Christian parents often express concern about the Santa Claus and

Easter Bunny myths. We advocate that if the parents are believing,

teaching, and living the life of Jesus in the family, the children can

enjoy some of the fun of the myths surrounding Easter and

Christmas without losing sight of the historical facts which began the

celebrations.

We never told our children that a rabbit could lay eggs. They knew

quite early from their own observations that chickens are responsible

for those, and that bunnies can only beget bunnies. But once we had

taught our children the exciting truth of Christ’s death and

resurrection, and explained to them as clearly as possible the

abundant life made available to them by those events, we saw no

harm in celebrating with Easter eggs. Eggs are obvious symbols of

new life…

Christmas in our home has always centered about the historical birth

of the Son of God and the joy of the fact of his living in us. Our

little ones grew up in the delight of being a part of a birthday party

for Jesus, all gifts being given in his name. We knew and taught we

could love and give only because he first loved us. Christmas

morning in the Sandford household begins with a rush of excitement

to appreciate for a moment the wonder of all the array of gifts under

the tree, then settles quickly into a quiet sharing of prayers of

thanksgiving and partaking of family communion. Then the

packages are opened slowly, one at a time, each one appreciating,

thanking, loving and sharing with every other member of the

family. Sentence prayers are offered around the dinner table. This is

the substance of the celebration, the Spirit of Christ born anew in

our family in the midst of the giving and sharing. Family

participation in the music and candlelight worship services at church

bring into sharp focus the meaning and priorities of Christmas. And

around the fringes dance the myths – Santa Claus and all his

entourage introduced to our children not in the attitude of awesome

wonder the gospel stories create, but with a twinkle in the eye that in

itself invites delightful fantasies to play with and gracefully leave

behind with the passing of other childish things. To our children we

said, ‘Because of the birth of Jesus we have Christmas. Because

God gave him to us we give to each other in his honor. St. Nicholas

was a Christian saint who gave himself to honor Jesus. The St.

Nicholas, or Santa Claus, you hear about goes about giving in that

same spirit, to bless little children.’

John & Paula Sandford, Restoring The Christian

Family, South Plainfield,New Jersey:Bridge

Publishing, 1979, pp.252,253

~~~

Parents who want their children to know God must cultivate their

own relationship with God. First and foremost this means a life of

prayer. No amount of moral instruction, firm discipline, religious

instruction, or church-going can make up for the lack of a praying

parent. For it is pre-eminently in and through prayer that we pass

from the realm of theory into the realm of reality and personal

experience.

How can we convince our children that God is important, if we

never give him any of our time? How can we pretend to love him,

when we scarcely spend a minute with him alone? Our children may

dutifully learn their rituals, and chant their mealtime grace, “God is

great, God is good, and we thank him for this food.’ But, down in

the heart, where the real attitudes are formed, our prayerless lives

have taught another message: ‘God is great but he can wait; gotta

hurry or I’ll be late.’

Happy the child who happens in upon his parent from time to time

to see him on his knees, who sees mother and father rising early, or

going aside regularly, to keep times with the Lord. That child has

learned a lesson no lecture could impart. He has seen that God

matters – he’s important enough to take up our time; and he is

personal – you don’t just obey his rules, you actually communicate

with him.

Larry Christenson, The Christian Family,

Minneapolis,Minnesota:Bethany House, 1970,

p.159

~~~

Scripture and prayer should always take precedence in the family

devotional time, but extra ‘nonreligious’ activities can be included

regularly or occasionally with exciting results. These extras are

especially appealing and effective with children of elementary school

age or older…By adding extra activities we can help our children

relate their spiritual views to the world at large. We want our

children to identify their biblical training with all areas of life, since

the truths of Scripture are not to be isolated from everyday affairs.

When we begin a family activity or project… we try to help our

children understand how it relates to the truth of God’s word even

when the connection might seem to be remote. If we decide to play a

rousing game of kickball, for example, we can comment on the

healthy bodies God has given us.

