John Piper: compared to Jesus, Santa Claus is 'pitiful'

As the debate on whether parents should tell their children the truth about Santa Claus, evangelical pastor John Piper takes a harder stance, telling parents that they should teach their children more about Jesus Christ than Santa Claus, even calling the latter "an irrelevant and pitiful myth."

In an "Ask Pastor John" podcast on DesiringGod, Piper answered a question what he thought about Christian parents who make their children believe in modern day Santa Claus.

Piper answered with the questions: "How could we possibly even think of giving our children a bowl of bland, sugarless porridge when they are offered the greatest meal in the world? Why would we give them Santa Claus when they can have the incarnation of the Son of God?"

According to the conservative pastor, Santa Claus is not true and compared to Jesus, the bearded one is "simply pitiful" and "irrelevant," and that it's the parents' role to help their children realize that.

Instead, he advises parents to bring Jesus into the center of Christmas celebrations. "Let your decorations point to Jesus. Let your food point to Jesus. Let your games point to Jesus. Let your singing point to Jesus. Out-rejoice the world. Out-give the world. Out-decorate the world, and let it all point to Jesus." The pastor also added that people do not know Jesus very well if they think being focused on Him for Christmas is a form of "killjoy."

Evangelical pastors have differing views on Santa Claus.

In a video message, pastor Mark Driscoll of Arizona-based Trinity Church shared his thoughts on whether parents should disclose to their children the truth about Santa Claus. The pastor recommended finding a middle ground, which is to teach children about St. Nicolas, the Christian saint who is the basis of the mythical Santa Claus. Driscoll encouraged parents to form family traditions that celebrate the life of St. Nicolas, a Christian saint who spent his life serving Jesus.