Old-Time Religion

Is it possible that every generation sings some version of “Give me that old-time religion?” I wouldn’t have thought so until I discovered that the song dates back to 1873. The lyrics don’t mention Jesus or His message, but they are nevertheless a staple of many Protestant hymnals and different iterations grace the airwaves of many Christian radio stations. Oddly, the lyrics are popular in both black spirituals and southern gospel songs. Really? People sang the same song in the cotton fields AND in the plantation houses at the same time? Both groups look back with fondness toward the way things used to be?

“Old”-time religion

I was recently on a bike ride with people from a church that Tina and I have started attending. A newfound friend and I were talking about our experiences in churches “back in the day.” He had moved from a Christian and Missionary Alliance church to a Lutheran church – much to the consternation of his grandfather. “But this was in the days of the charismatic revival in the Lutheran church,” he explained. “It wasn’t like going into an old-time Lutheran church.”

I, on the other hand, had been raised in Army chapels which provided intentionally generic Protestant services. During high school, I began attending a Christian Reformed Church. Each week, the order of worship in both morning and evening services were the same. We repeated the same song with our offerings and closed the service with, “By the Sea of Crystal.” State of the art worship amounted to Bible songs: clearly not as holy as the psalms and not even as acceptable as hymns, but “It Only Takes a Spark” was cutting edge.

Imagine my surprise when I started attending Madison Square Church in Grand Rapids, MI. It was an inner-city, multi-cultural and semi-charismatic blend that focused on excellent worship followed by even better preaching. “If I blow it on the sermon,” my pastor said, “people will have still experienced God in the worship.” We sang old hymns played by a praise team that rocked along spirituals led by a Gospel choir. Those were good times.

As we rode along, I was suddenly curious. “Whatever happened to those churches?” In other words, I wanted the old-time religion of my early adult years when norms were abandoned and injustice was challenged.

Priorities

Madison Square was all about Biblical preaching, great worship AND social justice. Our pastors regularly preached on racial reconciliation. One pastor was a Puerto Rican from Spanish Harlem in New York. A former drug addict, he was on fire for Jesus, a committed evangelist, and a determined proponent of bringing Reformed theology to the inner-city.

The other was white and was born and raised in a traditional Christian Reformed home. Compared to others of his generation, he was edgy, in your face, and open to change. They were an Odd Couple of faith determined to practice racial harmony and to challenge the congregation to do the same.

It was the 80s. Churches were breaking out of the mold of traditional Christianity and (finally) embracing the heart and passion of the 60s. They wanted to change the world by working for “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” Without neglecting the priority of pursuing individual righteousness, they saw the need to call our nation to account for our sins of racism, self-centered living, disinterest in the poor, and a faith seemingly disconnected from the Old Testament prophets.

“Whatever happened to those churches?” I found myself longing for the old-time religion, that is the reinvigorated Christian faith of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. In truth, my vision was turned further back than that. I wanted the “old-time” religion that didn’t mark time in the 50s but instead harkened back to the days of Jesus.

Jesus in turn had His sights set on an even older expression of faith. He quoted from the prophet Isaiah. “[The Spirit of the Lord]…has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19) It is clear from the work that Jesus did as well as the ways that He taught that His image of the kingdom of God was not entirely spiritual. His kingdom also had a profoundly practical application.

New-time religion

What happened? How did we move from a focus on cultural transformation to a focus on self-realization? Who changed our lyrics so that the words of prophets were silenced, replaced by an interest in what God does for us as individuals? Why did our preachers stop calling us to transform our society in broad ways and instead turn their attention to the morality of individuals? When did we begin to decry the immorality of the society around us rather than recognizing our own participation in the injustice of it?

Did we give up? Transformation of our society is hard work. Did we push that boulder up the hill so long with so little progress that we eventually decided to turn our attention to more manageable projects like human sexuality and abortion? Was racial reconciliation too difficult? Too costly? And commitment to the poor – did that fall to the wayside because we realized the problem was more firmly entrenched in our world (and our own hearts) than we imagined? Or that the solution would call for sacrifice from us as well as from others? Did we buy into the self-realization movement of American culture and incorporate that into our understanding of the Gospel?

Gimme’ that

The song had it wrong. “Give me that old-time religion?” How naive is that? The old-time religion that inspired the prophets and inflamed their speech wasn’t cheap. The same religion that informed Jeus’ mission and infuriated the religious leaders eventually cost Jesus His life. The disciples picked up the mantle, determined to advance the kingdom while also building the church. They also gave their lives to the cause. There was no one to “give them” that old-time religion. They had to give themselves to it.

Along the way, they engaged in the hard work of church planting. The epistles were written to these fledgling congregations to encourage them in the midst of persecution while also correcting misunderstandings of Jesus’ teachings. That may be where things started falling apart. Starting a movement is one thing. Everything is fresh and new; idealism hasn’t encountered reality yet and there is endless energy…in the beginning. Enthusiasm only lasts so long. Conflict increased and more time and energy were inevitably focused on organization. Our attention turned inward. The mission became self-preservation and growth. The amazing part of the story is that it took so long for someone to put words to music and write the song, “Give me the old-time religion.”

Perhaps that’s the point of the message to the church in Ephesus. “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” (Rev. 2:4-5)  It’s not that they forget their love for Jesus and all He had done for Him. They had forgotten their passion for the work that He had given Himself to. They stopped singing, “I surrender all.” and started singing, “Give me that old-time religion.” Not surprisingly, the old-time religion disappeared when they – we – started thinking that it was something to receive rather than something to work for.

What would it look like to regain the passion of the prophets and the selflessness of Jesus? To fight for “Thy kingdom come!” rather than hope for my ship to come in? What would a church committed to Biblical teaching, Christ-centered worship, AND social justice look like today? Where would we channel our energy and focus our attention? How could we partner with those outside the church to transform our world? What if our concern was less about the size of our congregation or our mortgage and more about the presence of God’s kingdom on earth? Nobody is going to give us that old-time religion. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth giving ourselves to.