I recently attended a community carols night hosted by a local church. It was, in many ways, a wonderful night. It had everything – free food, activities for the kids, sparkly lights, well-rehearsed skits, children dressed as angels, Christ-focused carols, and a gospel message. It was very well done.
There were many carols sung (all performed very well, of course), including a few ‘mashups’ of popular carols. I didn’t enjoy those as much. But there was one song that stood out to me, O Come, All You Unfaithful by Sovereign Grace Music (released in 2020). The music and lyrics are very moving, speaking of the reality of our sin and brokenness, and our need of Jesus Christ:
O come, all you unfaithful
Come, weak and unstable
Come, know you are not aloneO come, barren and waiting ones
Weary of praying, come
See what your God has doneChrist is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for youO come, bitter and broken
Come with fears unspoken
Come, taste of His perfect loveO come, guilty and hiding ones
There is no need to run
See what your God has doneChrist is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for youHe’s the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believe
He’s the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believeSo come, though you have nothing
Come, He is the offering
Come, see what your God has doneChrist is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you
Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you
You can watch the music video of the song here.
From what I could tell of the crowd, singing this song really resonated with a lot of people.
It’s been a hard year for many of us. To be reminded of how messed up we feel and then hear the invitation to “see what your God has done” is very reassuring. I guess that’s why this song has become so popular. I imagine it will be a standard song at churches and carols nights throughout the Christmas season for years to come. I don’t mind that.
But I think I prefer the old hymn/carol more. If I were currently in formal pastoral ministry, I wouldn’t be encouraging us to sing O Come, All You Unfaithful. Let me start my explanation of why by showing you a common version of the “original” carol, O Come, All Ye Faithful.
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him
Born the King of Angels
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord!God of God, Light of Light
Lo, He abhors not the Virgin’s womb
Very God
Begotten, not created
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord!Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God
All glory in the highest
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord!Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning
Jesus, to Thee be glory given
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord!
The history of this carol and its various versions has been well researched. You can find some helpful information about it here. Like many older hymns, there are different authors attributed to it, and different versions of different lengths. But for our purposes here, the basic four verses above represent the core of the hymn.
The hymn takes all of its words either directly or indirectly from the Bible and the Nicene Creed (for more info, see here). It is a thoroughly biblical hymn, which joyously gives glory to God for the incarnation of the Lord Jesus in this broken world.
Like many of the Psalms we find in the Old Testament, O Come, All Ye Faithful is an explicit invitation to worship our Lord. It is a call to be joyful and ‘triumphant’ because, by sending Christ into the world, God is taking his world back from the dominion of darkness and claiming his people for himself.
Some people find the line “joyful and triumphant” jarring because that’s not how we usually feel at Christmas time. Instead of feeling joyful, we’re often tired, disappointed, stressed, and sometimes grieving. And that’s one of the reasons why O Come, All You Unfaithful was written. It’s because there’s often a huge gap between the positive message of some Christmas carols, and the reality of the lived experience of being a Christian. One of the writers of the song, Lisa Clow, said that was a key motivation behind the writing of the song. She said this:
I remember hearing those words and thinking, “I have been so unfaithful. My joy has dwindled, and I am a triumphant…failure.” And I didn’t sing the rest of the service.
I drove home, my mind still churning, “Is that really who is invited to come to Jesus? The faithful? The joyful? The triumphant? If so, then I am hopeless.
I can empathize with this experience. I’ve felt the same when encountering a number of different hymns and Christian songs. But it’s at this point I register a concern with O Come, All You Unfaithful.
The motivation for writing O Come All You Unfaithful may be based on a misunderstanding of the structure and meaning of the first line of O Come, All Ye Faithful.
I don’t see the first line of the original hymn offering three descriptions of those who are to “come . . . adore Christ”. It’s not, as far as I can see, saying something like “O come, all those people who are (1) faithful, (2) joyful, and (3) triumphant.” In that case, almost no one would be qualified to come and adore Jesus! Instead, I take it to be saying “O come you faithful ones, and BE joyful and triumphant“.
Calling God’s people “faithful” is not an overly-spiritualized, unrealistic description of Christians. It’s how the God’s people are sometimes addressed in the Bible. Paul calls the Colossian Christians hagiois kai pistois, “holy and faithful” (1:2). He calls the Ephesian Christians “the holy and faithful ones” (1:1). Paul either refers to people as “faithful” because they have shown a consistent pattern of godly behaviour (see 2 Timothy 2:2), or they are people who are numbered among those who “believe” (1 Timothy 4:3). It is this second meaning which I think makes the most sense in the hymn. I would argue that the hymn is an invitation to everyday believers to come and be joyful and triumphant on account of what God has done in Jesus.
