"Hymn Sing"

Some cannot remember,

A country church old thing,

When the leader asked us,

What would y’all like to sing.

And people then would call out,

Their favorite song or hymn,

And then annouce the number,

Of the hymnbook page and then,

We’d sing along with gusto,

And sometimes they would shout,

Lots of joy and laughter,

They praised the Lord no doubt.

I always liked the harmonies,

The men who sang the bass,

In my mind I hear them,

And time cannot erase.

It was Victory in Jesus,

And then Love Lifted Me,

Standing on the Promises,

And Amazing Grace, you see.

And there were so many,

They sang ‘em one by one,

Old and young enjoyed it,

‘Cause it was so much fun.

Jesus said the Father,

Was seeking praisers who,

Would worship in the Spirit,

And embrace what’s true.

And that’s what made it special,

When they called those old songs out,

‘Cause from our hearts we praised Him,

That’s what worship is about.

And, yes, I like the new songs,

And the beauty of the day,

When hearts are fixed on Jesus,

But I have to say,

That old country hymn-sing,

Was really hard to beat,

Alive now in my memory,

Come in and take a seat.

“God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24, NIV)

Church people can be pretty narrow-minded when it comes to worship. I guess that’s because we all have had meaningful worship experiences that we might be tempted to think are better or more authentic than others. Typically it has something to do with what we were taught and have come to expect. That’s why the music we use and the way we use it is oftentimes controversial. While I love the songs the poem speaks of, I also love the newer, “contemporary” music, too. We would do well to remember that Jesus made only two things non-negotiable when it comes to worship: spirit and truth. If we worship in spirit and truth we can’t go wrong no matter which songs we prefer. When we judge the worship of others we quench the Spirit and put tradition over truth.

Lord, help us to worship in Spirit and in truth, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mark Maggiori, used by permission.