It probably wasn't snowing, right?

As I perused my facebook feed this morning, I found a discussion from Bible Gateway linked to a discussion at Christianity Today that was essentially about doctrinal purity of Christmas hymns, especially in terms of their use in corporate worship.  Is it perverse of me to be oddly pleased that there are other people who get all het up about these things?  (Yes, I said "het up" in public. I am my father's daughter. I can get more rural than that anytime you like.)

I think strict adherence to scripture is by far and away the best principle for any song, Christmas or otherwise. However, I don't think songs with "minor infractions" should necessarily be thrown out. A passing reference to winter or snow does not trouble me. While "no crying he makes" has irritated me for quite some time, I still sing the song with my children with no compunction.

However, I think "We Three Kings" belongs in a hymnal (and it was in the hymnal I grew up with!) only narrowly more than "The Little Drummer Boy."  Actually, to be fair, "We Three Kings" does make some interesting points about the gifts and really does have some good lines of worship in it. I suppose it irks me because I do think it perpetuates misconceptions.  But do I teach it to my children?  Yeah. Yeah, we sing it.

I think in terms of family worship, it all comes back to teaching. If you teach your children the truth, and then occasionally point out how elements from a song do not actually fit that scenario, my experience suggests that they will very quickly point out every single element of any song they hear that does not mesh with scripture. Every single time.  And if you do not teach your children to think about what they hear and sing, then you've got a lot more problems coming your way than can be attributed to celebrating the birth of Christ in December.

So while I do want what we sing in corporate worship to follow a high standard, I do think there is liberty to enjoy the other songs that are deeply ingrained in the culture.  In the end, be focused on Christ, the Incarnate Deity. Celebrate Emmanuel!