Breaking down the first line of the hymn, this invitation looks like this:
- invitation to action (O Come . . .)
- the ones who are invited to this action (all ye faithful . . . i.e. Christians)
- the manner in which this action will be conducted (joyful and triumphant)
This is a similar structure to the first line in the third verse, “Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation”:
- invitation to action (Sing . . . )
- the ones who are invited to this action (choirs of angels)
- the manner in which this action will be conducted (sing in exultation)
Here the angels are not just invited to sing, but to sing in exultation. It’s an invitation to a particular way of responding to Jesus’ birth. And I think it’s the same in the opening line of the first verse. It’s an invitation to come (as God’s ‘holy and faithful ones’ in Christ) and be joyful and triumphant. The first line of the hymn is not intended to be a list of qualifications for those who may come and adore Christ. It is an invitation to do so, and describes the kinds of responses we are invited to have as we do this.
Is this really so hard to believe? Does not the Bible speak of this kind of ‘coming’ to God?
If you’re put off by the first line of O Come, All Ye Faithful, then please don’t read the Psalms! The Psalms are full of calls to praise God with joyful, grateful hearts. They often call us to worship in a way that probably doesn’t match our current psychological states:
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs. (Psalm 100:1-2)Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song. (Psalm 95:1-2)Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 62:5-6)
Sing for joy? Be thankful? Find rest? Worship with gladness? I will not be shaken? Can you imagine the Israelites in the midst of glorious temple worship singing these Psalms, and going home saying “I feel really deflated because that’s not my lived experience”? The Psalms cover a whole range of human experiences, from recognition of our brokenness to joyous confidence in God. There are both kinds of songs. Some songs speak of where we are personally (good or bad), and other songs call us to where we could or should be. I suggest the hymn O Come, All Ye Faithful is the second kind of song. It doesn’t necessarily reflect “where we are at”, as if that’s supposed to be the decisive element in worship. It reflects a biblical call to see your identity in Christ as a believer (pistois, ‘faithful one’ ) – one who has faith – and to choose to see and savor the fact that Christ’s coming is joyful and triumphant!
That’s the vibe we find in the account with the shepherds (who I assume have varied ‘lived experiences’ as Jewish people):
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:8-14; NIV)
The birth of Jesus is news of great joy for all of God’s people. It is news that causes joy. It is news that inspires weary and worn saints to join with the angels in glorifying God because in Christ his favour has rested on us!
I know I’m broken. I know I have a lot of spiritual growth ahead of me. Yes, depression sometimes nips at my heels. Yes, I struggle in many ways. But I need a message that causes me to look away from myself, to the Messiah who was born, crucified, raised, and now reigns over all things.
Here is where our focus is:
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3; NIV).
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3; NIV)
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:37; NIV)
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4; NIV)
I am not saying O Come, All You Unfaithful is wrong. On the contrary, I think it’s a good song. By all means, sing it. But let’s make sure we find the core of our calling and identity in Christ alone. Yes, we are broken. I don’t need to celebrate that. I don’t even need much of a reminder about that either. I need a reminder of how utterly wonderful and powerful Christ is.
The song has reminded me that too much of evangelical music and worship is focused on us. We seem unusually preoccupied with ourselves, and our feelings. We wallow in our self-pity and struggles. We doubt. And under the guise of being authentic and ‘real’, we end up – ironically – making our experiences the decisive factor in our spiritual life. It’s not so much that we have a low view of Christ, it’s that we have too high a view of our hurts and struggles.
If O Come, All You Unfaithful helps you see how wonderful Christ is, and if it causes joy to spring up in your heart, praise God! But it seems to me, the song may be popular because in many evangelical churches our ‘brokenness’ and hurts are almost fetishized. We speak with such regularity about what’s wrong with everything, not much room is left for the glorious risen Christ. And too often our language in relation to Christ seems tame, therapeutic, and qualified a hundred ways by our lived experiences.
At Christmas time, I need to hear clearly what those shepherds heard 2000 years ago. There is good news that causes great joy for weary shepherds, and weary saints in this postmodern movie-theatre we call the world. It is glorious news that turns the heart’s focus away from our ‘brokenness’ and sin, to see the King who was born to claim us and change us.
Christmas gives me a reason to believe and sing about things better than my current emotional state would normally allow.
I want to be more joyful and triumphant. In fact, I need it.
spes clara 