Why Not Santa Claus? (Part 1)
Please understand that I am not saying it is absolutely impossible to cultivate a Christ-centered Christmas that includes Santa. Rather, my hope is to challenge you to contemplate the purpose of including Santa in your celebration as well as the benefits and consequences of including him in your celebration.
In the next few posts I will be sharing my heart for why I believe it is most beneficial to the the spiritual formation of our children to focus solely on the incarnation of Christ rather than mixing Santa with Jesus. I pray that, even if by the end of this series you disagree with me, you will at the very least be encouraged to be purposeful in how you shepherd your children’s hearts during this wonderful season.
The topic of Santa Claus is very interesting to me. How is it that a fourth century bishop who was known for his generosity to children, the poor and the destitute became the center of a an entire holiday season? When and why did people feel the need to mold this real and supposedly God-honoring man into an idol?
The word idol may sound harsh. I am not proposing that everyone who participates in the Santa Claus tradition is an idol worshiper, but I fear that the vast majority of Americans are in fact teaching their children to worship an imaginary man (imaginary because the historical St. Nicholas of Myra is vastly different from the one we celebrate now).
Think about it for a moment, how is the way we encourage our children to worship the true God any different from the way we teach our children to relate to Santa Claus? We teach them that Santa is all-knowing (after all he can see you when your sleeping and know when your awake), he is omnipresent (he somehow can be everywhere at once in one night), and he rewards good behavior while punishing bad behavior. We actively ingrain in our children the validity of Santa, reading them stories, teaching them songs, taking them to “meet” Santa and more. We remind them throughout the year (especially as Christmas gets closer) that the gifts they get on Christmas will depend upon their obedience or disobedience making Santa an authority in their lives. In many ways, and in many homes Santa may seem more “real” than God himself!
Of course we know that we are basically lying to our children so that they can have some childish fun, and they will find out sooner or later that it was all just an elaborate story meant for their enjoyment, but they don’t know that yet. In their childish minds Santa is the coolest man on earth! Who could be better than Santa? I mean goodness, all I have to do is make a list and he will give me all my little heart desires come Christmas morning!
It should not surprise us to find that Santa has grown into such a phenomenon, for we know that man’s heart was created to worship. As humans we were created to have a relationship with our Lord. In fact, our hearts and minds are fitted to worship (though this natural inclination is skewed as a result of the fall). No, it should not surprise us when we see the world grasp at any and all earthly idols as they search for joy and spurn the one true God, but it should surprise us when the Christian community embraces the worship of a fictional character with little more thought than “I want my child to have fun.”
You may be wondering what you would do during Christmas without Santa. If so, I would love for you to read the recent series “Cultivating a Christ-centered Christmas.” Just click here to learn about many Christ-centered traditions you can implement in your family!
This post is linked to Time-Warp Wife’s Titus 2sday and A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.
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I am with you, sister.
I’m eager to hear what you’re going to say about the “magic” of the season!
I’m glad to find your blog! I agree with your comments on “Santa.” We’ve never taught our children a lie to believe in Santa, and nothing seems to be missing in their enjoyment of the “magic” of Christmas.
Hear, hear! I agree completely. We came to this point a few years ago (after many years of my growing displeasure as relatives brought Santa up and asked them what they wanted from Santa, etc…) I finally got to the point where I said “enough is enough… we don’t NEED Santa” and told my family, “We’re not doing Santa and here’s why.” I really like what you said here:
“Please understand that I am not saying it is absolutely impossible to cultivate a Christ-centered Christmas that includes Santa. Rather, my hope is to challenge you to contemplate the purpose of including Santa in your celebration as well as the benefits and consequences of including him in your celebration.”
Thanks!
Thanks so much for sharing these posts! It is encouraging to hear from other families who are also working to have a holiday season focused on sharing the wonder and importance of Christ’s birth with their family.
Hi, I just found your site and I loved your santa post. I am right there with you sister! Last year I wrote a short ebook titled, Strengthening Your Child’s Faith at Christmas. It is filled with simple, Christ-centered activities and it addresses the santa issue as well. It is free and you can find it on my blog, The Alabaster Jar, http://www.joleneengle.org.
Blessings to you,
jolene engle