as long as they live.  It's not that they will believe that there is a Santa Claus, but that the gross materialism embodied in the jolly elf is properly a part of the Christmas season.  Like the rest of the world, we rush out to the malls and spend exorbitant amounts of money we don't have to lavish on our own children and loved ones, expecting thereby to bring them the "real meaning" of Christmas.  The wise men did not give gifts to Mary and Joseph, or to one another; they gave them to Jesus.  What a remarkable difference it would make if we did the same thing!

Santa Claus does not appear anywhere in the Christmas story, and he has no place in our celebration of the sacred event that divides all of history into two parts.  If we are unable to convey to our children what the birth of Jesus really means without the Santa crutch, we need to reexamine our own understanding of our faith.  If we can't summon up joy for the message the angels brought to the shepherds, then perhaps it's because we have ceased to experience the joy ourselves.

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