An open letter to Christian brothers who ‘play the Santa Claus’ game. This is a letter I sent a dear brother in 2010. Shortly thereafter, he and his wife told their young daughters about ‘Santa Claus’ and were quite grateful for my admonishment. I hope you will find it helpful.
I don’t understand why a Christian family would play the Santa Claus game with their kids. First of all, Jesus IS ENOUGH; you don’t need to make Christmas ‘more fun’ or ‘more magical’ or anything like that. Secondly, I feel Santa takes away from the focus on God’s glory…he is a form of antichrist in a sense…taking the place of Christ.
Finally, and most importantly to me, I cannot imagine ‘doing Santa’ with my kids without LYING to them and breaking God’s commandment. I cannot stand on the street with a good conscience and ask people if they are liars and tell them to fear God, when I myself still practice lying.
God GAVE YOU BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN and it is your responsibility as a man to lead them. These kids look at you as a picture of Christ, and your honesty with them will permeate through their lives. It is built into their brains to trust you and rely on you to be honest with them. This is for a reason, and at least a part of that reason is to be a picture for them of your Father who is in Heaven.
I love you brother, and I know we all have some different ways we do things, but I feel strongly about this, and that the best thing for your children is JESUS and a Dad who is willing to stand up for that no matter what the cost.
I pray that you take my note with love and affection for me brother, as I have love and affection for you. I trust that you understand how hard it can be to confront a brother, and maybe risk you being mad at me. But your daughters’ eternities and the glory of God are more important to me than people liking me.
I trust that when we each base our lives on Scripture, we will be able to still encourage each other in the faith.
In Christ alone. Merry Christmas!
Michael
I agree 100%. I’ve gotten flak from others in my family and my wife’s for doing so, too. One of the best ways of explaining Santa vs. St. Nicholas is one of the more recent VeggieTales about St. Nicholas. While it takes some artistic liberties, it does a *great* job of opening the door to discussions about the man of God and his differences from some guy in a red suit who defies the laws of physics.
Good material for next year:)
Totally concur with you! Great post! When I have children (Lord willing) they are going to know all about the Santa Clause myth up-front and the Easter Bunny for that matter too.
Lets let our “yes” be “yes” and our “no” be “no” when asked by children about Santa Clause. Anything more than this is from the evil one. (Matt. 5)
Reposting again this year for those who need it.