![]() What theological expression does your version offer instead? The hymn models Christian mission on warfare “against flesh and blood” - the very opposite of what Jesus and Paul taught …. But the ambiguity leaves room for trouble, I think. For example, it speaks ambiguously of “the foe” - which could (in the minds of some) refer to our neighbors outside the church. It would be very different if it identified “the foe” as, for example, corporate greed, racism, domestic violence, apathy or pride. So much about the original hymn is disturbing to me. What do you find disturbing about the hymn? In this case, if we get more and more worship teams making policy decisions to stop using dangerous warfare language and to stop avoiding the essential Christian discipleship theme of peacemaking … and then if we help congregations sing powerful songs that celebrate this and other important themes, then five, 10 and 50 years from now, a cumulative impact will build. The most important impact happens over decades. I wish “b” were the case, but I think it’s more often “a” and “c.” The book I’ve just finished, The Great Spiritual Migration … challenges church leaders to take these issues on - not as political issues, but as essential aspects of Christian discipleship.Īre you hoping for any particular impact? The fact that Islamophobia, xenophobia, overt and covert racism, and other ugly social realities are still so strong in our heavily churched culture tells us that our churches are either a) avoiding these topics, b) trying to address them but failing, or c) often working on the wrong side of these issues. I think the first one was, I’ll Fly Away.ĭo you feel it was important - theologically, culturally, politically - that Onward Christian Soldiers be rewritten and at this particular time? So a few years ago I started taking some of the worst offenders lyrically and writing new lyrics for them. ![]() The problem is that many of the tunes are fun and enjoyable to sing. In recent years as I’ve been writing about theological, ecclesial and missional shifts that face the church in all its forms, I’ve come to realize how often our liturgy and hymnody embed exactly the values we need to leave behind. During my years as a pastor, I wrote worship music constantly. I’ve been a songwriter since I was a teenager. McLaren answered questions about this rewriting of the song, the theology of the two versions and more. “But after watching one of the Republican presidential … debates and hearing several candidates in one breath speak of Christian faith and Jesus and in the next breath speak of carpet bombing and the like, I felt it was time to finish some alternative lyrics.” “I had started a rewrite of Onward, Christian Soldiers lyrics awhile back,” McLaren said in an email to BNG. It’s similar to how Christ and conflict are coming together in the current cultural and political climate, he said. But he felt compelled to rewrite this iconic song because of the ways it blends faith, patriotism and war. Rewriting hymns is nothing new for McLaren. His version of the historic favorite is posted on his website at.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |