Religion Do You Let Your Child Believe in Santa and Why?

[khergatt]

I would be very careful teaching your Sunday School lesson unless you are SURE that all the parents of the kids are in agreement with you!!! (Not attacking, just something to think about!)

Personally, we do believe in Santa in our house. We are Christians. We have taught our children that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and we must NOT lose sight of that - it needs to remain our priority. With that being said, Santa is a part of the celebration of the season . . . we teach about St. Nick (a real person that helped needy children!). We do not buy our children a TON of gifts for Christmas. They help us buy gifts for others.

We also do a birthday cake for Jesus. As a matter of fact, we (my family) do a baby shower for Mary, too. We do this instead of exchanging gifts with each other. We buy baby stuff and donate it to the local Christian Pregnancy Center. It is a BLAST! We also read the Christmas story before we open presents on Christmas morning. It keeps our focus where it should be!

I don't think there is anything wrong with believing in Santa. I plan to teach my kids that once you find out the truth you get the "privilege" of being Santa to someone else!

For what it's worth, I have also taught my kids that the Easter Bunny helps us celebrate Spring and really has NOTHING to do with EASTER. We do believe in the bunny, though! There is a great book called, "Easter Bunny, are you for real?" that explains it better!

We don't celebrate Halloween, though.

 

[raebates]

Kristy, I believe Debbie's leading an adult Sunday school class. I can't imagine that she'd usurp the parents' authority by making inappropriate revelations to little ones.

 

[chefsteph07]

My 12 yr old stepson found out about Santa when he was 10, he says he still believes and it's fun for him now because he gets to help choose what gifts "Santa" chooses to leave out for my 4 yr old..I tell him he gets to help "be" Santa and of course he still gets gifts from Santa so it's fun for him too...

 

[cooking.with.ann]

I grew up in a household that never confused 'Santa' with the actual spiritual side of Christmas--the birth of Christ.First, Advent was a serious season in our home, always with the Advent wreath on the table and a special prayer before grace at dinner, and the lighting of the candles on the wreath.Second, throughout the Advent season we worked on our backdrop and landscaping for my mother's Nativity set. This family activity helped to keep our focus firmly where it belonged--on the religious side of Christmas. In fact, we spent maybe 3 times as much time getting our Nativity set ready for Christmas as we ever did on the tree!Third, the tree went up on Christmas Eve, and did not come down until the day after Epiphany. We understood that 'the Christmas season' didn't mean the shopping frenzy from Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve--it was the entire season of the Nativity, and that included waiting for the 3 Kings to arrive. Fourth, on Christmas morning when we woke up the doors to the living room were closed (nothing new, they were always closed) and we got dressed and went to Mass. When we returned, the living room doors were open, the lights on the tree were lit, and everything Santa had left was there, waiting for you. Santa came while we were at Mass, you see.There were 5 of us, and these are all traditions that we each follow with our families today. One note about Santa: I don't remember when I really knew that there wasn't a Santa. I do remember in about the 2nd grade having my doubts, which was a problem since I was the oldest. That year I decided to put Santa to the test. I wrote that I wanted a playhouse, complete with furniture, a window-box, a porch, and electricity. My bedroom was on the back of the house. When my sister and I went to sleep on Christmas Eve there was no playhouse in the back yard. When I woke up on Christmas morning, there it was!Years later my father found the home movies he took of one of his work crews moving the playhouse into the yard. The men had built the playhouse the week or so before, on Christmas Eve they came over with the playhouse loaded on the back of a truck along with another truckload of pipe. They rolled the playhouse into the back yard silently, using hand signals between one another, put all the furniture into the house, hooked up the electricity, and popped 3 poinsettia plants into the window box. It was magical. I still remember how I felt when I looked out of the window that morning over 40 years ago.

 

[khergatt]

Rae,
That makes more sense and I was hoping it was adults. I guess I'm just remembering the year before I had kids and our pastor said something during the Christmas Eve service about there not being a Santa and it led to some VERY upset parents!!!

 

[jrstephens]

Rae,
That makes more sense and I was hoping it was adults. I guess I'm just remembering the year before I had kids and our pastor said something during the Christmas Eve service about there not being a Santa and it led to some VERY upset parents!!!

We had an interim pastor do this one year. I was glad that Luke was not big enough to be up front but we had some very upset parents too. I do not think a lot of kids heard and realized what he said b/c it was on a Sunday night and we do not have as many in attendance at night as we do in the morning.

