Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. During this time of year certain traditions are upheld and new ones are created. Traditions give us all a sense of joy and nostalgia, along with a desire to pass them down to our children. One long standing tradition, common among all types of people, is the tradition of Santa Claus. My wife and I have decided not to carry on this tradition in our home with our three year old daughter.

To some this may seem shocking or even cruel. How could anyone deprive their child the joy and wonder that Santa Claus brings during this time of year? Please continue reading with an open mind and allow me to answer from our perspective.

Moralism is NOT the gospel of Jesus Christ. Moralism is the idea that as long as I am being good (doing good deeds, making good decisions, being nice, etc.) then I will win God’s favor. The message of moralism has permeated through the evangelical church like a terminal cancer. Churches thrive with numbers in the thousands and programs of every kind, all due to the motivating message of moralism. Just ‘’do these things” and you will live and live abundantly. Sadly, many view eternal life as a reward for a moral life well lived when in reality moralism sends you to hell with a smile on your face. Millions of people have died believing in their own self righteousness due to a seemingly moral life and have been sadly surprised when God cast them into hell.

God tells us in the Bible, His authoritative word, that we (all mankind) are morally corrupt to our core, that our hearts are deceitful above all things, that we are dead in our sins, that we are slaves to sin (Rom. 3:10-18, Jer. 17:9, Eph. 2:1, Rom. 6:17). We lack all ability to be a moral people because we are all born as sinners and, therefore, separated from God unable to work our way back to Him. We must have a redeemer that accomplishes all that we fail at doing in the eyes of God. We must have faith in a savior whose righteousness is credited to our unrighteous account.

Moralism IS the gospel of Santa Claus. The entire premise of the Santa Claus tradition is rooted in getting children to behave. Santa Claus’ “naughty or nice list” is wielded as a weapon against disobedient children worldwide. To make it onto Santa’s “nice list” and be rewarded with presents under the tree, one must simply be a good boy or girl. That doesn’t sound too hard, but if we kept an honest score no child (or adult) would ever be taken off the naughty list. From a gospel centered perspective rewarding a child on a false sense of righteousness is confusing at best and damning at worst.

One thing I have learned as the parent of a three year old is that children learn and retain important truths at very young ages. With the damning message of moralism running rampant the last thing I want to do is expose my daughter to a moralistic gospel before a true foundation can be laid. As the shepherd of her heart I must make her know that she needs a savior. When our daughter talks back to us, lies, pitches a fit, etc. we don’t tell her she needs to “be good.” We tell her that she has sinned and that her sins (yes, HER sins) helped to nail Jesus Christ on the cross. In the best way that we know how to communicate this to a three year old we tell her that her attitude and actions do not honor God and that because of her sins she must have a savior in Jesus Christ. No amount of attitude adjustment or good choices will ever make her worthy in the eyes of God. She must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ to have any hope before a holy God.

Gospel consistency is the goal. There is no more important truth that my wife and I are responsible for planting in our daughter’s mind other than the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news that Jesus came into the world to live under God’s law never sinning one time and then suffered under God’s wrath in the place of sinners like our daughter must not be mixed, or watered down, with a message of moralism.

In the same way that God does not reward His people with eternal life, we do not give gifts at Christmas as a reward for good behavior. Salvation is a gift freely given by God based solely on His grace and mercy. So too are the gifts that we give our daughter on Christmas. We affirm to her that we love her unconditionally and despite the times that she was disobedient or defiant we still want her to have the joy of receiving gifts from us. James 1:17 says that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” On Christmas morning we smile with excitement as we watch our daughter open her gifts and remind her that God is the one to thank for them. Without Him we wouldn’t have our jobs or our home. Without Him there would be no gifts, and most importantly, without Him there would be no Christmas.

Much more could be said, but the heart of the matter is the gospel. For this is the only message whereby sinners are saved from their sins by a gracious God. Our prayer for our daughter is that God would save her at a young age so that she never remembers a time when she did not love Him. My wife and I firmly believe that laying a gospel foundation in her life is more important than any tradition and this is why we tell our daughter Santa isn’t real.