Christmas Should come with a Warning

Sitting in a Greek IV class in the late eighties and wading through the scary waters of translation and textual criticism, our professor, Wayne Fulton, awakened us to the oft-forgotten seriousness of the Christmas season. Now I realize that Christmas was in December and that by now the vast majority have packed away the seasonal decorations and the memories attached to them, but there is one thing associated with the season that we must never forget.

Just prior to our Christmas break, Fulton reminded us that Christmas was a unique time of year because it yielded both a blessing and a curse. What Dr. Fulton meant was that every year millions of Americans both sing and hear the carols that mark the historic birth of Jesus. Many are believers and thus find blessing in commemorating the birth of our Savior, but most, he continued, are unbelievers who “sing condemnation unto themselves.”

That brings me to Mariah Carey and the commotion we saw over her 1994 Christmas album. While many decried its yearly return from the musical archives since, others basked in its timeless seasonal relevance. Among her mixture of songs were “Oh Holy Night” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” with each racking up 114-million and over 21-million streams respectively on Spotify (raternb.com). That means that at least 135 million people heard about Christ and the unique circumstances surrounding his birth.

Now, take the number who listen to Carey’s Christ honoring songs each year and add those exposed to other artists and groups who do the same, and the number of people exposed to the light of the messages therein grows exponentially.

This reality is not confined to Christmas alone. From events like Garth Brooks’ performance of “Amazing Grace” at President Biden’s inauguration (2021) to the “golden buzzer” performance of the same song by then 11-year-old Madison Taylor on “American’s Got Talent,” exposure to the truth of Christ’s life and work in the sinners place adds weight to the guilt of those who spurn it. Hence, when you multiply that by the number of similar events and shows throughout the year in which the Gospel is broadcast to multiple millions at a time, Dr. Fulton got it right – they sing condemnation unto themselves.

In other words, those exposed to the light of the Gospel at Christmas or any other time of the year via any artist or platform without coming to Christ in faith are eternally the worse for it. As the 16th century reformer so wisely warned, so I warn my readers. “The same sun that softens wax, hardens clay” (Luther). This means that each time the Gospel is heard some hearts are softened with its reception while others are hardened by its rejection.  Perhaps all Christian songs, generally, and all Christmas songs, particularly should come with this warning because nobody walks away from the light unaffected. Nobody is the same after hearing of Christ, his coming, his death as our sin substitute, or his Lordship. Their hearts are either hardened or softened but they cannot be the same.  

Jesus spoke clearly of this responsibility. “For unto whomsoever much is given,” said Christ, “of him shall be much required…” (Luke 12:48). Contextually referring to those who know of but refuse to prepare for Jesus’s second coming, the application regarding the Gospel flows naturally from it. The more one hears the Gospel the more responsible one is. Just as Jacob Marley warned Ebenezer in “The Christmas Carol,” the chain he carried for eternity was forged in life “link by link and yard by yard” so are the links of guilt and condemnation forged with each rejection of Christ as Savior.

Be encouraged, however, because you can shed every said link of guilt and condemnation now by coming to Christ as your sin-bearer.

Tony