 

[myinnerchef]

It was magical. I still remember how I felt when I looked out of the window that morning over 40 years ago.

I have to tell you - this gave me goosebumps. What a wonderful surprise your parents planned for you. How loved you must be!

 

[pampered.chris]

Cooking.with.ann- your story brought tears to my eyes. This is exactly what I miss about the whole "Santa" thing....the magical feeling.
Thanks for sharing your story!!

 

[kncmurray]

Cooking with Ann your story also brought tears to my eyes!

We believe in Santa also, I still believe and send santa my christmas list every year!

We also grew up knowing Christmas was Jesus's birthday. We also went with my grandmother every year to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

 

[Teresa Lynn]

When our kids were younger one of their friends kept insisting that Santa wasn't real
I decided I had to keep it alive in my kids hearts (our youngest was 3) So, I called my mom in Iowa to go thru a box of clothes I had as a child and send me a big torn scrap of velvet from my old robe (I sewed and didn't want a recognizable fabric swatch)
Santa tore his britches that Christmas Eve when he came down the chimney.
Neither DH nor I said a word but MS who was 5 and had the non believing friend, happened to look up from his pile of toys and saw it and ran and stuck his head in the fireplace (we never used it due to asthma) and there were amazingly 3 shreds of santa's britches and some of the batting from the lining of the pants.
We have awesome pictures and he insisted I scrapbook that page in his Senior yearbook last year.

 

[DebbieSAChef]

Kristy, I believe Debbie's leading an adult Sunday school class. I can't imagine that she'd usurp the parents' authority by making inappropriate revelations to little ones.

Just wanted to answer this as I keep reading everyone's comments. This is for a children's class on Wednesday night. And I have the parent's permission to speak against Santa and anything else I teach from the bible. All the parent's at our church do not teach their children about Santa. And I don't really consider this an inappropriate revelation to the little ones. Teaching that there is no sin, everyone is a Christian and there is no hell would be inappropriate revelations. LOL

Seriously though when I took on this job of taking the children on Wednesday night, it took many, many months of prayer. I take the children to the back room while the parents pray. So I know it's the Lord's will that I do this on Wednesday night. Each Wed. I prepare a lesson, pray with the kids for their salvation, and play a fun game!
I am the game, gift and candy person at church. I love children and so this naturally drew me. I know all the parent's of the children, not only are they my brothers and sisters in Christ but they are my good friends. They trust my ability to teach the children scripture and biblical doctrines and truth. I have been doing it for years.

Debbie :chef:

 

[Christ Follower]

We are Christians and we celebrate Christ at Christmas time. Our kids know that Santa is just pretend. We share with them where the real St. Nick came from and the history behind him so they have an understanding of why there is a "Santa." We bake Jesus a cake every year. The focus is on Jesus. We do most of the traditional Christmas things but we tie into our beliefs. For example, lights up on the house ties in with Jesus being the light of the world and letting His light shine through us. Gifts being exchanged...ties in with the gift of giving, opens up conversation about God's gift to us...salvation through His son...also how the wise men came bringing gifts.

We used to sign Love, Santa on some of their gifts but stopped a couple years ago. Those ones are now signed Love, Jesus. It is only through His provision that those gifts were possible in the first place.

 

[raebates]

Sorry I misunderstood, Debbie. I was wrong about the age you were teaching, but I'm glad I was correct that you wouldn't make revelations without parents' knowledge and approval.

 

[PamperedCaniac]

Just wanted to answer this as I keep reading everyone's comments. This is for a children's class on Wednesday night. And I have the parent's permission to speak against Santa and anything else I teach from the bible. All the parent's at our church do not teach their children about Santa. And I don't really consider this an inappropriate revelation to the little ones. Teaching that there is no sin, everyone is a Christian and there is no hell would be inappropriate revelations. LOL

Seriously though when I took on this job of taking the children on Wednesday night, it took many, many months of prayer. I take the children to the back room while the parents pray. So I know it's the Lord's will that I do this on Wednesday night. Each Wed. I prepare a lesson, pray with the kids for their salvation, and play a fun game!
I am the game, gift and candy person at church. I love children and so this naturally drew me. I know all the parent's of the children, not only are they my brothers and sisters in Christ but they are my good friends. They trust my ability to teach the children scripture and biblical doctrines and truth. I have been doing it for years.

