Hymns ... or choruses?

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303

By JOHN HATCHER
Contributing Writer

Traditional worship! That’s what you like. Amen! You seek out those churches where they sing traditional hymns and worship in a stylized traditional way. Am I right? You don’t want to have anything to do with this contemporary, guitar plucking, drum beating worship. Right or wrong? Okay. I hear you loud and clear.

But there’s just one thing I must ask you: to which tradition are you married? I mean, of all the traditions and of all the centuries of traditions, which one is yours? You’ve got a quick answer: “I like the tradition of the great hymns of Martin Luther like A Mighty Fortress is our God. That’s what I like. There.”

If that is your answer, then I must judge your tradition as being post-biblical. Because your tradition only goes back about 400 years. biblical tradition, on the other hand, goes back about 2000 years ago.

As some of my readers may know, I am in a series of columns dealing with religion and tradition. Today, I am dealing with the subject of church tradition and music. First off, I confess all I know about church music is that I have been in church singing about 58 years and I have had a few sessions with church musicians on the church staff in the last 30 years. I’ve read a few books and attended a fewer number of worship seminars.

Now, you all are well acquainted with the battle in church life today pitting those who want a traditional worship service against those who want a contemporary worship service. In some people’s simple construct, it comes down to a question of hymns or choruses. The poor minister of music finds himself in the middle of the contention. Some Sundays he throws in a hymn to placate one group. Another Sunday he slips in a chorus to make the other side happy. All the time trying to maintain some sense of personal integrity.

When Martin Luther wrote what many consider the venerable hymns that we use today, he was starting a revolution in music. The grey heads were upset with him. The establishment was upset with him because he dared introduce a new kind of music genre to the church scene. He probably was dead tired of the Gregorian chants that today many of us find refreshing. So, he went out and wrote him some new musical scores to go along with some new lyrics. Thus, we have a hymn that many believe Jesus sang.

But give me a break: that was 400 years ago. Should one’s faith be eternally tied to the lyrics and music of 400 years ago? Can not the Holy Spirit inspire some new songs with new words and new tunes today? Sure he can.

When Martin Luther was introducing his new music into the life of the church 400 years ago, the congregations were in the same boat as congregations are today: “We like the old stuff. If it was good enough for mama and papa, it’s good enough for me. We prefer traditional worship.” Of course, for them, traditional worship meant something four or five hundred years old. But where we would be today had Luther been stifled by the vocal minority who wanted it the way it always had been — the traditional way.

Thank God we have had pioneers in the pulpit and in the choir who have insisted that God in still in the inspiration business and that there is always a new song to be written and to be sung.

Yes, I love Martin Luther’s greatest hymns as well as John and Charles Wesley’s. I love hundreds of the hymns and if I had my way, we would sing a whole lot more of them. But, that would not be right. We have a whole new generation. It does not enhance their spirituality one blip to know and sing “Victory in Jesus.”

Let the Holy Spirit have his way in the matter of church music. I believe he is the most qualified when it comes to leading worship. However, it requires that we wait on him, even asking him for his leadership. He has the whole repertoire of church music at his disposal — hymns, choruses, chants. Let’s get away from traditional and contemporary music and into Spiritual music.