O come all ye traitors...

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(A big thank you to Lee McMunn who takes the credit for this illustration, and for sharing it with those in the AMiE network, you can read his carol service talk on this theme here). 

I wonder if you have seen the TV programme "Traitors" hosted by Claudia Winkelman. It's been hugely popular, with the last season of Celebrity Traitors attracting 15 million viewers. In case you are not familiar with it, the programme features a group of contestants hanging out in a Scottish Castle to take part in a kind of elimination competition. Each day they participate in challenges to raise money for their charity. Some of the competitors are called "Faithful" and others are called "Traitors". The Traitors know who each other are, and they can band together to so called "murder" others, meanwhile the Faithful have to try and work out who they are before it's too late. It's been hugely popular, and another series of Celebrity Traitors set for 2026. 

I wonder if you would call yourself a "traitor" or a "faithful"? In real life, "traitor" is a pretty strong word, and we tend to reserve it for someone who has really done the dirty on a friend. Imagine at Christmas someone who steals others' gifts and turns against their loved ones' kindness and friendship. Well that's us! You and I steal God's glory, and reject his love. We take the gifts he gives us but we reject him the giver. 

Can we really call ourselves faithfuls? Tragically not. But the miracle of Christmas is that Jesus didn't come for the good people, because there weren't any. He came for the unfaithful. The traitors. The message the angels gave to the shepherds on the hills outside Bethlehem was not of a headmaster come to see if we are good enough, or a life coach to give us some good advice, but of a Saviour come to rescue us, and through his life and death he offers us his incredible love.

This Christmas instead of singing "O come all ye faithful", we can say, "O come all ye traitors". You see, Jesus came into our world to turn traitors back to faithful- those with faith in him. What a wonderful Christmas it would be to receive his forgiveness and friendship, that truly would be the greatest Christmas present of all. Do get in touch if we can help in any way.

Thank you so much for listening, and have a wonderful Christmas.  

Charlie Newcombe 15DEC25

For a very moving alternative of the traditional carol on this same theme, see the song here, "O Come all Ye Unfaithful" sung by Christian worship group, Sovereign Grace. The video shows footage of people carrying shame and sadness as they react to hearing the song for the first time.