Of Course, the Lame Can't Waltz
Refocusing Current Music Discourse in the Christian Church
Asking why the church doesn’t sing hymns or even why men don’t sing in church is a bit like lamenting over the lame man who can’t waltz on the dance floor. While it is a valid question, the more immediate question would be, “why doesn’t the lame man walk?”
Several blogs and articles of late note the lack of singing from Christian men in the church today. While there is plenty of commentary on the reasons for this, most of the analysis, I find, skips over the fundamental reason which causes such problems in the first place.
Remembering the Basics
I am reminded of the well-known anecdote from hall-of-fame Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi. After a demoralizing defeat, he gathered his football team around him and cited the need to get “back to basics.” He lifted a football he was holding into the air and calmly said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” Likewise, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves when it comes to music in the life of the Christian Church. We must make some similarly rudimentary explanations for music in the church.
Johnny “Can’t Sing Hymns” because Johnny “Can’t Sing”
I’m thankful for the dialogue generated by books like T. David Gordon’s Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns. But before we question why Johnny can’t sing hymns or why men don’t sing in churches today, we must ask and answer the more fundamental question, “Why Can’t Johnny Sing?” It almost seems too simple to ask, but it is the question we need to answer in our present musical discourse. But it must be addressed if we will reverse the modern musical trends in the Church.
The proverbial Johnny has not been trained to see the importance of music and singing in the creation in which he lives. As a result, there is little importance given to training in music and in making music as a response of praise. I don’t want to start a debate on music form in hymn styles, etc. I want us to back up and rethink why we are not training our children to sing. When we have music programs and curricula in our schools, we often miss the mark in preparing our students to be singers who can use their voices skillfully to praise God. Instead, despite good intentions, we are only giving our students a survey of music. They are not given the tools to be music makers themselves. They can only speak about composers or significant points in music history. That is not what we want to settle for in the long term. Instead, we want to be able to “sing praises with understanding,” as the New King James Version of Psalm 47:7 exhorts. As we understand who we are as children of God, we must grow in understanding what it means to reflect the glory of the Triune God better. The God whose glorified speech created the heavens and the earth from nothing is the same God whose glory echoes throughout creation.
God Sang Creation into Existence
It is not adequate to say God spoke all things into existence. We would do well to refine that it means that He sang this glorious melody of life, and it continues to echo His praise and glory in a grand symphony. He set the temperament, tuned the world, and is continually tuning the world. Therefore, it is our business to view ourselves as part of this symphony. How we live each day is a part of the gospel harmony on a macro level. But at the micro level, we must not miss the opportunity to resound the triune melody in new and more glorious ways. Music-making is the tool for that. What a joy to grow in how we reflect the musicality of God. He creates; we go forth and “wee-create.” In singing and making music, we are being like God, and we can better exhibit what it means to be filled with the Spirit of God. This is why we must train our students to be such re-creative singers.
The First Steps to Change
We’ve got to put music back in the Christian school and homeschooling co-ops. Beyond that, we must have pastors and elders who exhort their flock to be like God, who joyfully sings and enjoys all of His creation, singing back His praise. When we start, we must start small. Instead of viewing music as an artistic aside, we must think of it as language-like in that it has components and tools that must be studied to achieve proficiency. In other words, we must have students trained in music literacy so that they can read, write, and sing (or think) in terms of music. This doesn’t mean they have to be career musicians. It means that our people will be musicians simply because they are humans made in the image of the Triune God. If the Lord calls them to a vocation in music, we should value and encourage that. But we should not resist the idea of music training because we have a stereotype of what it means to be a career musician.
So, if you are reading this and think, “we’ve got to do more, but what first?” you need to have someone help teach your folks to sing. Have your kids in music lessons, and find courses on singing and reading music. Have folks with experience in Kodály or other music philosophies that can give children to adults the sequenced tools that will enable them to grow as singers first and musicians second. That’s where you must begin. Then, if you are older, you must pour your energy and resources into the younger ones in your family and church. Use what provision and means you have to help others come to a better understanding of music than you have currently. This, after all, is what we are about as Christians. We are seeking to move from glory to glory. We want our children and children’s children to build upon our strengths and understanding to new and glorious ways of living and serving their Creator.
Do not be discouraged. Do not be grumpy. We must not forget that the Lord is working his purposes out in his timing and purpose regarding music and singing. Our job is to be thankful in all things and to press on to see a more faithful generation that will seek to reflect God’s glory through faithful living and praising our Creator in songs and hymns and spiritual songs.
A version of this article first appeared as a guest post on the Kuyperian Commentary website.