One of the questions I get a lot as a pastor around Christmas is what to do with Santa. A lot of young families are curious about both keeping their faith and wondering what they can or should not do as believers during the season. Within some Christian circles this can be a hot topic.
First, we must understand that the Christmas season is a man-made tradition itself. There is nowhere in Scripture that we are called to specifically celebrate the Christmas season. Christmas was first started around the 4th century A. D. That’s several hundred years after Christ’s birth.
That being said, while the Bible doesn’t specifically call us to celebrate the season, we are of course allowed to do so. We can celebrate things that do not go against God and His Word. Clearly, celebrating the birth of Christ is something which would not be against God’s standard.
We want to make sure that Jesus is the center of our Christmas season
Second, we should know that Santa was a real person. Well, not Santa, but Saint Nicholas of Myra is where we get our idea of Santa. He lived between 270-343 A.D. We are not positive about everything he did in life, but he was noted for his generosity. Legend is that he put coins in the shoes of needy people to help them out. Another legend says to avoid embarrassing a poor man he wanted to help, Saint Nicholas dropped coins down the chimney for the man’s daughter.
When our children were young, we taught them about Saint Nicholas and how Santa was derived from this real person. We also talked with them about how just like Santa is generous, so is God. We would lead it into gospel conversations talking about how the greatest gift is Jesus Christ being given from God.
Third, We want to make sure that Jesus is the center of our Christmas season. This is not just Christmas but every season and area of our life. Our main goal as Christians is to glorify God and point people to Jesus. This means that our children should hear a lot more about Jesus than they should about Santa. While Santa may be fun, and even a gospel tool, our children should hear about the fact that Jesus is the ultimate reason for the season.
Fourth, is telling children about Santa lying? Some parents have concerns, and rightly so, that if they teach their children about Santa they may be lying. That if their children grow up finding out their parents lied about Santa that their children may grow up thinking they lied about Jesus. This is a valid concern.
Addressing Concerns
First, I would say that there are a lot of things we do with children that are pretend. We have tea parties without tea with little girls, fight imaginary dragons with boys and the wrapping paper roll. Developing a child’s imagination is not a bad thing.
Second, I will also say that when our kids asked if Santa was real, we just told them the truth. We did not try to hide it from them, and like we said, we taught our children about Saint Nicholas, who, like Jesus, was generous to others. We were not going to lie and tell them Santa (the commercialized version) is real.
Lastly, this should not be a dividing line among Christians (I Corinthians 6, Romans 14). Scripture teaches about Christian liberty. This is the freedom to make decisions about things that God has not given clear direction on, or have principles directly related to things. Christians who each believe the gospel, should be able to worship with each other if one celebrates Santa and the other doesn’t.
Think About It
Do you have Santa as part of your Christmas celebration?
Do you know who Saint Nicholas is?
If you allow Santa as part of your celebration, do you use it to talk to your children about Jesus?
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