If we frequently apply scriptural principles to these activities, our

children will see God’s pattern of involvement and influence in all

their daily experiences.

Mary White, ‘Something Extra for your Family

Devotions’, in Discipleship Journal,Issue 6, Nov.

1981, NavPress, pp.35,36

~~~

When our oldest daughter was not quite three, we told her about a

special Christian who lived a long time ago: ‘His name was

Nicholas, and we call him Saint Nicholas because saint means

someone who belongs to God, just like we do. In St. Nicholas’ town

there were many poor children. They didn’t have enough food

clothes, or toys. St. Nicholas used his money to buy food, clothes,

and toys for the poor children. He didn’t want them to be

embarrassed by his gifts, so he gave secretly.

‘St. Nicholas also told everyone about Jesus and how much God

loved them. Many people became Christians because of what St.

Nicholas said. Then some mean people who hated Jesus put St.

Nicholas in jail to keep him from telling people about Jesus and

from helping people. St. Nicholas kept on telling people about Jesus

until the mean people finally had him killed.

‘Because of how much St. Nicholas loved Jesus, and because of the

many gifts he gave the poor children of his town, we still remember

St. Nicholas at Christmas time. All of the gifts he gave, and all of

the Christmas presents we give, are to remind us of the very best

gift anyone ever gave: when God the Father gave his only Son,

Jesus Christ, to us for our salvation.

Today there are many people who don’t know the truth about St.

Nicholas. They call him ‘Santa Claus’ and they tell children pretend

stories about him living at the North Pole and having elves and

reindeer. But we know the truth, and when we see a department

store Santa Claus or a picture of Santa Claus in a magazine, we

remember the real Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, who loved Jesus so

much and whose life and death remind us about God’s gift of Jesus

Christ to us.’

By learning this true story, our children are able to enjoy Santa

Claus while being reminded of the gospel and the true meaning of

Christmas.

Gretchen Passantino, “Santa Claus and the Gospel’

in Discipleship Journal, Issue Thirty-Six, Nov.

1986, NavPress, p.44

~~~

The way in which we decorate our homes can either dull or intensify

our awareness of Jesus. The deep truths of God go beyond the limits

of human language. A symbol can express the truth more simply

and more profoundly than mere words. Christian symbols are

spiritual windows through which God’s truth can shine. If Jesus is

the center of our family life, then why should not the decor of our

homes reflect that – tastefully, artistically – but outspokenly? A

cross, a lamb, the Alpha and Omega, three intertwined circles, a

nativity scene – all relate an aspect of God. Through pictures, wall

hangings, plaques, tableaux, we can surround our everyday life with

a silent heavenly language – a quiet reminder of Jesus’ presence in

our midst.

The story is told of a woman whose three sons, to her great

disappointment, all took up the life of sea-faring men. She was

relating this to a visitor in the home one day, saying that she could

not understand why they had all chosen to go to sea.

‘How long have you had that picture?’ The visitor inquired, pointing

to a large painting that hung in the dining room.

‘small.’

‘There is your answer,’ the visitor said. For hanging on the dining-

room wall was the painting of a large sailing vessel cutting smartly

through the waves, its sails at full billow, the captain standing

straddle-legged on the quarter-deck, his spy-glass in hand, scanning

the horizon. Morning, noon, and night – with every meal – the boys

ha taken into their inner consciousness the sense of high adventure

portrayed in that picture. Effortlessly, with never a word being

spoken, it had planted in them a hankering for the sea.

The surroundings in the home make a tremendous impact on the

growing child. We want our children to cultivate an awareness of

spiritual realities. With little effort and expense, we can surround

them with subtle reminders of those realties, so that they will grow

up ‘looking not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are

unseen’ (2 Cor. 4:18). Silently, effortlessly, Jesus will convey

himself to the whole family, through the symbols and

representations that decorate our homes.

Larry Christenson, The Christian Family,

Minneapolis,Minnesota:Bethany House, 1970,

pp. 176,177