Music is a powerful force of love and logic that can make a direct hit upon one’s emotions, bypassing barriers to truth that so often keep people from believing. Christmas music especially has appealed to both Christian and secular audiences alike for centuries. At Christmastime even the most ardent of unbelievers will tolerate a little miracle. This is what makes music so important at this season when, for a few weeks, culture and Christ coexist.

As Christians and still seekers, we are individuals striving to live between Christ and culture. Christ is our Lord and our savior from sin, and culture is a vehicle by which to do good in the world for the sake of Christ. It is also the means by which we come to know what is in a man or woman. And so to put Christ and the music of culture together is to have a powerful force for reconciliation.

Everywhere we look we see the evidence of a Creator. But we don’t see this as religion, which has cut people in two. Religion is what happens when God leaves and people devise a set of rules to fill the space. We don’t see Jesus Christ as being any part of a religion. We see Him as Lord and Savior, brother and friend. God become human. And Christmas celebrates His coming.

There are evidences, even in our culture, of people returning to Christ at this crucial time. Jesus Christ Superstar is resurging in San Diego. Godspell is back on Broadway. After being the scene of a major culture war, there seems to be a surprising lull in the argument against having Christ in Christmas. Maybe it’s because everyone knows we need hope. When culture is in crisis, “Merry Christmas” carries more hope and reassurance than “Happy Holidays,” even if it’s just because it’s old fashioned. We are all having trouble holding back the darkness that tries to settle in around our hearts. We need something to transcend this darkness. We need the new dawn that Christmas provides.

Unknowable love and unknowable power – describing itself to the most vulnerable in the most vulnerable of human births – can cause tears to stream down a proud man’s face as he quietly discovers that God truly did pick a particular night to give His beloved gift to us, in a particular town, on this particular planet… O Holy Night!