While Santa Claus, his reindeer, and the various stories that add to the magic of the holidays easily capture children’s imaginations, we may find that introducing them to the true story of the birth of Jesus is more difficult—or at least that it’s not as easy to present a true story in as attractive a package as the fiction has been wrapped in.
Some parents struggle with the dilemma of protecting their children from the myths that have become part of the fabric of childhood, but the truth is that they spread at the speed of light, through peers, friends, cartoons, shows, films and children’s books, or through the barrage of advertisements tailored to the Christmas season.
I couldn’t say what effect a film like The Polar Express has on the mind of a curious child, but I could guess by judging the impression it makes on the adult who still knows where to draw the line between fact and fiction. It is easy to be enchanted by the adventure of the hero, a little boy who is sceptical about Santa Claus, but at whose doorstep, at midnight, a train stops to take him to the North Pole, to the enchanted land of elves and the jolly man with a sack full of presents. The visual effects, the soundtrack, the breathtaking route, the breathtaking story, the characters you can’t get enough of (including a ghost), the destination that confirms the truth of the embroidered fantasies about where Santa Claus rests when he’s not delivering presents to the other side of the world—how can a biblical story compete with the surreal tale woven by some of the most talented writers, directors, and actors?
Vacillating between myth and reality
A mother who grew up believing that Santa Claus was a real person wrote to Pastor John Piper about how much she enjoyed the story as a child, but also how disappointing it was to discover that she had been living a beautiful lie. Her husband wants to keep the Santa myth alive for their three children, aged 2 to 5, while she struggles to make the right decision. But she feels caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand is the Bible’s command not to lie and her fear that Santa has hijacked a holiday that should be about Jesus; on the other is her desire to create a magical atmosphere for her children.
Having made it clear that you shouldn’t convince your children that a fictional character is real if your intention is to teach them the truth, Piper moves on to what she sees as the real heart of the matter—the temptation to maintain a thrilling story because we believe that the truth can’t compete with it in a child’s heart.
Parents who are convinced that nothing can replace, obscure or supplement the truth that Jesus intervened in our history will be eager to tell their children about this amazing story.
But the real question is whether parents believe that the birth of Jesus is really “the most beautiful story in the world.” After all, as long as they are convinced that nothing can replace, obscure or supplement the truth that Jesus intervened in our history—becoming incarnate, living among us, dying, rising, and preparing His return to put an end to sin and pain—parents will be eager to tell their children about this amazing story.
Of course, to be able to talk about Jesus, parents would first have to be used to opening the Word of God, at a time when Bible study is no longer a priority for many. A survey by Lifeway Research in 2021 found that 22% of Americans could tell the story of the Lord’s birth accurately, 31% could tell the story but omit some details, 25% could tell the story very briefly, and 17% knew nothing about it.
“While fictional Christmas stories seem to multiply each year, the biblical account of Jesus Christ’s birth is unchanged since it was recorded in the Bible. Yet almost half of Americans do not think they could share the Christmas story somewhat accurately from memory,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. The takeaway from this data, McConnell says, is that while we support many programs in churches around Christmas, what we really need to do is simply read passages about the birth of Jesus.
How to talk to children about the birth of Jesus
Parents are the most important people who can introduce children to the teachings of the Bible in age-appropriate language.
For young children, a children’s Bible can help them take their first steps in reading the Bible. There is a wide range of children’s Bibles that introduce young children to the Bible stories by presenting them in a simplified, accessible form. When children are a little older, parents should open the Bible to show them that it is a unique book, unlike any other—God’s message to us. The idea that Scripture has an impact on life will become clearer as they see how the Bible guides the parents’ lives, from the things they pray for and the words they speak to the way they use money and relate to others.
The story of the birth of Jesus, like the other Bible stories, is presented according to the children’s ability to understand. For younger children, the details of His birth as presented in Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 2:1-21 may be sufficient, while older children may be able to understand the wider framework of the story as presented in Luke 1:26-45.
Reading the Bible texts through role-play or improvised skits can help to memorise and clarify the details of the story, as some parents have found. James, a father who wanted to explain the meaning of Bethlehem to his children, needed a simple prop (a sheet, a towel to wrap his head in, a stick and a lamb from the nativity decoration) to tell the story from the perspective of one of the shepherds. An evening spent outdoors under the stars, the opportunity to tell the story of the star that led the Magi, a printed map left for the children to help them understand how long and difficult the journey was for Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the encouragement to recreate the scene of the birth of Jesus using simple materials, household objects or toys, are all practical ways of introducing them to the atmosphere of an event that we all need to understand better.
The author of an article on this subject recommends that children between the ages of one and two should be introduced to the name of Jesus through simple statements about His birth (“Jesus was born”; “Mary took care of the baby Jesus”, etc.). The details and meaning of the story will be better understood as the child grows older (for example, at 3-4 years of age he or she can understand that an angel came to Mary with the news that she was going to give birth to Jesus, at five years of age it is easier to understand that Jesus was sent by God or that the prophets had foretold His coming long before, and in pre-teens he or she can understand complex ideas— that Jesus is God in human form or that His birth was the fulfilment of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind).
Other Christian writers advise parents to tell their children the whole story, from the manger to the empty tomb.
For older children, the discussion could include Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. Even an adult might be fascinated to learn that there are some 300 direct and indirect prophecies about Jesus and that, according to the calculations of mathematician Peter Stoner, the probability of only eight of these prophecies coming true in a human lifetime is 1 in 10 to the power of 14 (one in a hundred trillion).
As John Piper points out, the truth is more amazing and exciting than fiction. You just have to find a way to communicate this reality to your child. And the good news is that their hearts, like ours, have an emptiness that none of the outward glitter of the holidays or the charming stories around them can fill, because that emptiness takes the form of the baby in the manger.
Carmen Lăiu is an editor at the Signs of the Times Romania and ST Network.
