Don’t be a Grinch. Why denying Santa is a bad evangelism strategy

A man dressed as The Grinch has caused controversy for standing outside a school in America with a placard proclaiming: “Santa is fake. Jesus is real”. It might be the truth, says Emma Fowle, but it’s not a great way to share your faith this Christmas

When our eldest daughter was small, my husband and I began discussing our Christmas Christian parenting strategy. Not raised in a Christian home myself, I had no obvious point of reference from which to learn, but I was keen to ensure that our children fully understood that Jesus was the reason for the season, not Father Christmas.

With the best of intentions, I was, perhaps, a little over-zealous in the early days. I wanted nothing to do with Santa, I informed my husband, and we would on no account be endorsing the lie that he was real. After all, if we’re not truthful about this, what chance do we have of our children believing what we tell them about Jesus?