There are a range of “takes” about Santa Claus, especially in Christian circles.  I’m not here to talk about the origins of Christmas and whether they’re pagan or not.  I’m not even here to talk about the real St. Nicholas (although that’s certainly one aspect of the truth about Santa Claus).  I’m here to talk about the fact that the truth is what we do about Santa Claus matters, because myth matters.

Is Lying About Santa a Sin?

First of all, playing Santa and lying about Santa are two different things.  Pretending isn’t wrong, in and of itself, so there is liberty in whether to enjoy the Santa myth together as a family.

But pretending is not lying.  When you pretend, the underlying assumption is that everyone understands the difference between fiction and reality and is enjoying a temporary immersion into the world of fiction for fun, as a game.  “Look, Mommy; I’m a unicorn!”  Most parents will go along with this role play.  No parent in her right mind will attempt to convince a child that he is, in actual fact, a unicorn.

If the aim is to cause the child to believe that a fat man in a red suit is, in actual fact, a real person who circumnavigates the world overnight, that is not pretending; that is lying.  Children need parents who are not liars, and Christian parents need to flee from making excuses for sinning because “it’s fun.”

In short, lying about Santa is a sin, because lying is sinful. (Prov. 6:16-19)  Pretending about Santa is not necessarily sinful.  With that said, we’ve found the Santa myth to be more detrimental than edifying overall, and the primary purpose of this post is to explain how/why.

Myth Matters. Stories Teach.

This concept is a tricky one to summarize if you’ve never delved into it before.  C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien are famous for their discussions of story and myth.  “Myth,” in their vernacular, doesn’t refer to something imaginary, but to a certain kind of story, which could be either imaginary or real.

And they considered the best myths, or the best stories, to be those which came closest to the True Myth, or the True Story — that is, the real story of the real world, that God has written/is writing.

To put it another way, things can be either true or false, and that has little to do with whether they’re fiction or non-fiction.  A fantasy story, for instance, might be a completely made-up story about a made-up world where the people worship one single made-up creator god.  That idea of their one god would be a true idea, even though it’s found in a fictional world.

“Stories and images are powerful means of getting people to see things in a certain way, as well as representing what is claimed to be ‘real.'” (Melvin Tinker, That Hideous Strength)

This power of stories makes the Santa myth, in our estimation, not mere “harmless fun,” but ideologically dangerous.

Santa Lies

See, the Santa myth — at least as ordinarily practiced in North American households — teaches things that are false, not merely fictional.

• The Santa myth teaches that gifts are something to be earned.  But as my daughter aptly observed, “if you have to earn your gifts, they’re not presents; they’re prizes.”

This strikes at the heart of the gospel.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)  And why this unearned gift?  “[B]ecause of His great love with which He loved us.” (v. 4)

God gives us good gifts — most notably, the gift of salvation — because He loves us.  Not because we were “good enough” or “well-behaved enough,” but while we weren’t. 

• The Santa myth teaches that those who are blessed with more physical blessings are either better people or more loved.  This may be less obvious within a given household, but becomes apparent when comparing one household to another, where some have more material resources than others.

The rich man of Matthew 19 had not earned his riches by being good.  And Job did not lose his riches by being bad.  Whatever we have is all of grace, and is not a measure of our goodness or how loved we are.

• The Santa myth steals credit from parents, interjecting itself into the parent-child relationship.  What should be an opportunity for a parent to demonstrate his love for his child through giving gifts — much as God does for us, thus strengthening not only the parent-child bond, but also the child’s image of a good God — becomes instead an opportunity for an imaginary stranger to take credit for the parent’s provision.

• The Santa myth sets up a substitute figure that takes on attributes of God: omniscience, and a borderline omnipresence (being everywhere in the world in a single night).  And this figure uses these attributes to threaten, and to sit on his “throne” just waiting for his believers to mess up.

This is once again contrary to the grace and forgiveness of God that restores us when we fall.

• The Santa myth (often) teaches that our belief is the source of power for this supernatural figure.

While we serve a God who formed a universe by simply speaking, Santa’s power is rooted in the belief of the public.  While the reality of our God is not lessened by the faithless (“If we are faithless, He remains faithful…” -2 Timothy 2:13), Santa, in his myth, is very much diminished by lack of faith.  That encourages a kind of mob rule, where the “magic” depends upon everyone else getting on board.

These are not small matters.

These are fundamental concepts of grace and forgiveness.  Family.  The nature of God.  Is immersing our children in a myth that teaches falsehoods in these areas really the most God-honoring choice we can make?

Immersion vs. Exposure

Keep in mind that word “immersion” is key.  I’m not suggesting a position of panic where we fervently guard against our children ever so much as seeing a picture of Santa Claus.  Our kids even watch movies that feature Santa Claus!

But there’s a distinct difference between occasional exposure to a certain set of ideas, and active immersion in that same set of ideas — especially in the context of traditional celebrations, which are characteristically invested more deeply with meaning than passing entertainment.

Because stories matter, wise parents will focus on those stories that teach truth.