Let me first put all my “cards on the table” for this post. I like various styles of worship music, provided they’re done well. I don’t like any worship style that’s done poorly.
I also prefer contemporary worship to more traditional worship. I enjoy praise choruses that echo the Word of God, and I appreciate the freedom of worship I often find in more contemporary worship services.
With that said, I love singing good hymns–especially as I get older. I realize some hymns could use theological refining (and that we must do), but I still love them. Here’s why:
- Many hymns teach the gospel. As agonizing as the message can be, I love singing about the blood of Jesus. Hymns like “There is a Fountain” and “At the Cross” return me to Calvary. Praise choruses can do the same, of course, but the hymns I first learned years ago still grab my heart.
- Hymns help me see that I’m part of centuries of Christian heritage. A number of summers ago, I visited the church of John Newton, author of “Amazing Grace.”As our group sang the hymn together, I was reminded that I stand on the shoulders of believers through the years.
- Hymns take me back to my first years as a believer. More than 50 years ago when God saved me, we weren’t singing today’s choruses. We were singing songs like “Down at the Cross” and “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” The gospel was completely new, fresh, and alive to me, and so were the songs.
- Hymns remind me of my calling. God called me to preach the same day He saved me. It was a few years later, though, when I vividly sensed His reinforcing that calling as our congregation sang, “Rescue the Perishing.” Little did I know then that God would later burden my heart to reach the perishing around the world.
- Hymns help me remember people who’ve influenced my life. I sing a song from years gone by, and I remember the people who were around me at the time. My first Sunday school teachers. The associate pastor who taught me about evangelism. My teenage friends who are now leaders in their own churches. It’s just nice to remember them.
- Hymns are just comforting to me. I’m almost 64 years old, though I don’t feel that old. I think I fit in okay with my much younger students. At the same time, though, something in me longs for yesterday as I get older. As the world changes so rapidly around us, the memories of a hymn, of old friends, of my home church, and of my first hearing the gospel are indeed comforting.
- Hymns give us opportunity to build multi-generational worship. I love learning from young people who delight in praise choruses, but I also love when they learn from my joy in hymns. We worship God better when we worship Him together.
