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Have you noticed that not all Christmas songs are about Jesus’ birth? In a sense, there are two holidays on December 25. One is the celebration of Jesus’ birth. The other is the snow, sleighing, Santa Claus, and family get-together holiday. These holidays are not unrelated, but one can generally tell which holiday a song is about.
This post comes courtesy of Ed’s son-in-law, Tim, who is a computer nerd by day, and a homeschool dad by afternoon.
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Songs with the Word “Christmas” in the Lyrics
Over the years, I’ve noticed that most songs that contain the word “Christmas” are about the snow-and-Santa holiday, not the birth-of-Jesus holiday. Think of classics like:
- “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
- “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”
- “Christmas is Coming”
- “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
Not one of these so much as glances at the stable.
Sometimes at Christmas parties, I challenge people to name songs that include “Christmas” and are actually about Jesus (yes, for reals). Among the classic carols that many people name are:
- “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman”
- “Sing We Now of Christmas”
- “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
- “Go, Tell It On the Mountain” (I only recently realized that this is a Christmas carol. I grew up in a church that didn’t limit this song to Advent.)
Other, more modern, songs I’ve been made aware of are:
- “Mary’s Boy Child”
- “Christmas is Jesus” – Bryan Duncan
- “It’s Christmas” – Chris Tomlin
- “Jesus Born on This Day” – Mariah Carey
Without interviewing the songwriters, I wonder if at least a couple of these are a conscious response to all the non-Jesus Christmas songs.
In Comparison to Easter Songs
On the other hand, consider Easter songs. Not many Easter songs include the word “Easter.” In fact, I can’t think of any church songs that do.
Why should this be? Easter songs aren’t about Easter-the-holiday, but are about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The word “Easter” wouldn’t add anything to them.
In this sense, the difference between Christmas and Easter songs is that there is a whole genre of secular songs about Christmas-the-holiday, but not many about Easter-the-holiday. (Though they do exist. Did you know “Peter Cottontail” is about the Easter bunny?)
The Theology of Christmas Music
While we may distinguish between secular and Christian Christmas music, it seems that for a lot of people, they all get lumped together into the “Christmas Music” genre. And so it is that during December we hear great theology sung in places that would never think of playing “Christian Music,” much less church music.
It seems every major recording artist releases at least one Christmas album during their career. Most often, several tracks are dedicated to songs about Jesus and His birth.
These songs are being recorded and performed by these artists, even if in their public life they profess otherwise. I mean, who remembers when American Idol had all the contestants sing “Shout to the Lord?” But, I digress…
So what do we do with this? As much as I can be annoyed by Christ-less Christmas songs, I can also appreciate that they are a point of contact with a culture that increasingly doesn’t have Christianity as its background. I can be grateful that this confusion about Christmas songs means that, for one month a year, people who don’t yet believe suddenly want to listen to songs about Jesus.
And, for those of us who know and love the Christmas songs about Jesus’ birth, let’s not just sing them by rote, letting the rich lyrics escape us. Let’s sing the Christmas hymn theology and let it resonate in our minds and hearts.
Build a Bridge
Recently, I watched (online – hey, 2020) a church Christmas program whose first segment had nothing to do with Jesus. It was all snow and sleighs and family, complete with a snow machine. But it moved on to classic carols and modern songs about Jesus, and a manger scene, and a clear presentation of the Gospel. The Christmas-the-holiday songs were a bridge to Christmas-the-birth-of Jesus.
Christmas Songs about Jesus’ Birth
Granted, there are lots of Christmas songs about Jesus’ birth that don’t specifically use the word “Christmas” in their lyrics. I realize that.
My point here is that many songs of Christmas are not really songs of the Christmas story. They’re not Christmas worship songs. They’re not Christmas songs about the Incarnation.
They are songs about the holiday, without the Christ.
So let us think creatively about how to change that. How can we use the bridge we have left to move from just Christmas-the-holiday to Christmas-is-Jesus?
Let us keep creating Jesus-focused songs that we can slip into the genre of “Christmas Music.”
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Well, my son-in-law raises some very thoughtful points! Thx Tim…hmmm…???