Worship in the 21st Century (Part 1)

This article is written by a special friend of mine, Bethany. It is broken into two parts. The second part will be posted next week. I hope that you enjoy!

Image from Unsplash

Have you ever been in church when an old hymn was sung? Did you notice the congregation had tears in their eyes after the song? Or maybe you’ve never sung hymns in church and you are wondering what the Bible mean when it says “address one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making a melody with your heart to the LORD” (Ephesians 5:19) 

I’ve often wondered what it is that makes hymns so potent, how they penetrate our hearts so deeply. How they have stood the test of time, becoming classics that believers and non-believers alike recognise. Today we will be exploring what it means to worship God with our voices in the most beautiful, appropriate, and intentional manner.  

Lyrics and Focus

Once a friend asked me what I thought was the most used word in contemporary worship music. Jokingly, I replied, “probably I or me.” It’s a common argument against contemporary worship songs— they talk a lot about the singer, often more than they talk about God.

Lyrics are vital when choosing songs for church. Think about the Psalms. These are songs the Israelites sang through generations. Some of them tell stories of when God did something amazing; of God conquering Israel’s enemies or caring for His people. Some state what the Psalmist believes about God—Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. Others cry out to God asking Him for protection or forgiveness. 

Taking a framework from the Psalms: the song must praise or thank God, teach or remind us something about Him or what He has done, help us to repent of our sin, and request forgiveness, wisdom, patience - any of the Fruit of the Spirit.

Poetry and the Sticky Image

Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11

When we sing songs in church we have to have the up and coming generations in mind. Will the song you choose today be sung by your children and grandchildren in fifty years time? Or one hundred, five hundred years time? We want the songs we sing to be bulwarks for our children in the years to come— memorisable truth that gradually sinks deep into their hearts as they grow older and the first thing they remember in the dark valleys. 

At the small church I belonged to for the first twelve years of my life used to include hymn singing alongside scripture memorisation in Sunday School. For each hymn we learned, my mom would write each line from every verse on an A4 page and draw a simple picture that related to the words below it for the little ones who couldn’t read yet. She would put all the papers in a flip file and turn the pages so we could read the words. Slowly over the term, she would wean us off the flip file prompts. 

A friend of mine who was at the same church for a few short years as a young child reminded me of this the other day. He said every time he sings the hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross strong images related to the lyrics enter his mind. He loved the hymn, but couldn’t understand why it is stuck so vividly in his head. Then he remembered my mom’s flip file and the illustrations. I remember them too: a simple cross, a drop of blood, and crown of thorns. We have “sticky images” from the words of that song. Sticky images come from not only physical pictures drawn on paper, but also strong literary imagery and metaphors. There is something about the design and words of these old hymns that is just so potent and powerful.

Almost ten years later, and I still remember that entire song. Those sticky mental images have helped me remember the words, but as I grow older, every time I sing that hymn, some other truth sinks in that I never noticed before. One line goes: 

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down.

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Isn’t that powerful? Such hymns also require thought, time, and commitment in order to fully sink in - to move through your mind all the way into your heart.

 I think it would be hard to deny that there is something very deeply moving about singing an old hymn. The words alone are so rich and beautiful, often with complex rhyming patterns and imagery.

Image from Unsplash

We want these kinds of words to pour out of our mouths in troubled times. We want to be the girl who sings Rock of Ages, Cleft for me while sitting on a hospital bed awaiting radiation therapy. We want that for our generation and the next until this world ends.

I’m Bethany, a child of God seeking ways to make my worship more beautiful and pleasing to Him. I love barefoot walks in the Drakensberg mountains with my family, reading great literature of the past, tea parties, sewing, sailing, bacon, writing the occasional poem, having festive medieval feasts with friends and (of course) singing hymns in harmony. Fight the Good Fight, friends, and bear the flame!