Bring Back Hymnody

I spent most of my childhood attending a church that sang what I think are some of the meatier contemporary worship songs, such as “In Christ Alone” and “How Deep the Father’s Love”. Occasionally we’d even sing contemporized versions of popular hymns, such as “Amazing Grace” or “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. That is the church where I was baptized, and I will always be grateful for the good that was there.

I nevertheless had a regrettably limited exposure to hymns, save for the occasional Sunday spent at my grandparent’s tiny Bible church. When I met my husband, that was all to change. He himself was just beginning to have a deeper appreciation for some of the older, lesser known hymns, such as “Built on the Rock the Church Shall Stand” and “Thy Strong Word”. As he was a musician at our highly liturgical church, I became more and more familiar with these hymns, while at the same time growing more and more fond of them.

It’s not merely a stylistic preference. There was one other crucial difference between these hymns and the churchy-pop I grew up on. These hymns were feeding me. They were teaching me, they were feeding my faith. They directly referenced Bible verse after Bible verse and connected biblical themes that I never would have known to connect. I was like a thirsty plant that had until then only been lightly spritzed with the water my soul so needed. Now it was being lavished upon me, and I was soaking it all in.

We are all thirsty plants. Just like plants, we can’t survive unless we are watered well and frequently with the word of God. If we are left to dry out, we easily become entangled with lies.

The foremost source of our needed water is, of course, the Holy Scriptures themselves. So shouldn’t the music of the church help to distribute more of the life-giving water of His word? If that’s not its primary purpose, what is?

Let me be clear– I don’t intend to argue that no contemporary Christian songs offer true refreshment to the soul of the Christian, nor do I intend to speak ill of the contemporary style in and of itself. If the lyrics serve to teach and exhort the congregation in the truth of the Holy Scriptures, then it is serving its rightful purpose (see Col. 3:16).

What troubles me is that hymnody is seen by many as a dying style that is no longer useful and will soon be forgotten. Despite its theological richness and depth, it is seen by most of Christendom today as outdated and old-fashioned. But much of the music that is replacing it carries at best only a vestige of that richness, and at worst lacks it altogether (or yes, in some cases, even misrepresents or contradicts Scripture).

There are thousands of years worth of beautiful hymn texts out there that could serve to inspire modern-day musicians as well as to connect modern-day saints with the saints of old. Are we really going to throw all of that away simply because it’s out of fashion?

We would be great fools to do so. If the church simply goes wherever the wind of culture takes it, then it is like a plant with no roots. The traditions of the church must be firmly planted in the Rock, that is, Christ and His word. If they are not, then I would argue that their place is in a concert hall, not in church.

I don’t claim to know what we’ll be singing with the saints and angels on the joyous day of Christ’s return. But I don’t think it’s unlikely that our song will go something like this:

All the earth with joy is sounding: 
Christ has risen from the dead! 
He, the greater Jonah, bounding 
From the grave, His three-day bed, 
Wins the prize:
Death’s demise–
Songs of triumph fill the skies.

Praise the Lord, His reign commences, 
Reign of life and liberty– 
Paschal Lamb, for our offenses, 
Slain and raised to set us free! 
Evermore
Bow before
Christ, the Lord of Life adore!

Lutheran Service Book, p. 462