Three Reasons to Come Clean About Santa This Christmas
It is that time of the year when random people in shop queues start asking our children what they are going to get from Father Christmas. I am never quite prepared for this. My children generally tend to me look at me with an alarmed, ‘surely this grown-up doesn’t still believe in Santa’ expression and it all gets a bit awkward!
I do think that, as Christians, we need to be a bit braver about this issue. It might be a minor one but the light of Scripture needs to be shone upon every aspect of our parenting. The problem is that most arguments for and against teaching our children Santa is true are rooted in pragmatism. By pragmatism, I mean that the idea that the means justify the ends.
Take, for example, the idea that children need to believe in Santa in order to have fun at Christmas. This is pragmatism, and it is also untrue. Speaking as one who was taught that Santa definitely did not exist, I always LOVED Christmas. Ditto my children. On the other hand, the idea that teaching Santa as truth will one day lead to atheism is also pragmatic. I know plenty of adults who believed in Santa as a child, and they still love the Lord today. They did not throw God out the window at the same time they threw out childish belief in Santa.
There is a Scriptural element missing from our discussions and I do not think it is unkind or ungracious to bring this up. So here we go: three biblical reasons to come clean about Santa this year:
1. It is a Lie
Is it really at lie? Well, in the sense that it is not the truth, then I would have to say ‘yes’! As Christians we believe that ultimate truth exists. The postmodern idea that we can each have our own truth is completely unbiblical. Paul writes, ‘Therefore, having put way falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members of one another.’ (Ephesians 4:25)
Does an over-sized man in red, complete with reindeer, travel the world in one night, shimmy down millions of chimneys and deliver presents to every good boy and girl? We all know the answer to that! Is it right that parents across the world threaten their children year-round with the promise of ‘no presents from Santa’ for naughtiness? Absolutely not! We do not need to lie our children into good behaviour.
To clarify, I am a fan of fiction. I love reading the classics and my children thoroughly enjoy reading and listening to great stories. The difference is that whilst Tolkien’s adventures thrill, we do not for one moment believe that they actually took place. Whilst Beth’s dying in ‘Little Women’ might arouse sympathetic emotion, we are clear that the characters are those of the imagination.
To actively teach our children that Santa Claus exists (or to knowingly stand by and allow our children to believe in him) is an untruth, and an untruth is a lie.
2. We Do Not Want to Cause Our Little Ones to Stumble
J.C. Ryle writes, ‘Who sins before a child, sins double.’ Now please hear me. I am not speaking from a moral high-horse. I deal with 156 besetting sins against my children before breakfast! However, they are not deliberate and I fight them with all my strength.
If we tell our children something as fact that they later discover to be an untruth, are we really justified when we insist that they do not lie? Does our example count for nothing? Mark writes, ‘Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.’ (Mark 9:42) These are strong words! Let’s set the example in propagating honesty rather than deceit.
3. We Have a Far Greater Story (and it is a True One!)
Why would we ever need to go to the world for reasons to celebrate? Which of history’s great novelists have ever imagined the Creator of Heavens and Earth stepping into time as a little baby, faithfully and perfectly following the law and then exchanging his life for the sin-ridden lives of his subjects on a cruel cross?
The hymn writer pens these beautiful words:
“Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becomes poor.
We have a greater event to tell our children about, a far more wonderful adventure to celebrate and the joy of heaven to proclaim. We do not need to hold up the empty promise of fantastical characters.
Christian parents must parent differently, and might I encourage you that this year we parent with truth.
If this area of honesty is one where there has been a lapse, then why not take a deep breath, ask for forgiveness and come clean about Santa this December? After all, the birth that we celebrate at Christmas lead to a death we remember at Easter. And at the foot of this old, rugged cross, we know that all our sins are washed away.