Debbie :chef:

Just curious.... I promise I am not trying to be rude when I ask this I know messages are hard to read a tone. Why do you not put up a tree? And do you celebrate it is any form?

I take the tree as a symbol of Christ. He died for our sins on a tree and rose again for our salvation. So the beautiful green tree shows a symbol of Christ unending love and life for us??? Also I put a star or my tree upstairs and an angel on my tree downstairs (On the tops of the tree) for the star of Bethlehem and the Angels that were their for Christ birth.

Again I am just "curious" on why you do not do the tree... I can understand your reasoning with Santa 100% and although I do not try to tell my child anything different about Santa I can see why you teach your family the truth on this matter. Thanks and sorry for all the questions. LOL

 

[ivykeep]

I still believe too -- and have a very strong Christian faith. St. Nicholas was a real person and Santa Claus is just saying his name with an "accent" (i.e. foreign version of the same name) (Sant = Saint, niCLAUS).

I have never felt that finding out that the man in the Red suit coming down the chimney wasn't the strict truth to have any impact on my belief in Jesus or God, nor has it had any effect on any of my 8 (yes, large family) brothers and sisters.

Our holiday tradition was that Santa left packs of gifts, that included presents from my parents (they said they left them out for Santa to put in his bags). With so many kids, we didn't do wrapping paper, just a big bag to dig into... however we did not get to dig into the bag of gifts until we added Jesus to the Nativity scene which was prominently featured under our Christmas tree. (The manger stayed empty until Christmas morning). We usually said a prayer and acknowledged that all the gifts were in honor of Jesus and his birth.

One of my sister's asked me if I believed in Santa (she was 19 years younger than me) because her friend told her he wasn't real and that her parents told her they bought all of her gifts... but she also knew my parents couldn't afford all the Christmas presents (they couldn't, I used to supplement a lot at Christmas when I got older... it was part of my joy in Christmas and Santa). I told her that Santa could only come as long as you believed in him and once you stopped believing (or never believed) then he was no longer allowed to leave presents for you. She accepted that and believed for several more years. And quite honestly I will tell my children this same thing when they get older so that when their friends tell them not to believe, they still will.

When she got older she thanked me for that and said she held on to the miracles of Christmas a lot longer because of it.

For us Santa is about giving and love and unselfishness. I can totally respect someone who chooses not to bring Santa into their home, but for us it is the right thing for us to do. (There is certainly no blasting of anyone else for their opinion, just a sharing of what we do and why).

 

[ivykeep]

After fully reading the thread I have to say I LOVE the idea of doing a baby shower for Mary and may actually suggest that we do something similar among the Christians in my local mom's group (and certainly accept donations from our non-Christian members as well if they wish to participate!)

 

[myinnerchef]

And I have the parent's permission to speak against Santa and anything else I teach from the bible.

Why do you feel compelled to speak out AGAINST Santa? Just because Santa isn't in the Bible doesn't make him evil. Wouldn't it be simpler to just avoid the subject, since it's not on topic?

To take it further, why do you celebrate Christmas at all? The fact is, there is nothing in the Bible that indicates we should treat Christmas as any other day. The Bible does not say we should exchange gifts or erect a tree or light candles in honor of the Lord's birth. The tree is a pagan symbol, converted and adopted to use by Catholics to bring more people into the Church. The gifts are symbols of capitalism, not Jesus. If you're going to denounce Santa, you must denounce all of the modern Christmas celebrations. All of it - the parties, the gifts, the tree, the singing - since none of them are mentioned in the Bible. Christmas will be like any other day, except that we go to worship.

As I teach my own Sunday school class, it's Easter that's the real day of celebration. We recognize Christ's birth, but it's in his death that we rejoice because it brought the glory of the resurrection, the sacrifice which sealed God's covenant with Abraham. If you're saying you're going to endorse only what is in Scripture, you can't pick and choose which secular traditions you'll embrace and come off as rational.

 

[whiteyteresa]

Why do you feel compelled to speak out AGAINST Santa? Just because Santa isn't in the Bible doesn't make him evil. Wouldn't it be simpler to just avoid the subject, since it's not on topic?

