Driscoll on Talking to his Children about Santa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A few years ago, I wrote a misguided and somewhat scathing post on my personal blog about why I would probably not celebrate the mythical version of Santa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Driscoll on Talking to his Children about Santa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A few years ago, I wrote a misguided and somewhat scathing post on my personal blog about why I would probably not celebrate the mythical version of Santa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christ and Pop Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-12-09T17:22:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Drew Dixon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Drew Dixon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/\",\"name\":\"Driscoll on Talking to his Children about Santa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-12-09T17:22:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-09T17:22:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/5f415ebdfad415698ef4cc30c8a4003a\"},\"description\":\"A few years ago, I wrote a misguided and somewhat scathing post on my personal blog about why I would probably not celebrate the mythical version of Santa\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Driscoll on Talking to his Children about Santa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/\",\"name\":\"Christ and Pop Culture\",\"description\":\"Where the Christian faith meets the common knowledge of our age\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/5f415ebdfad415698ef4cc30c8a4003a\",\"name\":\"Drew Dixon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fecdae71c22c54efe622a1b87c056c0f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fecdae71c22c54efe622a1b87c056c0f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Drew Dixon\"},\"description\":\"Drew is an editor at Christ and Pop Culture and editor-in-chief of Gamechurch.com. He is also a pastor, soccer coach, and writer. Drew also regularly writes for Think Christian, Bit Creature, and Paste Magazine. He has also written for Relevant Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @drewdixon82\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/author\/ddixon\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Driscoll on Talking to his Children about Santa","description":"A few years ago, I wrote a misguided and somewhat scathing post on my personal blog about why I would probably not celebrate the mythical version of Santa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Driscoll on Talking to his Children about Santa","og_description":"A few years ago, I wrote a misguided and somewhat scathing post on my personal blog about why I would probably not celebrate the mythical version of Santa","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/","og_site_name":"Christ and Pop Culture","article_published_time":"2010-12-09T17:22:56+00:00","author":"Drew Dixon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Drew Dixon","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/","name":"Driscoll on Talking to his Children about Santa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-12-09T17:22:56+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-09T17:22:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/5f415ebdfad415698ef4cc30c8a4003a"},"description":"A few years ago, I wrote a misguided and somewhat scathing post on my personal blog about why I would probably not celebrate the mythical version of Santa","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Driscoll on Talking to his Children about Santa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/","name":"Christ and Pop Culture","description":"Where the Christian faith meets the common knowledge of our age","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/5f415ebdfad415698ef4cc30c8a4003a","name":"Drew Dixon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fecdae71c22c54efe622a1b87c056c0f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fecdae71c22c54efe622a1b87c056c0f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Drew Dixon"},"description":"Drew is an editor at Christ and Pop Culture and editor-in-chief of Gamechurch.com. He is also a pastor, soccer coach, and writer. Drew also regularly writes for Think Christian, Bit Creature, and Paste Magazine. He has also written for Relevant Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @drewdixon82","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/author\/ddixon\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1220"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":8510,"date":"2010-12-09T13:22:56","date_gmt":"2010-12-09T17:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christandpopculture.com\/?p=8510"},"modified":"2010-12-09T13:22:56","modified_gmt":"2010-12-09T17:22:56","slug":"driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/christandpopculture\/2010\/12\/driscoll-on-talking-to-his-children-about-santa\/","title":{"rendered":"Driscoll on Talking to his Children about Santa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sure Mark Driscoll says some silly things sometimes<\/a>, but what about his thoughts on Santa<\/a>? \u00a0He says we have three options with the Santa story, \u201c(1) we can reject it, (2) we can receive it, or (3) we can redeem it.\u201d \u00a0I think what he calls \u201credeeming\u201d the Santa Story is actually simply telling the truth and attempting, as best we can, to recover and celebrate the true story of St. Nicholas. <\/span><\/p>\n

Say what you will about Driscoll, but generally I think this is good advice and I appreciate that he does not cloud his argument by appealing to Christians not to miss the true meaning of Christmas. \u00a0Don\u2019t miss hear me, I am all for celebrating Christ\u2019s birth (more importantly the incarnation), but the time in which we do that is rather arbitrary and not a Biblical issue (we should always be celebrating the incarnation). \u00a0For Driscoll the issue boils down to telling the truth to their children. \u00a0They teach their children not to lie and to always tell the truth. \u00a0Driscoll sums their position up, \u201csince we also teach our children that Jesus is a real person who did perform real miracles, our fear is that if we teach them fanciful, make-believe stories as truth, it could erode confidence in our truthfulness where it really matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am not going to tell anyone how to celebrate Christmas, but I will say that Driscoll\u2019s simple explanation here makes sense to me and I appreciate that he makes his argument without starting some weird, unbiblical crusade against the secularization of Christmas.<\/p>\n

What do you think? \u00a0I know people have strong opinions about this, but is it justifiable to trick your children about things like Santa? \u00a0Driscoll seems to be trying to help encourage his children\u2019s imagination without lying to them\u2013if anything I appreciate the struggle and the questions he is asking? \u00a0Is he over-thinking this? \u00a0I would love to hear your thoughts. \u00a0I know people have strong opinions about this because after all we are talking about family traditions that go back a long time, but generally CAPC is a safe place to state your opinion, so let me know what you think.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"