‘Tis near the season to be jolly, and with the season comes Christian parents who are doing some high-energy theological, cultural and semantic gymnastics concerning “What to do about Santa Claus?” It seems that a lot of people make a bigger deal out of the whole question than they should.
I have one word for those who refer to Santa as "Satan Claus" –RELAX! Have fun with Santa Claus, or have fun without Santa Claus. Just make sure you are loving your kids and being honest with them.
Walking with your children through the Christmas holidays is your responsibility. What you decide to do about Santa Claus goes right along with what you decide to do about having a Christmas tree, sending out Christmas cards, going to Christmas parties, buying Christmas presents, and more—it’s your choice and you’ll want to make decisions which are best for your family.
Each year Amy and I have folks ask us if we “do Santa Claus.” Well the answer is “kind of.” Of course, on Christmas morning we video the boys coming down the stairs and rushing to open their presents under the tree from Santa. But they know that the presents are really from mommy and daddy. Santa Claus is not real. He’s not bad either. He’s just “pretend.” It sure is fun to pretend.
This Christmas season—and in every Christmas season, we want our kids to understand the pretend part of Christmas, and we want them to understand the reality part of Christmas.
Santa Claus is pretend. Jesus is real.
Each day in December, we’ll read The Advent Book, by Jack and Kathy Stockman. We’ll decorate the Christmas tree. We’ll bake cookies. We’ll wrap special presents for mommy. We’ll make sure our boys know we are giving to others this Christmas. We’ll tell the story of Jesus’ birth over and over and over. We’ll spend time with friends, family, and of course with those who are a part of our faith fellowship. We’ll make memories that I hope the boys will look back on and remember with warm hearts.
Whatever you “do” with Santa Claus…or whatever you do this Christmas season, make sure you do it in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17).
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Todd