To take it further, why do you celebrate Christmas at all? The fact is, there is nothing in the Bible that indicates we should treat Christmas as any other day. The Bible does not say we should exchange gifts or erect a tree or light candles in honor of the Lord's birth. The tree is a pagan symbol, converted and adopted to use by Catholics to bring more people into the Church. The gifts are symbols of capitalism, not Jesus. If you're going to denounce Santa, you must denounce all of the modern Christmas celebrations. All of it - the parties, the gifts, the tree, the singing - since none of them are mentioned in the Bible. Christmas will be like any other day, except that we go to worship.

As I teach my own Sunday school class, it's Easter that's the real day of celebration. We recognize Christ's birth, but it's in his death that we rejoice because it brought the glory of the resurrection, the sacrifice which sealed God's covenant with Abraham. If you're saying you're going to endorse only what is in Scripture, you can't pick and choose which secular traditions you'll embrace and come off as rational.

Never thought of it that way - pretty smart thinking

:chef:

 

[DebbieSAChef]

Why do you feel compelled to speak out AGAINST Santa? Just because Santa isn't in the Bible doesn't make him evil. Wouldn't it be simpler to just avoid the subject, since it's not on topic?

To take it further, why do you celebrate Christmas at all? The fact is, there is nothing in the Bible that indicates we should treat Christmas as any other day. The Bible does not say we should exchange gifts or erect a tree or light candles in honor of the Lord's birth. The tree is a pagan symbol, converted and adopted to use by Catholics to bring more people into the Church. The gifts are symbols of capitalism, not Jesus. If you're going to denounce Santa, you must denounce all of the modern Christmas celebrations. All of it - the parties, the gifts, the tree, the singing - since none of them are mentioned in the Bible. Christmas will be like any other day, except that we go to worship.

As I teach my own Sunday school class, it's Easter that's the real day of celebration. We recognize Christ's birth, but it's in his death that we rejoice because it brought the glory of the resurrection, the sacrifice which sealed God's covenant with Abraham. If you're saying you're going to endorse only what is in Scripture, you can't pick and choose which secular traditions you'll embrace and come off as rational.

Very good points and I do agree with some.

Why do you feel compelled to speak out AGAINST Santa?
I don't feel compelled to speak out against Santa, just to address some things that were brought up in my class. It won't be a SANTA 101 bible class. LOL
I feel compelled to address some questions and issues that were brought up by my class. I don't plan to spend hours on this subject but since it was brought up, I plan to address it. And I never said Santa is evil, I said our family feels it is not something we want to introduce into our worship of the Lord because it would distract from God's glory. (We must never forget Christian liberty)

To take it further, why do you celebrate Christmas at all?
We Celebrate Christmas so that we can use it as an open door to witness to the lost in the world who do not know Christ. Paul said to be everything to all people, so I am going to attend Christmas parties so that I can spread the gospel. What a better chance to speak truth to people, when they see your generosity and they are in a good mood. LOL

Christmas will be like any other day, except that we go to worship.

I totally agree with this. Our pastor does not preach a "Christmas" sermon, we don't go carrolling or anything like that. We open up gifts that mostly friends and family have given us. We are not going to refuse their generosity and hurt their feelings. I have told people numerous times that my kids don't need anything, with is usually followed by this response:
"But I want to."
So that's the end of that. We don't break the bank on gifts for our kids, we give them one or two special things that will glorify the Lord and bring fun throughout the year. (Example: My daughter is dyslexic but has improved drastically so she is getting her own special study bible; she is 11 and loves to cook so I got her a special cookbook and she is allowed to prepare a recipe once a week all year long.)

If you're saying you're going to endorse only what is in Scripture, you can't pick and choose which secular traditions you'll embrace and come off as rational.

Actually being a Christian I am to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. So that means my husband and I must read scripture and decide what is best for our family. How we should educate them, raise them, and teach them about the Lord. That doesn't mean we exclude ourselves from the world, even secular traditions, because we think they are pagan. We are strong enough Christians that the world does not influence us, we influence it, through the Holy Spirit.

By the way, I do believe the Christmas tree is pagan so we do not choose to erect one up in our home.
Thus says the LORD:

“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple. Jeremiah 10:2-4

I also agree that EASTER is much more important to our family than Christmas. Now just as you might have liberty to not do anything related to Christmas, I have liberty to attend parties, give gifts, and sing those beautiful hymns that speak of our Savior's birth this time of year. Others have the liberty to tell their kids about Santa. We can all share and express our view points about how we all worship or celebrate for the holidays.

