People have been singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” since 1934. The song enshrines the idea that Santa has a “naughty list” that he uses to determine which children don’t get presents. And it turns the image of a generous and benevolent giver of gifts into a Yuletide judge and jury who eerily studies children’s behaviour day and night, determined to “find out who’s naughty and nice.”

The idea of the naughty list may trace back to a Dutch tradition from the 16th century where children were promised candy and cookies in their clogs on Christmas morning while bad children were threatened with lumps of coal. And that tradition may have in turn been rooted in earlier pagan beliefs.

Rightly or wrongly, celebrations of Christmas in our culture today often get associated with the biblical story of Christ’s birth, so it’s worth examining the ways that Santa’s naughty list confuses the true message of Christmas.

1. Your presents don’t show how nice you are

No matter what your religious background is, you should be at least a little outraged at the message that a child’s presents somehow correlate with their moral behaviour. As others have pointed out, the presents that children receive mostly reflect the relative wealth of their parents, not whether they’re on some list of morally superior children.

Whether it’s a misguided belief in the naughty list or not, many people today see good circumstances in their lives as proof that they’re in God’s good books. A big house or good health is evidence, to some, that God must be smiling on them. Perhaps for that very reason, Jesus warned that wealth was often an obstacle to seeking God, with His famous line about it being “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24).

If you’ve got nice stuff, it doesn’t mean you’re on a “nice list.”

2. People on the naughty list don’t get a lump of coal

Although “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” warns children to watch their behaviour and make sure they don’t so much as “pout” because Santa is coming, I’ve never actually heard of a parent withholding presents for bad behaviour. Even in 16th-century Holland, I wonder how many children actually got coal in their clogs. It feels more like a hollow threat used to control children. Not only is that unchristian, it’s also ineffective parenting.

According to the Bible, there isn’t a list of particularly terrible people. It teaches, instead, that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). A “lake of fire” not a lump of coal awaits those who continue in their sin (Revelation 21:8). And the threat is real, so God is doing everything He can to persuade people to turn to Him for the salvation that He offers – He doesn’t pass His days handing out lumps of coal.

3. We miss the incredible message of God’s grace

The fact that a song with such an unbiblical message has become so entrenched in a culture that has in many other ways been so influenced by Christianity shows how easy it is to confuse the message of God’s grace. The Bible’s message is not one of a God scoring our behaviour and urging us to shape up so that we can earn His acceptance. It is rather one of a God who provides salvation as a free gift to all who trust in His Son. As it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Too many people spend their lives trying to earn their way off the naughty list. They carry shame and live with guilt that they try to erase by their performance, but the burden remains. Jesus came at that first Christmas to take that burden and bear our sins. He’s the Saviour that erases our name from the naughty list and credits to our account all of His own love and goodness.

As it says in Colossians 2:14, Jesus provided for our forgiveness, “canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

This Christmas, help your kids see how different the message of Christmas is from the stories about Santa’s naughty list. Tell them what Jesus did and help them to see a Saviour who offers salvation as a free gift to all who would come.

In awe of Him,

Paul

P.S. If this is new to you and you think it’s something you’d like to explore, I’ve written a free, 12-week course called The Unstuck Life that walks you through the essentials of Jesus’ teachings in daily, bite-sized messages that you can read or watch by video. To learn more, click on the image below.