Is Santa Claus Christian?
By Kelcie Huffstickler, Blogger of the Month

The thing about being involved in blogging and social media is that sometimes you get overloaded with the opinions of others. Sometimes you nod your head (and click “Like”); other timesyou roll your eyes and keep scrolling. And sometimes you scrunch your eyebrows together and think about an issue in a way you haven’t before.

Sometimes though – if I’m honest – I read things and wonder if we’re all just splitting hairs and over-analyzing and wasting time writing blog posts about our perspective on the issue (whatever the issue may be) when we should just be enjoying life. In fact, sometimes I don’t even realize an issue is controversial until social media explodes. And then I must decide which side I’m on.

Case in point: Santa Claus.

Now if you don’t run in very particular social media circles, you may not even realize this is up for debate. You think, “Everyone loves Santa Claus, right?” Wrong.

This Christmas season I have read post after post about why Christians should (or should not) “do Santa Claus” with their children. And it seems like more Christians than ever are running in the opposite direction from the jolly man with the white beard. Or maybe social media has just made them more vocal. Either way, it made me ponder where I stood on this issue, and here’s what I concluded.

• Christmas is not about Santa. It’s about Jesus. He is truly the “reason for the season.” God Almighty came to Earth as an infant, in a dirty stable, to a teenage girl. He became poor so that we could become rich through a relationship with Him. That is worth celebrating!
• Not everyone is Jesus followers. Santa Claus is a huge part of our largely secular culture, and he is everywhere. Not only is he at the mall, on TV, and in catalogs, but he’s in conversation at the super-market and at family get-togethers. “Have you been good little girl? What’s Santa Claus going to bring you?” Personally, I would not feel right about cutting off well-meaning family members and other adults with a “We don’t believe in Santa Claus.” And I certainly wouldn’t want my kids to be the ones who burst the bubbles of their friends and classmates. My fear would be that our family might appear “holier than thou,” and as Jesus-followers, that is not the image I want to present.
• Childhood is magical. I see the magic every day through the eyes of my four and two-year-olds, who light up at the smallest inkling of snow or fairies or sea monsters orprincesses. And the story of Santa Claus is just anotherway we fan the flames of their imaginations. I don’t want to put out the light before it’s hardly had a chance to glow.
• We’ll keep the emphasis where it should be. We’ll let them believe, at least while they’re very young, but we won’t make Christmas “all about Santa.” I make sure to remind my girls very often that Christmas is about Jesus. We regularly read the nativity story. And we do service projects together, trying our best to teach them that giving is better than receiving. I recently read this post on Kelly’sKorner and felt like she spoke straight from my heart: “Balance is the key. With a heavy emphasis on faith for us.”

 

So that’s where we stand for now. Of course, things are subject to change from year to year. And don’t think for a second I’m judging you if your view is different from mine. I’m thankful God looks at the heart, and He knows, as Christians, we’re all just trying to do what’s right for our families.