When our youngest daughter was around 6 years old I was convicted to change the way our family talked about Santa. I began emphasizing to her that Santa is for fun, but Jesus is for real.

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

That year our daughter eagerly shared this matter-of-fact information with a few of her first grade classmates at school one day. Apparently that didn’t sit well with the mother of at least one of her classmates, who interestingly attended the same church as we did at that time. I heard about it through the grapevine, so to speak; actually it was one day while at church. One of the ladies in my Sunday School class let me know about it. She told me that the mother of this little boy was not happy with Mackenzie or me. It was an interesting moment, to say the least. We no longer attend that church, but not for this reason. 

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:18-23

I realized back in the early 2000’s, that teaching my young daughter that Santa is for fun but Jesus is for real was was in direct opposition to what was considered widely accepted and traditional Christmas norms of the day, which was to basically tell a “white lie” to our children about Santa. I, like most of us, have fond memories of childhood Christmases which included the mystery of Santa Claus. In fact, I continued that tradition with our first two daughters, who are 15 and 11 years older than our youngest daughter, but as I matured and grew as a Christian I became increasingly uncomfortable with this tradition. In particular I was (and still am) very uncomfortable with the use of the word “believe” used in any reference to “Santa” and also the word “magic” as used in the phrase, “the magic of Christmas.”

I thought a lot about this and asked myself, why would we, as Christian parents, expect our children to believe in Jesus Christ, after years of perpetuating a “white lie” about Santa Claus while they were a young child, and especially during Christmastime!? 

To be perfectly clear, I’m ok with the legend of Santa Claus and the connection with St Nickolas, but I am not ok with perpetuating the “white lie” of telling young children that Santa Claus is real. 

“Bah humbug!” Some may say, but truth be told, a “white lie” is still a lie. The Bible is full of warnings about lying.

Jesus said, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44

The fact is, Jesus was born, to save sinners like me and like you. Jesus is real and sin is serious business. Sin has been around since Adam and Eve began their conversation with the serpent in the Garden of Eden. 

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

It’s a big problem. Actually, it’s a huge problem; what began in the Garden of Eden  has infiltrated every aspect of life here on earth. The truth is, if you never see yourself as a sinner in need of a Savior, you will die in your sins one day and spend eternity separated from God, and that’s putting it gently. 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6,

And, unless you have humbled your heart, acknowledged your sin, and turned to Him in repentance and faith in Him alone, the “merry” in your “Christmas” is coming to an abrupt end one day and it won’t be pretty or nice. No amount of good intentions or good works will grant you a “get out of hell” card. 

And while, good works may be a sign of salvation, the process of becoming saved has nothing to do with being “good” or doing “good things.” Salvation is by grace through faith in God. Similarly, obedience is not required for salvation, it’s a result of salvation. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10

Or, whether you’re “naughty or nice.”

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. 

Salvation has everything to do with the One who took our place on the cross and paid our sin debt in full. He made a way. He who was born and who died so….

that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3:15-21

Merry Christmas 🎄