I have had numerous opportunities to share the gospel and truth from the Word of God with people around the holidays that I would have normally never been able to do. Something about this time of year really opens up people's hearts and closes them because they are lonely and sad. So either way we must reach out to a dying and hurting world. Does that mean I should go about my day like it is nothing special and ignore that my neighbors, family and friends are celebrating Christmas (a day that has some significance to them), resulting in me missing out on a perfect opportunity to share the gospel?
No, that would be irrational to me. It's funny how much more a person is willing to accept a gospel tract when it is accompanies by a plate full of homemade goodies! LOL

Debbie

 

[khergatt]

The baby shower for Mary is the best thing we have ever done! Everyone can buy whatever they can afford. One of my SIL always gets a $5 pack of wipes and another one always buys at least 5 cases of diapers. It's nice and we get to donate to a worthy cause. We love doing it!

 

[cooking.with.ann]

This has been a very interesting thread.Theresa Lynn, I love the torn britches! That is priceless.I love the idea of the baby shower for Mary. My husband and I are the Respect Life coordinators for our Parish and members of our Culture of Life committee. I'm going to suggest this as our January activity when we meet on Sunday.This thread has also made me wonder why some people felt deceived by the Santa myth and some didn't. I don't have an answer, only the question.But this thread also took me on a happy trip down Memory Lane. The year of the playhouse, the year the elves decorated all the cookies and hung them on the tree (in reality: my college-aged cousin who couldn't get home to Columbia for Christmas, so he was spending Christmas with us--everyone went to sleep early, poor Whip was sitting around with nothing to do so he took the cookies we had baked earlier, a can of squirt icing, and whatever else he could find in my mother's kitchen and decorated the cookies. He hung them on the tree and when we got up the next morning--which was Christmas Eve--he told us that the Elves must have come. We were such gullible children, we believed anything. And of course, we thought they were the most beautiful cookies we had ever seen. When I look at the pictures of those cookies now--well, let's just say that Whip's cookie decorating skills are almost as good as any 4 year old's!When we were all in high school, college, and beyond, the focus switched to the Christmas stockings. My mother would fill them, but usually we each were 'adding' things to the stockings, so that even my mother was surprised when they were being opened.Then one year we decided that 'Santa' needed to leave stockings for our parents. Of course, we decided this late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, so the first year's stockings were filled with the kind of crazy stuff we could find at the drugstore--razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, socks, stockings, candy, peppermints, a paperback book or two. The same neighbor was pressed into service putting those two stocking out while we were at Mass. The look on my parents' faces was priceless. It was the first Christmas stocking my father had gotten since The Great Depression. We had more fun with those two stockings for the next 10 years than should have been legal. Seriously. And it was a great activity for us--the grown children--to participate in together.

 

[pcchefjane]

We do Christmas stockings for each of us...but the adult ones are "practical"... toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, etc. with things like gum and mints as well. I don't feel we "ruin" Christmas by celebrating Santa. It's part of childhood. I remember growing up with a Jewish friend. Her mother was Christian so they celebrated both Hannakuh and Christmas. We (in the 50s & 60s) didn't understand that Hannakuh was different from what we celebrated at Christmas.

I'm sorry those of you who do feel Santa is so wrong. I don't and no amount of messages will change either opinion! Let's just agree to disagree and realize that children will take something like the story of Santa how the parent presents it. If you make them feel you told them "a lie" when allowing them to believe, they will be hurt. If it is done in the right context (Santa is a myth BUT he is part of bringing gifts just like the Magi did when Jesus was a TODDLER not a newborn), then I don't think it will hurt anything. I thought I heard reindeers and the sleigh on the roof one year when I was 8 or 9 and I sure didn't feel "betrayed or lied to" when it wasn't!

 

[muffetts]

Frankly, it all goes along with faeries, elves, goblins, talking bears, anything you see on any toddler programming. A little fantasy never hurts - in fact, it builds their imaginations and their intelligence.

And, there's nothing wrong with one more reason for them to get to sleep!

Enjoy the Holidays everyone - and you Americans - Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[ChefJWarren]

On a lighter note!

We are Christians and my husband and I have been speaking about how to teach our children the REAL reason for Christmas to our children (4 and 1). Right now the 4 year old believes in Santa and all the fun stuff that goes with it, but we want her to know about Jesus too, obviously. She is learning about Him now and is very fascinated. We were concerned about "confusing" her at this young age - how do the two figures go together??? Well.....

