It is tragic that perhaps the most divisive issue in the church today is worship. Most of us as pastors are painfully familiar with the “worship wars,” and we’ve have had to wrestle through our decisions about what worship styles and music types our churches will incorporate.

 

As a relatively young pastor, I have a high appreciation for contemporary music. Our congregation is predominantly young, and our corporate worship is fairly contemporary, although we consistently blend contemporary and traditional music.

 

But I also appreciate traditional forms of worship—especially hymns—and there are several reasons I think it would be a mistake to discard hymns altogether.

 

1. The greatest hymns are rich in theological content. This may not seem too important in an age where the importance of theology has been severely undermined.

 

We must remember, however, that doctrine and theology are nothing more than the concise, systematic expression of truth. If you take theology out of Christianity, you empty Christianity of all meaning. The Christian faith has always been confessional. When it ceases to be confessional, it ceases to be Christian.

 

Christianity, by its very definition, adheres to a theology surrounding Christ Jesus the Lord. The virgin birth, the sinless life, the substitutionary death, the physical resurrection, and the second coming of Christ are all essential elements of the Christian faith.

 

Yet these are doctrines—precious truths that make Christianity what it is—and the hymns of the past are full of lyrics expressing these truths. My salvation is dependent on the truth expressed by William Cowper in “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood”:

 There is a fountain filled with bloodDrawn from Immanuel’s veinsAnd sinners plunged beneath that floodLose all their guilty stains 

If that were not true, I would have no hope of being saved. Consider also the majestic portrait of God’s providence expressed in Cowper’s famous “God Moves in a Mysterious Way,” a hymn that has helped carry me and my loved ones through personal tragedy more than once:

 Deep in unfathomable minesOf never-failing skillHe treasures up His bright designsAnd works His sovereign will Judge not the Lord by feeble senseBut trust Him for His graceBehind a frowning providenceHe hides a smiling face 

The theology so beautifully expressed in those words is a granite-like foundation under my life. Believing it has saved me from despair and hopelessness.

 

2. Hymns preserve the legacy of God’s work in history. I love to read about the history of revival, through which I find my heart stirred and my hunger deepened. What could be more glorious than the thought of Whitefield and Wesley preaching to thousands in England, Wales, and Colonial America? The fervor of those days is captured in the songs they left us.

 

Charles Wesley was, without doubt, one of the greatest hymn writers who ever lived. His songs “And Can It Be,” “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” and “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” are rich in their description of Christian experience and worship. Consider the following lines from “And Can It Be”:

 Long my imprisoned spirit layFast bound in sin and nature’s nightThine eye diffused a quickening rayI woke, the dungeon flamed with lightMy chains fell off, my heart was freeI rose, went forth, and followed Thee!Amazing love! How can it beThat Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? 

3. Many hymns explore the depths of Christian experience. Although I grew up singing hymns and knew many of them by heart, it was only in my late teens and early twenties that I began to understand what many of those hymns meant. My experience started catching up with the lyrics, and even today I often find myself understanding “for the first time” songs I have known for years.

 

The deeper one’s walk with God, the more appreciation he or she is likely to have for the poetic expression of Christian experience. The person who has had deep bouts with doubt about their own salvation, coupled with serious self-examination, will greatly value these anonymously written words:

 I am a stranger here belowAnd what I am ’tis hard to knowI am so vile, so full of sinI fear that I’m not born again 

Other hymns have been used by the Lord to bring great comfort to those in deep sorrow. Consider the famous words of H. G. Spafford, written after losing his daughters at sea:

 When peace, like a river, attendeth my wayWhen sorrow like sea billows rollWhatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to sayIt is well, it is well with my soul 

How many people bereaved with the loss of loved ones have drawn comfort from those words? The hymns also give us wonderful expressions of delight and satisfaction in Christ. I well remember the first time I understood the lyrics of a (sadly) little-known hymn called “Jesus Is All I Wish or Want.” This song expressed so well my growing passion to know Christ:

 Jesus is all I wish or wantFor Him I pray, I thirst, I pantLet others after earth aspireChrist is the treasure I desire Possessed of Him I ask no moreHe is an all-sufficient storeTo praise Him all my powers conspireChrist is the treasure I desire 

Besides all of these reasons for keeping hymns, we should remember that people of the older generations in our churches highly value many of these songs which have been precious in their Christian experience. A refusal to completely abandon hymns is one tangible way we can show a shepherd’s love to these folks.

 

And as younger believers grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Pet. 3:18), perhaps they will also grow to appreciate the richness of hymns.

 Brian G. Hedges Making It Personal 

• Do you appreciate the value of hymns?
• Does your church ever incorporate hymns in worship?