On Christmas Music
The Free Will Baptist Leadership Conference will be meeting today and tomorrow in Nashville, Tennessee. Coinciding with this event is the release of an important new book, Arminian Baptists: A Biographical History of Free Will Baptists, which I’m honored to be a contributor to.
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The Reason for the Reason
I’ve recently become much more aware of the fact that an important and meaningful part of my Christmas experiences have been church Christmas programs. No one is more surprised about this than I am.
I have a clear mental picture of the rather large productions my home church did when I was a kid. Though sometimes there were kids’ programs—in which my involvement was compulsory—I’m mainly recalling adult cantatas. The scale of decoration, stage design, and lighting was impressive. As to the music itself, it was a hearty mix of adult voices, both male and female. And as always, Jan McElveen narrated. God rest her soul.
Cantatas were practically mandatory. Any church worth its salt in my little community would have one. In turn, most churchgoing folk would attend everyone else’s program. Typically, the various churches scheduled theirs in such a way that over a two- or three-week period you could almost assuredly attend most, if not all of them.
Now as I write this, I must acknowledge at least two objections from readers. First, sentimentality can easily obscure memory. Whether I draw on the memories of myself as a nine-year old, 12-year-old, or 15-year-old, I recognize their limits. Second, I realize that “cultural Christianity” is an actual thing, and it can sully Christmas also.
Nevertheless, I increasingly realize how meaningful it was for churches to at least venture to put their money where their mouth was. Everyone is so full of cliches about Christmas, like “Remember the reason for the season,” “Christmas has become too commercialized,” or the ever-present, “Our culture is bent on trying to take Christ out of Christmas.” But the natural question then becomes, “What’s the alternative?” Seriously, what do we intend to do about these problems? In some strange way, Christians collectively committing together to learn Christmas songs for months, then sharing them with their church and community guests, isn’t a half-bad start.
The Church Has the Goods
Consider who has the best songs: the church or the world? I don’t mean to turn this into a debate about the excellence of “Frosty the Snowman” as compared to say “O Holy Night.” We know who’ll win that contest. But it does point to a larger dynamic. Christmas carols and traditional hymnody more generally have had a profound impact on the musical culture of the West, even a very secular, biblically literature, spiritually hostile West. If you’re anyone in the music industry, it’s downright fashionable for you to record a Christmas album. It’s at least expected that mainstream artists will have a Christmas special at some point. And no album or special would be complete without “Silent Night,” “O Holy Night,” or perhaps another song or two about the God-man, the Righteous Judge, the Prince of Peace. Isn’t that remarkable?
Of course, this is also sad. It’s sad that the world can sing the church’s songs about the Savior of the world while remaining unsaved.
Experiencing the Season Differently
Recently I met with our church’s Music Minister as we reflected on 2022 and looked ahead to the new year. I commended him for the creativity and vision he has provided over his tenure. Whether it be an Easter or Christmas program, he always finds a way to take whatever group of participants he has and lead them to bring the message home through song in a new way.
Maybe I enjoy these programs so much as a Pastor because I have so little responsibility associated with these events. I’m able to sit back and let them minister to me. But another obvious element is the quality of songs available. Forget the traditional carol/hymns—there’s more, too! They speak to the depth and impact of the Nativity, but also the aesthetic marvel it is. How else can we explain the thousands of lines that it has inspired?
Compare this to, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and “All I Want for Christmas is You,” and you start to see why Christmas music—and the musical traditions we so often take for granted—may be a much more useful tool in our sanctification than we’d ever imagined.
Follow-Up:
In a recent newsletter, I provided an excerpt from my ETS paper on cultural transformation. In this recent event sponsored by the Trinity Forum, Andy Crouch, David Bailey, and Anne Snyder discuss the question, “Can Our Culture Be Remade?” It’s a very interesting discussion and pertains directly to the nature of and possibilities for cultural renewal. The best part is around the 33-minute mark.
Currently Reading:
Paul David Tripp, Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church
Quote of the Week:
I’m sure that most people have always known that, in an explicit sense, buying a particular brand or product can’t be the stuff of the self. Such things are too ephemeral, accessed by too many people, and too bound up in the mercenary work of capitalism to satisfy our internal desire to have selves that are comprehensible and admirable to other people. But in a consumerist culture, the temptation will always be there to pawn off the work of being a self to the things we buy. Capitalism can’t sell you a soul, but it will certainly sell you stuff to try and fill the hole.