My husband and I were talking recently about some ideas I saw here about making a cake for Jesus on Christmas and having a stocking for him and putting gifts in it because its his birthday. Our daughter heard us and started getting excited because it was a "birthday"!! She loves bdays and presents and the whole lot. She started asking a lot of questions about Jesus and his birthday, when is his party, what will he get, how will he get it, where does he live??? It was very cute! AND then, I got an idea!

We explained that the reason we celebrate Xmas is because its Jesus' bday and that's why Santa brings presents. Since Jesus is so special, Santa goes ahead and brings presents for ALL the little boys and girls. I was very impressed with myself on how I tied Jesus and Santa in together without confusing my little one.
What's great about the whole thing, is that since I explained all this she is more concerned about Jesus than Santa! She is so excited for his bday and that we all better be good.

 

[janezapchef]

Ooooo, very good Jessica!

 

[Jennie4PC]

I know this is a topic about santa but I have to tell this story:

My church started doing an interfaith creche festival, for those of you who do not know what it is it is a bunch of different religions coming together and donating thier manger scenes for others to see, well every year I donate a few of my mangers and a picture that was painted by my neighbor. This yr I forgot to get the stuff down to my church, and my DH was walking around the creche festival with my 2 kids (I was home with a sick child) and this guy was saying all the pictures here are of Mary holding baby Jesus and his wife said nope there will be a picture of Joseph holding baby Jesus it has been here since it started, well the picture was mine. I feel so bad and I never knew that people loved to see that picture.

 

[babywings76]

This has been an interesting thread to read. Someone just sent me an e-mail that I thought was also interesting. Thought I'd post it here.

"Should Christians Play Santa?

~ C Michael Patton ~
My annual and updated Christmas post! This is actually from my very first blog I did two years ago.
Tonight we went to see my mother with my children and the subject of Christmas was naturally brought up being so close. We sang some Christmas carols to prepare for the season. While others were singing Santa and North Pole songs, I took it upon myself (playing the role of the faithful pastor) to balance our excitement with the good Christian Christmas songs. (Waiting for applause to slow down). My daughters were just wanting to sing the Santa songs. My wife asked my oldest daughter Katelynn (9yrs old now) before I started the balancing act, “What is Christmas all about”? To which she responded “Presents, candy, Christmas tree, presents [again], and Santa.” My wife looked at me with the I-am-about-to-laugh-because-I-know-how-much-trouble-she-is-going-to-be-in-from-daddy look. Then she said, “Katelynn, Christmas is about Jesus, not Santa.”
I know you THINK you know where this is going, but you don’t. At first, my reaction was the typical OK, this confirms it. We are not watching anymore Santa movies, cutting way back on the Santa fun, and not going to talk about getting presents anymore. But that never feels right. I quickly turned away from that and started singing the Santa songs with them. Why?
Well, everyone is going to hate me, but why not? I will just dive right in. I don’t have that much trouble with Santa, sleigh bells, Frosty, and presents being emphasized at Christmas. I won’t even get too uptight with situations where Santa becomes the priority. (Waiting now for boos and hissing to cease). Santa is fun. Frosty is silly. And presents give us a chance to teach to give and exercise the gift of giving (since it is more blessed to give than receive). My daughter did forget the true meaning of the Christmas and I could have gotten very angry. But here is the thing: generally speaking, she hardly ever forgets about Christ. Christ is part of her life everyday. She talks to her friends about Him, she reads her Bible, she asks great questions, prays with me, she often voluntarily gives her allowance for others, and she honors her mother and I. Heck, she is even having me teach her Greek (no, I did not force this!). Who am I to step in when she is singing Christmas carols that don’t mention Christ and say in a rather legalistic fashion that she can’t sing those because it dishonors Christ? I have looked through my Bible and I cannot find where Christ gave a command to celebrate His birth on a particular day of the year. Yet He did say to celebrate the meaning of his birth everyday of the year. Isn’t it the incarnational life that matters?
This Katelynn is doing. What message am I sending by mandatorily sanctifying a particular day or season when every day is sanctified? I know that there are some days that we set aside in special way, and I have no problem with that. Neither do I have a problem when we set aside particular times of the year to focus on God and what He has done. But if Katelynn is doing everything else right and not forgetting about God throughout the year, I should not get upset if she forgets about what the meaning of Christmas is. I should not demonize Santa and other “secular” Christmas cheer when it is the life throughout the year that is important. I would rather my daughter tell one of her friends about what Christ means to her in July than to have her focus on the manger in December. Telling others about Christ all year round is commanded in Scripture and is the true meaning of Christmas.
As well, [stepping higher on my box] it would seem that there are so many people who choose to set aside all their secularism in December and require that there be a moratorium called on all things not pertaining to Christ, but forget the rest of the year. This seems to evidence a loss of priorities. I have often heard it said by Christians that Santa has taken over Christ in December, but I would argue that December has taken over Christ for Christians.
Should Christians play Santa? I have no problem with it. Personally, I can’t bring myself to tell my children that he actually exists, but I have no problem with others who do and I have no problem singing Christmas carols that don’t involve Christ so long as Christ is the focus of our lives, not just our Decembers. If Christ is not the focus of our lives January-November, December is not going to make any difference anyway because, contrary to popular belief, December does not sanctify the rest of the year.
Moral of the story: To truly celebrate Christmas presupposes that we are living an incarnational life 365 days a year. Don’t be so hard on poor Santa.
Merry Christmas."

