Sing for Jesus

I spend a lot of my time thinking and talking about Christian worship. There is, of course, much more to our worship than singing. We know that; I teach that. In fact, I emphasize that point so much I fear I may be guilty of swinging the pendulum too far in the other direction. I wonder if I have underestimated the importance of our congregational song.

Fact is, one of the defining characteristics of Christians from the very beginning is that they “gathered on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god.” (Pliny the Younger, Letter to Trajan 10.96-97). Pliny the Younger was a non-Christian governor in Bithynia. In this letter, he is reporting on the practices of the Christians in his region for Emperor Trajan, who was skeptical of the new upstart religion. His letter was written sometime between 111CE and 113CE.

Christians are—and always have been—a singing people. And Jesus is the Object of our song. (If He isn’t, worship leaders, you better fix that real quick!)

As “meta” as it may sound, I wrote this song as I thought about our singing. When we, Christians, gather to sing of Jesus, Scripture attests to the reality that there is a lot more is happening than we may at first realize. I touch on some of it in this song.

First, Christ is present. Jesus himself promises in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” The separation between heaven and earth thins as we gather together to worship. Is God omnipresent? Absolutely. Is Christ somehow present in a unique and peculiar way when we gather? I believe so. Our singing is therefore a communion with Christ.

Second, Jesus leads our singing. He is in our midst actively leading our song. The book of Hebrews has much to say regarding Jesus’ present heavenly activity. As our heavenly High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16), Jesus “lives forever to intercede on our behalf” (Hebrews 7:23-25). The author of Hebrews also depicts Jesus, crowned with glory, in the middle of the heavenly assembly, singing to the Father and inviting all whom He has made holy (which includes you and me) to join in the song (Hebrews 2:9-12).

Third, the Holy Spirit is actively transforming us into Christlikeness as we contemplate Jesus’ glory. Paul makes this explicitly clear in his second letter to the Corinthians. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).” This is why it is so important we keep Jesus as the Object of our songs!

As we meet with Christ, Who is present, and join His song, the melody lifts our hearts and minds to Jesus. And the Spirit, moving unseen, forms us into men and women able to reflect Christ’s character into the dark and dying world around us. The transformation that occurs as we sing, therefore, is for our good, for Christ’s glory, and for the sake of the world that God so loves.

Simply put: the world needs more Jesus, and our singing—according to Scripture—plays a key role in that happening.

So, yes, our worship is more than just songs. But that doesn’t mean our singing isn’t significant. No, in fact, according to the Bible, our singing is essential to our participation with God bringing about His Kingdom on earth as it in heaven.

Credits

Words & Music: Bill Wolf