Santa is a Pharisee

When your child comes up to you and asks the question that will come up, "Daddy/Mommy is there such thing as Santa Claus?" What will you answer? Shouldn't be that difficult.

You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
Leviticus 19:11

Your answer should be:

No.

There is no debate on this subject if you are Christian. Doesn't mean you don't have fun with the subject of Santa Claus, but he should be treated like a unicorn or leprechaun, not like some sort of quasi Jesus character. The reason? Because Santa's gospel is more like a Pharisee's than like Jesus'. Think of it. What do good kids get? Whatever they ask for. What do bad kids get? Coal. One's grace is dependant upon their actions, which isn't grace at all. What do parents tell their kids to hang a carrot in front of them all year? "Jimmy, if you are good, maybe Santa will bring that to you at Christmas." Brutal.

Jesus' gospel tells us we all deserve coal, but we get the best gift that was ever given, which is true grace:

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
1 Peter 3:18

The more we lean on telling our kids about Santa and his weird gospel, the more our kids will develop a thought process that Santa's gospel is the real gospel. This doesn't mean we don't have fun with Santa and get pictures with the old dude at the mall, but we have to make sure treat him as he should be treated: like a fantasy character that is only seen on TV and not actually raiding our living room of our milk and cookies. When Santa is treated like he is real, what happens when your child finds out that you are a liar and they were foolish for believing in this unicorn type creature? I would rather be truthful to my kids on Santa "unicorn" Claus than having to have an odd talk of why daddy thought God's word wasn't useful in telling my kid a lie about this fat dude in the mall.

This Christmas, be more gospel centered, and tell your kids about the greater Santa Claus, the One who brings the greatest gift and not one that will perish, but save them from perishing.