Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum

Once again, Christmas time is upon us. As per usual, millions of people will be celebrating this day with numerous theological errors. Let us face it, most Christmas carols are rooted in tradition rather than theological accuracy. While there is nothing wrong with listening to and enjoying these songs, we need to remember that we do not receive our theological beliefs from Christmas carols, Christmas pageants, or any other such things. Our theological beliefs must come from Scripture alone. Traditions and inaccuracies do not take away from our enjoyment of these songs, but we do need to be aware of them and make sure they do not creep into our theology and the practical application thereof. Let us face it, we can say we believe one thing, but our actions demonstrate what it is that we truly believe.

The ironic thing here is that while the world hates Christ Jesus and wants nothing to do with Him or His children, they sing along with these songs on the radio without paying a single piece of mind to what the lyrics are saying and what they mean. They have never given it any thought. Probably because they are incapable of such thought, but I digress. So, let us observe a few of the inaccuracies that exist in our Christmas carols.

1. Scripture says absolutely nothing about there being only three wise men; it merely mentions three gifts, all of which had to do with burial rites (Matt. 2:1-12). Not to mention that the wise men were not at the nativity scene; they showed up when the child was around two years of age (Matt. 2:11, 16).
2. The herald angels did not sing anything; one angel made a proclamation and then a host of angels spoke, "Glory to God in the highest" (Luke 2:8-14).
3. It is extremely doubtful that the nativity scene was silent; "No crying He makes?" Really?!? One wonders if the author had ever been around a newborn baby before. Maybe the author presumed that because He was God, He would not cry. Whatever the reason, Scripture tells us that He was like us (Heb. 2:17; 4:15) and that He cried (John 11:35).
4. There was no little boy with a drum—anywhere in the narrative.
5. "Joy To the World" is actually about the return of Christ at the end of the age to usher in eternity—not about His birth.

Christmas time is celebrated incorrectly every year by millions of Christians. While we have the freedom in Christ to celebrate or not celebrate Christmas however we choose, there is consistently one prevailing thing missing from both sides of this pendulum: the true meaning of Christmas, and Who and what it is we ought to be celebrating. God Almighty sent His only begotten Son in the form of human flesh to dwell among us in order that He might save His people from their sins. That is the true meaning of Christmas. The Gospel of Christ Jesus. If we are not celebrating this fact, we might as well not be celebrating anything at all because we have become like the heathen.

The true meaning of Christmas: God Almighty sent His only begotten Son in the form of human flesh to dwell among us in order that He might save His people from their sins.

While Jesus was not born on December 25, and while we should be celebrating this every day of the year, when we celebrate it on December 25 it should be that much more special to us and hold that much more of a place in our hearts and minds than it currently does. In light of the true meaning of Christmas, perhaps many of us would like to re-think how we celebrate it each year and make sure we are actually doing so in remembrance of His birth, life, death, and resurrection. Let us remove the idolatry and adultery from our celebration and center our celebration around the true meaning of Christmas—the Gospel. Whether or not you have a tree, hang decorations, or exchange gifts is secondary to what you need to be doing. Let us celebrate Christmas right!