 

[ChefBeckyD]

This has been an interesting thread to read. Someone just sent me an e-mail that I thought was also interesting. Thought I'd post it here.

"Should Christians Play Santa?

~ C Michael Patton ~
My annual and updated Christmas post! This is actually from my very first blog I did two years ago.
Tonight we went to see my mother with my children and the subject of Christmas was naturally brought up being so close. We sang some Christmas carols to prepare for the season. While others were singing Santa and North Pole songs, I took it upon myself (playing the role of the faithful pastor) to balance our excitement with the good Christian Christmas songs. (Waiting for applause to slow down). My daughters were just wanting to sing the Santa songs. My wife asked my oldest daughter Katelynn (9yrs old now) before I started the balancing act, “What is Christmas all about”? To which she responded “Presents, candy, Christmas tree, presents [again], and Santa.” My wife looked at me with the I-am-about-to-laugh-because-I-know-how-much-trouble-she-is-going-to-be-in-from-daddy look. Then she said, “Katelynn, Christmas is about Jesus, not Santa.”
I know you THINK you know where this is going, but you don’t. At first, my reaction was the typical OK, this confirms it. We are not watching anymore Santa movies, cutting way back on the Santa fun, and not going to talk about getting presents anymore. But that never feels right. I quickly turned away from that and started singing the Santa songs with them. Why?
Well, everyone is going to hate me, but why not? I will just dive right in. I don’t have that much trouble with Santa, sleigh bells, Frosty, and presents being emphasized at Christmas. I won’t even get too uptight with situations where Santa becomes the priority. (Waiting now for boos and hissing to cease). Santa is fun. Frosty is silly. And presents give us a chance to teach to give and exercise the gift of giving (since it is more blessed to give than receive). My daughter did forget the true meaning of the Christmas and I could have gotten very angry. But here is the thing: generally speaking, she hardly ever forgets about Christ. Christ is part of her life everyday. She talks to her friends about Him, she reads her Bible, she asks great questions, prays with me, she often voluntarily gives her allowance for others, and she honors her mother and I. Heck, she is even having me teach her Greek (no, I did not force this!). Who am I to step in when she is singing Christmas carols that don’t mention Christ and say in a rather legalistic fashion that she can’t sing those because it dishonors Christ? I have looked through my Bible and I cannot find where Christ gave a command to celebrate His birth on a particular day of the year. Yet He did say to celebrate the meaning of his birth everyday of the year. Isn’t it the incarnational life that matters?This Katelynn is doing. What message am I sending by mandatorily sanctifying a particular day or season when every day is sanctified? I know that there are some days that we set aside in special way, and I have no problem with that. Neither do I have a problem when we set aside particular times of the year to focus on God and what He has done. But if Katelynn is doing everything else right and not forgetting about God throughout the year, I should not get upset if she forgets about what the meaning of Christmas is. I should not demonize Santa and other “secular” Christmas cheer when it is the life throughout the year that is important. I would rather my daughter tell one of her friends about what Christ means to her in July than to have her focus on the manger in December. Telling others about Christ all year round is commanded in Scripture and is the true meaning of Christmas.As well, [stepping higher on my box] it would seem that there are so many people who choose to set aside all their secularism in December and require that there be a moratorium called on all things not pertaining to Christ, but forget the rest of the year. This seems to evidence a loss of priorities. I have often heard it said by Christians that Santa has taken over Christ in December, but I would argue that December has taken over Christ for Christians.
Should Christians play Santa? I have no problem with it. Personally, I can’t bring myself to tell my children that he actually exists, but I have no problem with others who do and I have no problem singing Christmas carols that don’t involve Christ so long as Christ is the focus of our lives, not just our Decembers. If Christ is not the focus of our lives January-November, December is not going to make any difference anyway because, contrary to popular belief, December does not sanctify the rest of the year.Moral of the story: To truly celebrate Christmas presupposes that we are living an incarnational life 365 days a year. Don’t be so hard on poor Santa.
Merry Christmas."

