In Defense of Santa Claus

Santa is a big issue for quite a few Christians. Many feel quite strongly that Santa Claus has no place in Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season, so why muddle it all up with a magical gift giver? Why would you LIE to your children? Why spend so much money on toys when you could be feeding the poor? You’re just spoiling them. If your kids believe that Santa is real, then when they find out he’s not, won’t they reject Jesus in the same way?

These are the arguments I’ve bumped up against most, and I’ll be the first to say that they are legitimate. So I won’t deride the parents who decide that No Santa is the best decision for their family. If you think it is harmful to your children and will detract from Christ then who am I to say that you should or shouldn't include the jolly fat elf? I don’t think the parents who feel they should draw the line between Make Believe and Spiritual Reality ought to make an argument for their case. I think the point and their concern is clear enough. The burden is really on those of us who invite Santa Claus into our home.

So at the risk of bringing down the scorn of Church Ladies of both genders, I shall make an apology, without apology, on behalf of my decision to perpetuate the Myth of Old St. Nick under my very Christian roof.

To begin, a quote from St. Tolkien shall (like a voice that cries in the wilderness) prepare the way, "God is the Lord of angels, and of men—and of elves." That is to say, God is sovereign over all things.

I am firmly of the opinion that “Jesus is the reason for the season." So much so, that if Christ was not in Christmas, I would feel awfully different about Santa Claus landing upon the roof of my house on Christmas Eve. Santa, disconnected from Jesus, is a tyrant god. A god who wields the power of reward and punishment based on the standard of his double-checked list of Naughty and Nice. An entity with that kind of power, unchecked, is to be feared, not loved (jollity is neither here nor there; even tyrants can be jolly). Outside of Christ, what guides his motives? What is the standard exactly that one must meet to be placed on the Nice list?

Remember in Prince Caspian when Susan and Lucy encounter the wild frenzy of a party with Bacchus, the god of wine? The party was so extreme that it left them nearly unnerved. But Susan says to Lucy, "I wouldn't have felt safe with Bacchus and all his wild girls if we'd met them without Aslan." And Lucy agrees, “I should think not.”

Santa is safe for us when Christ is with us. If Christ is the Lord of all, then He is Lord of Santa Claus. If Christ is sovereign, then Santa is his servant. In our house, we aspire to place Santa Claus within the Narnian structure. Father Christmas only arrives when Aslan is on the move. He is a servant to the King. And so within this framework, our kids 'believe' in Santa Claus. Santa bows the knee to Jesus, just like they do.

It’s important to understand that when Santa doesn't bow the knee to Christ, we are setting up a rival to Christ. In this way, Santa becomes a tool for behavioral manipulation that is anti-gospel. But when Santa is a servant, rather than minimizing the gospel, all of his magic augments the gospel.

The toys and gifts given in our house are an expression of the overflow of the Gift given to us. There is a season for everything, so I'll not condemn the man whose household is in need of a scaled down gift giving in order to aid in realigning the spiritual health of the house (there is a time for fasting, no?), but I view giving gifts to our kids as a reflection of the overflowing and abundant grace of God. Do they really need all these toys? No. Have they deserved all these toys? The answer is often a resounding, HECK NO! Will they enjoy these toys? Absolutely! Will not their eyes bug out of their head when they see a living room full of packages for them? Is this not a small picture of the grace of God towards sinful man? So I view it as a reflection of grace and look for opportunities to come up (and they always do...even with adults) to speak about it in that way. 

The accusation that I am bold faced lying to my children is a serious one. One that should be said if I am lying. One that should be retracted if I am playing. I have not yet heard any Christian outcry against playing dress up. When my son dresses up like a knight, he believes he is a knight. He went to RenFest and was knighted in a ceremony as serious as a funeral. He acts upon his belief by doing the things a knight does. We have marks on the walls and skinned knees to prove it. When he shows me his muscles I exclaim, “Woah! They’re huge!” When he grows up, do you think he’ll look back on playing with his dad and say, “That lying jerk.”? When the Father and Son playroom dynamic is transitioned to a bigger scale, namely the international, historical, societal dynamic of Santa Claus, the Play gets bigger but the rules of play don’t change.

Consider that the vast reach of this myth so permeates our culture that a complete stranger from a foreign country can ask my child, “What did Santa bring you for Christmas?” If I tell my children, “Santa Claus doesn’t exist” I’ve broken the rules of the game. Now that could be good or bad. Perhaps it was a bad game to begin with, but the rules are broken nonetheless and the game has ended with them. The torch has not been passed on, it has been snuffed out. But if I play along with the game the whole world is in on, I am passing along the torch of a previous generation. This is a far cry from what is understood as lying to children. The accusation must fit the context. But that said, it doesn’t negate the fact that dangers exist, and that a line could still be crossed. I want to argue that I believe it is better to walk that path, confront the danger, and live to tell about it on the other side rather than to never walk the path at all.

Though you have the choice to break the rules (snuffing out the torch), it must be remembered; if you are going to play the Santa game then you must abide by the rules. How foolish would it be for me to put my little knight in real danger while at play? To tell him to slay a real foe of tooth and claw with a foam sword? In the same way, how foolish would it be for me to tell my child Santa Claus is real, when Reality offers a better story to participate in? That is, when my child is three years old the game is in full swing, but when my child is 7 the game has changed. They learn and question things in their maturity and begin to gain small glimpses behind the curtain. And this is when the game can become dangerous.

This is where the Christian outcry against Santa has some weight. To tell your child in these moments that Santa is real is to sin against them. But to tell them before they gather enough information for themselves is a danger as well. My daughter will never learn how to spell “Oklahoma” if I never let her try to figure it out on her own. And so this becomes a prime opportunity for leading your children to discover truth. In this way we walk the path together and arm our children with the weapons they will require down the road when we aren’t there. Leading them to discover the truth, to help them discern between Reality and Make Believe will serve them better spiritually than making the choice for them.

It’s under-girding your child as they learn how to swim. Not allowing them to swim means they’ll never get in the water. Letting go too soon means they could drown. This is the danger, and many Christians would rather their children watch the other kids in the pool than risk drowning, (which is their right, and it’s likely they are wise for doing so—perhaps they’ve never learned how to swim for themselves). But I want my kids to be able to run on firm ground and swim like a fish. Santa provides these opportunities in a unique and extremely fun way. In our house Santa isn’t leading our children to Spiritual destruction; he is augmenting the gospel and arming them to battle Spiritual danger. Just like in Narnia when Father Christmas hands Peter a sword.

I can say this with confidence because this is how I handled it with my eldest child. She began to really question Santa Claus last Christmas. I didn’t come right out and tell her but urged her to think and reason through it, to tell me what she thought. I’m pretty sure she knew the answer, but she held off on the hard questions until after the Christmas season. She knows the game. I’m convinced she wanted one last go of it. This year she has fully crossed over from a ‘believer’ to a ‘co-conspirator’. The game hasn’t stopped for her, just changed. The torch is still lit. The fun continues and now, without even knowing it, she is armed for war. And she will be a dreaded warrior, for she knows the true King—and mirth gleams in her eye. She shall fear no myth, for she will enjoy them, and use them against the wiles of the enemy.

So here’s to Santa Claus, that mythical, magic old elf, armorer of children and servant of the Most High God, who arrives in the train of the King to give gifts that reflect the glory, joy, and grace of His Majesty.