Christmas Music and the Whole Church Music Controversy

I enjoy Christmas music. It seems that every year, the average radio station will play a variety of Christmas Songs:

• They’ll play Christmas carols and traditional Christmas songs performed by their original artists.
• They’ll play Christmas carols and traditional Christmas songs performed by newer artists.
• They’ll play Christmas carols and traditional Christmas songs redone with a new tune by newer artists.
• They’ll play new Christmas songs performed by newer artists.

 

Usually, most people are accepting of each of these. There are pros and cons to each of these as well.

• Some Christmas carols and traditional Christmas songs are performed better by the original artists, some are actually performed better by the newer artists.
• Some artists have done phenomenal remakes of Christmas carols and traditional Christmas songs, while others have not.
• Some new Christmas songs are so-so and others are really good.

 

Now let’s think about Christian music. It seems you have 2 major camps. There are some who want almost nothing except Traditional Hymns and others who want almost nothing but Contemporary Songs. It is rare to find a Church that has an equal mix of both types.

 

Could I suggest we consider Church Christian Songs and Hymns as we do Christmas Songs?

• Why not have some Traditional Hymns played in their traditional format?
• Why not have some Traditional Hymns played with newer / contemporary instruments?
• Why not have some Traditional Hymns redone with newer / contemporary tunes?
• Why not have some Contemporary songs?

 

I see that there is truly a need for this type of balance. If Christmas music is acceptable by most as we described it above, why wouldn’t this approach to Christian Hymns and Contemporary songs also be acceptable?

 

Oh, and what constitutes the right music? Colossians 3:16 tells us, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

 

Let me repeat that verse with some commentary:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another …”

     Traditional Hymns do a great job with this.

“…in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…”

     Psalms and Hymns are like Traditional Hymns; Spiritual Songs are like Contemporary Songs.

“singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

     Contemporary Songs do a great job with this.

 

So, as I see it, we need a good mix of both.

Day 8 - The Need to Celebrate Christmas

A cousin of mine has gotten some heat recently for stating that, although he’s a Christian, he doesn’t celebrate Christmas. To some, this is blasphemous. But as we already pointed out, Christmas (Dec. 25) is not really the date of Christ’s birth.

Here are some of the things he has pointed out about Christmas:

“Nowhere in scripture are Christians commanded to celebrate the birth of Christ. I challenge anyone to find a scriptural reference to the First Century Church celebrating Christmas. In fact, two of the four canonized gospels don't even mention the birth of Jesus.

“By contrast, the followers of Christ are admonished to observe two things: Communion and Baptism. All other feasts, festivals, and observances are entirely optional (see Colossians 2:16).”

So, if they didn’t celebrate Christmas, did they celebrate anything?
Well, we know that Jesus was at the Temple at Hanukkah at least once (John 10:22-23). So I would imagine that the Jewish Christians would have still celebrated Hanukkah.

(For more of my cousin Ken’s thoughts on Christmas, please see his blog http://random-ken.blogspot.com/2007/11/i-really-dont-like-christmas.html)

Day 7 - December 25 is Christ’s Birth?

Like many, every year my family celebrates the Birth of Christ on December 25. This is when most traditionally celebrate it. But is this when Jesus was actually born?

According to Luke chapter 2, the shepherds were abiding in their fields. This was most likely in the spring time.

So, how did we get the date of December 25? Well, when the Church wanted to set a day, they saw that many in the world were celebrating a pagan holiday on December 25 and decided to give the Christians an alternate celebration for that day – the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

You can find more info from the snopes.com article: http://snopes.com/holidays/christmas/jesus.asp

Yet, despite this, we still can (and my family will) celebrate Christ’s birth on Christmas (Dec. 25).

Day 4 - The “3” Wise Men

Now I’ve grown up watching plays and manger scenes which all have 3 Magi or Wise men. I’ve sung the song “We Three Kings.” Yet, the Bible does not tell us how many Wise Men came to see Jesus.

We know, from Matthew 2:11 that they came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Common sense, and tradition, would then suggest that there were 3, each bearing a gift. However, there could have been 2 (with one bearing 2 gifts) or more than 3 (with a couple bearing the same gift, or a couple bearing no gift).

Though tradition says there were 3, let’s not be too insistent on this point.

Day 3 - Magi in a Manger Scene

We usually don’t put the Magi in our manger scene at home when we put it out. One year, I actually set the Magi in the kitchen with the rest of the manger scene in the Living Room. Why? Because the Magi actually were not at the manger at Christ’s birth.

I know, I know, we always picture the manger scene with Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Shepherds, Cattle, etc., and the Magi. Yet, what does the Scripture say?

Luke chapter 2 tells about Christ’s birth and the visit of the shepherds. It continues with His circumcision (on the 8th day), Mary’s purification (40 days), and their sacrifice at the Temple.

Matthew chapter 2 tells us that after Jesus was born, the Magi went to Herod to find out where Jesus was. Herod refers to Jesus as the young child (not baby). The Bible records that the Magi entered a house not a manger, stable, or Inn. Later, the Bible says that after the Magi departed, Joseph was told to go to Egypt and so he went.

Since Joseph was told to go to Egypt right after the Magi left, and so he did, that most likely took place after Mary’s 40 days of purification. By this point, too, they would have been in a house. Also, since Herod wanted all children under 2 killed, Jesus could have been up to 2 years old by the time the Magi visited Him, and would not have been at the manger at that time.

Day 1 - The Twelve Days of Christmas

The first thing that we sometimes get wrong at Christmas is the concept of the 12 Days of Christmas.

When I was younger, I seem to recall people using the concept of the 12 days of Christmas as a countdown to Christmas. This seemed to progress to the 25 days of Christmas, as a countdown to Christmas day.

The 12 days of Christmas actually refer to Christmas Day and the 11 days after Christmas, leading up to the Epiphany (January 6). Here’s part of the Wikipedia article about it:

“The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas Day (25 December). This period is also known as Christmastide and Twelvetide. The Twelfth Night of Christmas is always on the evening of 5 January, but the Twelfth Day can either precede or follow the Twelfth Night according to which Christian tradition is followed. Twelfth Night is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. In some traditions, the first day of Epiphany (6 January) and the twelfth day of Christmas overlap.”