I've had a thought brewing off and on since around Thanksgiving: Why is there so much Christmas music? Think about it. There is no other holiday that has anywhere near that much music devoted to it - combining both religious and secular - yet year after year artists come out with new Christmas albums.
Why? Why do we sing about chestnuts roasting on an open fire, having ourselves a merry little Christmas, and grandma getting run over by a reindeer? And we love it! (By we, I am including myself.) Nearly everyone goes to some sort of Christmas concert whether they are celebrating the birth of Jesus or not because music just goes with the season.
The first question I feel must be answered is why music in itself so important. Music is truly universal. Technically we don't need it, but we all crave and desire it. Here is an excellent article by pianist Dr. Karl Paulnack which explains beautifully the need for music from a purely human standpoint. Even those who do not recognize God as our Creator understand that music is a intricate part of who we are. Scientists realizing it's importance even came up with a title for the science of human music in the mid 1990's: Biomusicology.
So, we see that music is not just recognized as uniquely human by religious groups but by humanity as a whole: But how does God view it? Singing has been around since the dawn of creation. God is speaking to, or rather fussing at, Job in Job 38:4-7 and mentions the morning stars sang while He laid the cornerstone of the earth! We are also told over and over throughout the Bible to sing praises to God and are given examples of those who do. Psalm 47:6, Colossians 3:16, 1 Chronicles 15:27, 29. And there is even a whole book of the Bible - Psalms - dedicated to praises sung to the Lord. The book of Revelation tells us of songs yet to be sung in Revelation 5:9, 14:3, and (this is my personal opinion) will be sung by Jesus, the Bright Morning Star! (Revelation 22:16 in reference back to Job 38:7)
It is just the way God wired our souls to speak. Emotions run so strong in song that a single measure can conjure images and emotions long forgotten. Music can bring us to the heights and depths of the indescribable longings of our spirit. Often when words fail us, music will not.
What does this have to do with Christmas music? Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Salvation. The Creator of this world. The Word. I believe it is wired into our DNA to sing about it, or like Jesus said in Luke 19:40, "He answered, 'I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!'"
Now Satan can't have that can he? So what does he do? He encourages humans to write as many X-mas songs as possible. Please understand that these songs aren't a sin. I love singing the 12 Days of Christmas and Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. It's just that they allow us to sing the praises of the season instead of the Savior. When the God shaped hole in all of us is longing to find Him during the celebration of Jesus birth, we are now given much silly putty to choose from instead. In fact, I think the fact that there is so much secular Christmas music attests to the reality of God.
How would its popularly stand the test of time otherwise?
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