This is one of the best articles I've ever read concerning this whole conflict!

I loved it - it's totally what is in my heart and mind concerning Christmas, and Santa, and I'm so glad you posted it!

I bolded some of my favorite parts! I'm going to save this post - thanks so much Amanda!

 

[cltrinity]

I dont think Santa robs anything from God. Children are smart and they dont get enough credit for that. From a young age they are taught about Jesus but only hear about Santa around the holidays. Its not lying to children its only association Christmas with Santa or as a Saint for children. I stopped believing in Santa around 10, but I do believe in the magic of Christmas.

 

[SummerG]

Wow!

Santa is definitely a part of our Christmas celebration but that isn't to say that he takes the limelight.

A tip: If you choose to wrap the presents that Santa "brings", make sure you have a separate roll of wrapping paper on hand just for his gifts. And hide the leftover paper VERY well!! Kids pick up on the fact that the same paper is used. Ü OR, you can leave them unwrapped and explain that Santa doesn't have time to wrap so many gifts for all the children. This is what I do.

Merry Christmas!

 

[kcmckay]

While I did not read all of these replies yet, I felt compelled to post for my sake. I'm not very religious myself. I do believe in a higher power but I'm more agnostic than anything. This I actually do blame on my upbringing to a point. When we were young my 2 older sibling actually went to a catholic school and we went to church every Sunday. I never did Sunday school and when I was very young, my mom pretty much gave up on trying to make us as children; since my older siblings were probably strong willed; go to church and learn the ways of catholicism. I was baptised but never made my first communion or beyond that. I sometimes wish my mom had tried harder to raise us more religious so I could understand it more. On the topic of Santa Clause, I did believe and he was promoted in our house. I felt he was a magical part of Christmas. I personally love Christmas myself and it is my favorite time of year because of the spirit it brings out in people and I truly believe it's better to give than receive.

When I was younger and it came to Santa I loved the idea of him. I was also aware of the story of St. Nicholas that Santa grew from. I still believe there is magic in the air at this time of year maybe not in the form of Santa but people are just different most of the time.

The way I discovered Santa was not technically real, was disapointing but now because I felt lied to or betrayed. I think I was about 11 and had an idea that he may not be real and that Mom and Dad may have been the true Santas. However I was not ready to let go of the magic. My sister who is 4 years older than me was the ruiny for me. I don't think she meant to, but it happened. I had asked her about a week or so before Christmas if she still believed because I wanted to still believe for myself. She said she did. But that Christmas morning she said to me "did you hear mom and dad wrapping the presents last night?" It made me sad that she officially made him unreal but I never stopped believing in the magic of Christmas. That is my experience and thoughts on the situation.

I should also add that I currently have no children, but when we do they will recieve gifts from Santa and learn about the story of St. Nicholas. They will also understand that it's the celebration of Christs birthday.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Cute Story Alert!

DS was listening to Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer on a CD, and he asked me why Rudolph was born with a red nose. I said I didn't know. He thought about that for a minute and then said "I know why Mommy. God knew that Santa would need that light to guide him some day, so he made Rudolph with a red nose!"

 

[Jennie4PC]

Arent kids the cutest. My son who is 6 comes up with the funniest comments.

 

[candiejayne]

Yes they do come up with the greatest things... I had a basket weaving class today at the house, and my DSS kept the girls rolling with funny things.

Santa finished shopping last night, now we just need to wrap everything. Santa almost forgot the stockings though. Opps! The kids will be with their moms for christmas, but they know that Santa comes here too. My DSS is worried that we will forget to leave cookies for him! He keeps asking me when we can make them. I keep telling him if we make them now, we'll eat them all before Santa has a chance to get here.