One song
that I have a problem with is “At the Cross.” The verses written by Isaac Watts
are great, but the refrain by Ralph E. Hudson has issues. “And now I am happy
all the day!” Really?! I find that hard to believe. I haven’t observed any
Christians that I believe could sing those words completely honestly, which is
why I choose not to sing them. I think the hymn was better off without the
chorus. As one blogger wrote, “The text and musical style of the refrain… are
not well-suited to the soul-searching gravity of Watt’s text…” (http://drhamrick.blogspot.com/2009/01/alas-and-did-my-savior-bleed.html).
Another hymn
that frustrates me is “I Must Tell Jesus” by Elisha Hoffman. Once again it is
the last line that hinders the overall message, “Jesus can help me, Jesus
alone.” It is true that Jesus can help, but rarely does He choose to do so
apart from human agents. The Church is known as the Body of Christ for a reason—we
all need one another. This hymn is on target when it says, “I cannot bear these
burdens alone,” which is precisely why we need to be talking to our brothers
and sisters in Christ, and not just assuming that God will answer our prayers
privately and without anyone else being involved.
A third hymn, “Tell It
to Jesus” by Jeremiah E. Rankin, has the same problem: “Tell it to Jesus alone.”
I begin to wonder if some of the hymn writers just got tired of looking for a
good rhyme and settled for words that are lacking in biblical depth. I also
wonder if these indicators of “private faith” are reflective of the culture in
which the hymns were written. All three of the men mentioned (not including Isaac
Watts) were Americans writing in the late 1800s. American culture in general is
individualistic, and that may well have deepened following the disruption of
the Civil War, which certainly did not foster unity and trust.
Thankfully,
there are a great number of hymns and choruses with solid theology, some
centuries old and some newly written. Unfortunately, many churches are stuck
with a very limited number of songs due to familiarity or perhaps laziness. And
even more unfortunately, many church members don’t actually think much about
the words they are singing. They either don’t know or don’t care if they sing
something that is untrue and/or unscriptural. I’ll admit that for many years I
haven’t paid much attention either. Only recently have I been more
conscientious about knowing what I’m singing, and that’s probably because I’ve
been thinking and writing more about specific subjects such as the Body of
Christ. At a recent event I was observing a non-Trinitarian person as we were
singing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and I had to give them credit for not singing the
last line, “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” Since they didn’t believe
that to be true, they weren’t going to pretend it was okay to sing it.
It’s usually
up to the pastor or worship leader to evaluate the quality of the musical
message, and they may not have the time to do so. I challenge you (and myself)
to think about the words we sing. Are they biblical? Do I believe them? Am I
being honest with myself and others by making these claims? I’d also challenge
those who are involved in children’s ministry to think about the songs we are teaching
our kids. (I personally have problems with “If you’re happy and you know it,” “Climb,
climb up sunshine mountain,” and similar tunes.) Do we really want our children
singing something unbiblical just because it has a catchy tune and fun motions?
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Co. 3:16).
