Can children’s belief Santa damage their faith in God?
Is teaching kids to believe in Santa all in good fun, or could it hurt their faith in Christ?
Many families teach their kids to believe in the magic of Santa—that an omniscient old man watches to see if they’re good or bad and magically rewards them accordingly. But could this be taking away glory from Christ at Christmas? And could it even been damaging to children’s innocent faith?
The magic of Santa: does it build faith or raise doubts?
Did you believe in Santa Claus growing up?
I never did. My mom always told me about how Santa can be something for fun, but that he was just for make-believe only. Even at such a young age, my tender heart needed that honesty.
God knew I needed that transparency from my mom, and I’m so thankful that she was obedient to the Holy Spirit in telling me the truth about Santa from day one.
Knowing myself, I know that if my mom would have lied to me about it and let me believe that lie, I would have doubted the truth about Jesus.
Because I was brought up with the truth that Santa is just pretend, I never received any gifts “from Santa.” I always knew that the presents I received came from my parents, were bought with their hard-earned money, and that they did it because they loved me.
Not because some random old man with a beard in a red suit had been secretly spying on me every moment of my life, knowing through some omniscient omnipresence whether I was being good or bad.
That kind of omniscience and omnipresence belongs to God alone, and to place it into this mystical person of Santa Claus undermines God’s character and authority. When you really think about it, it attempts to steal glory from God. And it most certainly steals away our focus from Christ.
Even more concerning is this thought: could Santa end up becoming a stumbling block to a child’s faith in Christ?
When a child begins to doubt the reality of Santa Claus, he or she will work up enough courage to plainly ask someone they dearly trust, “Is Santa really real?”
When that trusted parent or grandparent reassures the child that Santa is real and that they must keep believing…oh! What a sorrowful thing it is when that child realizes that the most trusted person in their life has lied to them. 💔
And for what?
Well, it’s to keep the “magic” of Christmas alive!
It makes me sad to see them growing up… I want them to be little for as long as possible.
And besides, it’s just for fun! It’s not like it’s going to hurt anything.
But what if it does?
To teach our children to believe in this so-called magic is to teach them to place their faith in Santa.
That impressionable faith of a young heart that should be reserved for Christ alone gets rerouted to Santa. And even though it’s such an uncomfortable thing to face, we are essentially teaching them a lie. And lying to our children year after year erodes our trustworthiness.
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The dangers of misplacing faith in Christ for faith in Santa
If we can be honest with ourselves, trying to keep the “magic” of Santa alive in children is not for them. It’s all about us adults and our selfishness. We vicariously enjoy their happiness and wonder, but it’s built on a lie.
Of course these precious, tenderhearted, trusting little ones believe in Santa—they trust that those they love most are telling them the truth! 😟
Do we really dare to molest their faith? To place such a stumbling block before them?
What will happen when they begin to question if they were told the truth about Jesus—if He’s even real, too?
If we cast aside all our presuppositions and look at Santa Claus objectively, we can’t help but notice that he’s very much put in the place of Christ.
He sees everything that you do, he knows whether you do good or bad, he’s watching you all the time, you’re gonna get punished or you’re gonna get a reward…
Take a look at this person’s experience:
I understand that Santa can be a touchy subject for some, and rightly so. The impact of this issue should be taken so much more seriously by all of us.
Just because someone may have been taught or encouraged to believe in Santa as a child and also still believes in God as an adult doesn’t necessarily mean that trying to reconcile the truth of Jesus versus the deception of Santa was easy.
The origin of Santa: history’s true Saint Nicholas
I’d venture to guess that if the real man that the myth of Santa is based on could see what a magical tale the story of his life has been twisted into today, he would weep.
Did you know that the real St. Nicholas was beaten so severely for his faith in Christ that he had a withered arm?
The real St. Nicholas was so passionate in his faith that he struck down a heretic at Nicaea.
The real St. Nicholas was so kind and loving that he has been remembered for over a millennia after his death for his generosity.
And the wonderful things that the real St. Nicholas did throughout his life, he attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit.
What an awful affront to God and to our brother in Christ who suffered persecution for his faith that we would use his memory as a fairy tale to lie to our children! 💔
Whereas the real St. Nicholas’ life and martyrdom for the sake of the gospel serve only to glorify God, the St. Nick of today is something completely different, attempting to steal that glory from Christ.
It all comes down to this: why not all the love that people attribute to the spirit of Santa be placed back where it belongs, with Jesus?
It should be no contest for us as believers.
So if you have a precious little one in your life who entrusts their tender heart to you, I beg of you to handle it with the dearest of care, to be self-sacrificing in your love for them—enough to be honest with them about the fabrication that is Santa, and the awesome, wonderful truth that is Christ Jesus.
After all, if a little child were to ask you—a person they love with all their heart and trust with all their heart—“Is Santa really real?” and you looked them in the face and lied to them, how will they ever know that you didn’t lie to them about the Lord Jesus?
As Jesus Himself said:
But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Matthew 18:6, NLT
😳😰
How very seriously God takes our influence on such trusting hearts and impressionable minds!
If we cause a little one to stumble by preventing them from coming to Jesus, we would be better off if we were pulled down by a massive weight on our neck to drown in the depths of the sea.
That is a terror beyond imagination! How much worse then it is for us to be the cause of children being led astray from the Lord!
It is with the simple, trusting faith of a child that we come to Christ. Let’s not squander that precious faith of our children on any deception that detracts from Jesus, including Santa. 💛
Let’s keep this fearful responsibility at the forefront of our minds as we approach Christmas this week, my friend.
For more on a biblical view of Christians and Santa Claus, check out this article from Answers in Genesis.
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Final thoughts on teaching kids to believe in Santa
The tender and innocent hearts of children are so impressionable, so as Christians we must be extremely wary of what we allow to influence them. If we teach them that Santa Claus is real and even perpetuate it when they begin to doubt and seek the truth, how easy it will be for them to question whether we’re telling the truth about Jesus! Why risk that? Let’s not let any untruth, no matter how trivial it might seem, be a stumbling block to the precious faith of children. Let us foster their faith by teaching them of Christ at Christmas, and Him alone.
🤔 What do you think about this topic? Share your opinion in a comment below!
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