Give Me That Old Time Religion

One of the sweetest parts of worship services here is the tradition. Each week, we sing familiar hymns, recite the Apostle’s Creed, and close with the Lord’s Prayer. Albeit in Korean, it has brought a real sense of home for me. It has also been comforting that, while I don’t understand most of the sermon yet, our church is rooted in timeless truth.

I think I had lost an appreciation for the beauty of liturgy and hymns in worship. I have been attending contemporary churches for many years now. Of course, there is a beauty in the fresh and modern, too. It reminds us that God is still moving today. We have our own songs to write of His goodness. The early church produced new songs weekly—“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16).” At some point in history, all hymns were contemporary worship music.

Sometimes we can get lost in our traditions. We start worshiping the “form,” instead of the Foundation of worship. However, I was foolish to think that we don’t have our own trappings in modern services. We often lose a sense of reverence, instead preferring a feeling of entertainment. We can also develop arrogance—that our way is superior to previous ways. We think that we have eliminated the idolatry that can be found in traditionalism. But, if we are not careful: we can become shallow ponds, instead of drawing from the deep Well of truth, passed down from the generations. We can become isolated islands, never identifying with the Church universal. We can prefer to build with new materials, while missing the Foundation altogether.

When I was a membership pastor, I heard many reasons why people prefer modern churches to more traditional settings. I identified with many of them. They would say: “It was steeped in church politics and legalism, instead of true and meaningful worship.” And, “it was full of hypocrisy—people there didn’t live out what they were teaching and singing.” Or simply, “it was boring.” So, we eschewed tradition for “relevance.”

Interestingly, I have found the hymns we sing at Evergreen Church to be extremely relevant for me, though they date back for centuries. Why? Because these hymns include a depth of timeless truth and breadth of biblical topics rarely found on a modern worship CD. It never fails—whatever struggle I am facing each week, one of the hymns will speak directly to it—if I am willing to truly “hear” the lyrics, and not just sing along.

I was greatly encouraged by one hymn called, "Close to Thee." The first verse is: “Thou, my everlasting portion, more than friend or life to me; all along my pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with thee. Close to thee, close to thee, close to thee, close to thee--all along my pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with thee." It really spoke to the desire of my heart—walking closely with the Lord, on my own “pilgrim journey” here to South Korea.

One hymn reminded me that I am just a vessel. The gospel changes lives. It is called "Channels Only." And it goes: "Just a channel full of blessing to the thirsty hearts around; to tell out Thy full salvation, all Thy loving message sound. Channels only, blessed Master—but with all Thy wondrous power flowing through us, Thou can use us every day and every hour!" I was humbled—I am a channel only, but a channel of His power!

After a difficult week, I was feeling discouraged when I was reminded of Jesus’ promise to us—that He has sent the Comforter. How often do we truly sing about, worship, and rejoice in the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the Trinity? This hymn helped me do just that: “O spread the tidings ’round, wherever man is found, wherever human hearts and human woes abound; Let every Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound: The Comforter has come! The Comforter has come, the Comforter has come! The Holy Spirit from Heav’n, the Father’s promise given; O spread the tidings ’round, wherever man is found— The Comforter has come!”

We sang a hymn on Wednesday night called “Christ for the Whole Wide World.” I was blown away by the last stanza: “Christ for the whole wide world! His heralds will proclaim salvation for men everywhere in Jesus blessed name. And we who cannot go to bear His tidings far will pray for those who take the Word, and witness where we are. We will give, we will pray, we will witness every day, that the millions of the whole wide world may know our Savior’s love.” How often in churches today do we encourage each other to engage in and support the work of missions around the world? After all, Jesus gave us the Great Commission before He ascended—to go and make disciples of all nations. Plus, there is much talk today about “being missional”—sharing Christ’s love right where you are. Some of the language used in contemporary settings may be new, but the Church has been singing about this idea for quite some time!

Please don’t hear me say that I am swinging the proverbial pendulum, and now advocating that every church return to traditional worship. Nor am I saying that modern worship is inherently shallow. Many worship pastors today are beautifully marrying the new with the old, singing lyrics of the past in the music styles of today, teaching us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What I am saying—if you feel yourself spiritually hungry or even discouraged today, try picking up a hymn book. For you never know—to move forward in your spiritual journey, you may need to look backward to the time-tested songs of old.

“It was good for our mothers…it has saved our fathers…makes me love everybody…it will do when I am dying…it will take us all to heaven…Give me that old time religion, ‘tis the old time religion, and it’s good enough for me!”