good old fashioned hymns

Yesterday at my current church home we sang a hymn I’d never heard before. This isn’t uncommon, since the denomination and traditions of my current church are not the same as the church I was raised attending - where I came to faith and was socialized in religious norms. But the song we sand stood out because it was probably the first one at my current church that’s made me kind of uncomfortable, though not necessarily in a bad way. I was simply uncomfortable because I couldn’t imagine ever singing the song in my home church.

Now, there’s plenty of Christian praise songs that I couldn’t imagine singing in my home church, at least not when I was attending about a decade ago. But with this song, the problem was not with the music style but with the lyrics.

So here's the lyrics to the hymn:

FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS (#428)

VERSE 1
For the healing of the nations,
Lord, we pray with one accord;
for a just and equal sharing
of the things that earth affords;
To a life of love in action
help us rise and pledge our word,
help us rise and pledge our word.

VERSE 2
Lead us forward into freedom;
from despair your world release,
that, redeemed from war and hatred,
all may come and go in peace.
Show us how through care and goodness
fear will die and hope increase,
fear will die and hope increase.

VERSE 3
All that kills abundant living,
let it from the earth be banned;
pride of status, race, or schooling,
dogmas that obscure your plan.
In our common quest for justice
may we hallow life's brief span,
may we hallow life's brief span.

VERSE 4
You, Creator God, have written
your great name on humankind;
for our growing in your likeness
bring the life of Christ to mind,
that by our response and service
earth its destiny may find,
earth its destiny may find.

I don't think this song would ever be sung in certain churches, and I highlighted four little sections that I think might ruffle the most feathers. Note that I don't necessarily think people would find these things "wrong," just that they'd feel uncomfortable singing them in a hymn:

"a just and equal sharing of the things that earth affords"

Well, that sounds a bit too much like communism, while God's chosen economic system is clearly capitalism.

"pride of status, race, or schooling, dogmas that obscure your plan."

This one's all well and good until you look into the implications. You mean America isn't God's chosen country? You mean Baptists or Methodists or Pentecostals or whoever aren't the keepers of the best way to follow God?

"may we hallow life's brief span"

This one might spark the biggest outcry. Hymns are supposed to point us toward God and heaven; why in the world are we talking about "life's brief span"? We're looking toward eternity!

"bring the life of Christ to mind, that by our response and service
earth its destiny may find"

And here's the crux of the issue: what's all this nonsense about Christ's life pointing us toward social service, or earth's destiny being wrapped up in justice issues? Our responsibility is evangelism, spreading the Word! Anyone can do social justice, it doesn't change anything about whether or not you're saved!

So why did I feel a little uncomfortable about this hymn, especially when I actually really liked it? Basically, this is a song about social justice, and I’m used to singing about the attributes of God or the process of being saved.

When I was in Texas, particularly during my college years, I got very jaded by the lack of justice work being done in most of the churches I visited and attended. All the talk was about evangelism and sharing the word. In high school I was constantly reminded to invite my friends from school to youth group – the only problem was, my non-Christian friends were nicer, kinder people than some Christians in my youth group, and I didn’t want to send the wrong message. Thus, I rarely invited my friends from school, and when I did, they were usually already Christians anyway.

I knew there had to be more. When I learned that God cares about justice, that a big portion of the Gospel is helping the orphan and the widow, that God deeply cares about immigrants and the homeless and those rejected by religious people, it was a wonderful feeling because I knew I wasn’t a bad Christian just because I thought there must be more to Christianity than “witnessing” to others. It was a terrible feeling, however, because I looked around at my churches and saw little evidence that many people cared about justice.

In the last few years, however, I’ve become jaded toward justice initiatives and yearned more for proclaiming the Good News. Sure, we can adopt a class at an elementary school or help out a homeless shelter or host donation drives for a local care center, but these aren’t uniquely “Christian” things. I believe they’re vital parts of the Christian experience, but what difference then does Jesus really make if these initiatives are our sole focus?

I think that’s why the song made me uncomfortable – it brought this tension make into my head. On the one hand, I loved the song for its message, but on the other hand, it made me want to hear more hymns like “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” or “Because He Lives.” I didn't want one or the other - I wanted both.

I don’t believe one bias is better than the other, and I’m weirdly encouraged than when I’m around evangelism-minded people I long for justice and when I’m around justice-minded people I long for evangelism. I don’t want to divorce one from the other, and I don’t want to have to choose. I need a faith big enough to handle it all, and I believe that’s the kind of faith Jesus modeled.