Every year we discover afresh that Christmas is an interesting stew of nostalgia mixed with commercialism, cliche mixed with deep spiritual truths. Add to that a healthy dose of weirdly strong opinions and it can be a hazardous emotional and spiritual maze to navigate, maybe especially so within the church.
My main contention here is that familiarity may occasionally breed contempt, but it more often breeds ambivalence and irrelevance. That is to say, in memorizing, we forget. As December ramps up, we will begin to hear Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby, and Andy Williams drone their familiar versions of the various Christmas tunes through every speaker within earshot while we shop or dine. Hymns can soon become elevator music. Inherently, it’s not necessarily bad; no one is doing anything wrong. But cliche can be the devil’s handiwork, my friends.
Let me explain. We can’t expect the same repeated words to thrill us endlessly. It’s human nature that constant exposure numbs a person to that stimulus — call it musical and linguistic immersion therapy. This is why we have a large and rotating list of songs we sing in church — it doesn’t take long for songs to become stale. The reality is that after a certain number of exposures to a piece of art or an idea, a wall goes up within us and the deepest meaning can no longer penetrate. So, we often need new angles, fresh perspectives that faithfully communicate the same truths, but can sneak past the wall.
Every once in a while, though, we find a lyric or a tune that cares little for our walls and has the heft to smash through them; a piece of art that is so objectively good that it can communicate to us and thrill us far longer than most. Think of The Hallelujah Chorus, Amazing Grace, Dickens’ Christmas Carol. I’d include in this category the great Christmas hymns. But even these, if we aren’t careful, can fade into rote and heartless recitation. This is made more challenging by the fact that the great pieces of art also tend to permeate culture and get slurped into the recesses of cultural consciousness, which eventually dilutes them. When every song I hear at Christmas is the same five hymns (and, for some inexplicable reason, Santa Baby), they begin to wear out or, even, feel a tad trite.
Christmas hymns in America are in less danger of persecution than they are in danger of cliche. When something is cliche, we are numb to it. Cliche keeps us from really understanding or recalling something because we think we know it already, so we see no reason to really think about it. Really, though, all we’re recalling is a vague silhouette of the thing. Drinking in the content of these hymns takes intentional effort.
Church, with all the songs we will sing this Christmas season, I contend with you that we will not grow in Christ by mindless repetition of words we memorized as kids. We will also be hindered in our growth in Christ if we allow corollary things, such as musical style, to distract us (we all grew up with these hymns sounding a certain way, but that does not mean that’s the only way they can, or should, be done). One of the actions we take to “put on” our new life can be mindfully singing profound Gospel truths with, and to, each other (Colossians 3:16,17)
As this long year comes to a close, don’t miss that. Don’t let the all-encompassing beauty of the Gospel pass you by because you already know the song or you don’t really like hymns. This month we’re going to be singing lyrics penned by some of the greatest writers in church history set to melodies written by some of the finest composers in human history. These hymns have hung around for centuries for a reason — few times has the Gospel been explained and encapsulated so brilliantly, beautifully, or clearly. Don’t miss it.
As God’s people, when we gather for church services in December, let’s sing with all our might of the “yonder glorious morn” that saw the “King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger.” Let’s “join the triumph of the skies” and “hail the heav’n born Prince of Peace,” because two millennia ago God was “born that man no more may die.” Let’s “come and behold Him,” our Sovereign King, as He “makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love.” May “the weary world rejoice” as the Church faithfully sings the Gospel, declaring the glorious message of salvation.
Written by Danny Nathan. Danny serves as the worship director at Grace Polaris Church in Columbus, Ohio. Over the next few weeks, we’ll feature responses from various worship leaders in the Charis Fellowship on specific hymns, traditions, and services that make Christmastime so special. Subscribe to our newsletter to follow along with the series here.