The question is sometimes asked, “Why do we have to sing all these new songs? Why can’t we sing hymns?”
It’s a good question, and the short answer is, “Because scripture compels us to sing a new song, younger generations relate better to them, and the fact is, we do sing hymns. And I will always sing hymns.”
There is no reason not to sing new songs, and there is no reason not to sing the old hymns.
Younger generations, like the so-called “Millennials” and even some of us “Baby-Boomers” want to be able to express praise and worship in a way they are more accustomed to. This is particularly true with those who aren’t raised in church as many of us have been. Many of these young people simply cannot relate to some of the hymns the way we do. They need to hear the Word presented in a more modern “language,” if you will, in much the same way as we don’t force a King James Version Bible on them! They need to feel free to express their praise through the music and lyrics that they can relate to.
We have to meet on this issue. We are, after all, here for the same reason, even though we are all different. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 says, “For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body...”
We are all created to worship. For His pleasure. And that is why I will always incorporate hymns. Because some of those old hymns express that praise and worship and the Good News story of salvation as well as any new song can. Moreover, these hymns are part of our legacy, and need to be shared.
David Crowder, Christian singer/songwriter of many popular contemporary songs (“Come As You Are”, “How He Loves”, “O Praise Him”, “The Glory of It All”, “Here Is Our King”), was recently asked this question by an interviewer: “You often sing old hymns. What’s the appeal?” This was his answer:
“The appeal for me is that they are good songs. They have lasted because the melodies are fantastic and they say something that resonates over the span of decades and centuries. Add to that the value that singing them can connect us to something beyond our present tense. They can help us acknowledge that we sit in a timeline that stretches backward and will continue into the future. It helps us understand what has formed us and it helps us imagine how we form the future.”
Crowder says it better than I ever could.
But let me tell you what I’ve witnessed. I have seen a room of some 300 teenagers in a worship service, being led by one of the top contemporary Christian bands of the day, Sidewalk Prophets. The group’s lead singer, David Frey, led the young people from one of the band’s popular songs straight into “How Great Thou Art”, and I witnessed 300 teenagers continuing their genuine, authentic worship, singing at the top of their young lungs, “…Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee…” straight from their hearts, with eyes and hands lifted up in praise. How do you think God accepts that worship?
On the other side of the coin, I’m afraid I’ve seen some congregation members rolling their eyes at a contemporary praise chorus, shaking their heads and whispering to a neighbor their displeasure with a song, and even counting how many times a phrase or chorus was repeated. How do you suppose God accepts that?
The point is, I have personally seen how young people seem to have less of an issue singing old hymns than some of us more seasoned folks do singing new songs. Even though the young people are having to learn these old hymns because they've never been exposed to them, just as many of us are having to learn new worship songs and incorporate them into our worship. There is no reason the new and the old cannot coexist in our worship!
We have to stop tearing apart worship songs with attempts to spiritualize our reasons. "I can't worship to that." Is that the honest reason? "It's too repetitive." Like Psalm 136? Or like "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder"? We have to stop labeling hymns or modern worship songs as "good" or bad" when all we are really talking about is what musical style we prefer.
We have to get past the “style” of music we like and get to the heart of worship. Authentic worship. Authentic worship is not dependent on musical style. In fact, it’s not dependent on music at all!
Taylor Johnson, Minister of Music and Worship at Trinity Baptist Church in Madison, Alabama, writes that when he was in college, he was attending a very traditional “high church” worship service. His friends said, “That style is not really worship.” Johnson says he learned that what they actually meant was, “I don’t like that style of worship.” It was stylistic preference, not authenticity, which served as their standard.
He goes on to say that “Authenticity is not a style. Authenticity is not our favorite kind of music. Authenticity is not shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops. Authenticity is not robes and stoles. Authenticity is generated from the people gathered, from their talents and abilities, their theology and ethics.”
In order to move forward and grow as a church, we need to find a way to put authentic worship ahead of musical preference. We need to think—and act—in UNITY.
Thom Rainer, President and CEO of Lifeway Christian Ministries, writes this: “I am hopeful we can worry less about our own preferences, and more about the unity of the body of Christ. Jesus Himself said in John 13:35: ‘By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.’ 'Love for one another’ means we will put others before ourselves—even in music and worship preferences.”
Amen, and amen.
