I replied that hymns are generally chosen to fit the theme of the worship service, not just because we haven't sung them for awhile.
But then I commented specifically on her example of "Onward, Christian Soldiers." I told her that I personally don't like the militaristic tone of the hymn as it urges us to go "marching as to war."
Don't mistake what I am saying. I believe that the Church on earth is the Church Militant, the Church in battle. I likewise believe in the reality of spiritual warfare and that the Church has an enemy whose every effort is bent on the Church's destruction.
Nevertheless, I also guard strongly against any notion, thought, or inkling that people are to be treated like the enemy. I am concerned that an overly militaristic fervor might have us targeting the wrong foe.
The enemy is not the LGBTQ community. The enemy is not pornographers and sex peddlers. The enemy is not radical atheists. The enemy is not street gangs. In short, the enemy is not people.
St. Paul reminds us that the Church's struggle is against spiritual forces of evil, not against flesh and blood.
Those who have not known the love of God, or worse, have rejected it, are not the ones we are to war against. They are Prisoners of War, victims of the Church's true enemy, Satan.
Those who stand opposed to Jesus are still people for whom Jesus died. They are still people that Jesus tells us to love, just as He loves them.
In a wayward culture that is drifting further away from the truth of God's Word and the practice of God's love, the Church needs more than ever to hold fast to the teachings of Jesus. We need to be ready at all times to speak a massive amount of God's truth, delivered with a mega-dose of God's love.
But we need to regard that same wayward culture as our mission field, not our battlefield. The Church's warfare is always spiritual, and the battles are best fought not on Twitter nor on Facebook, but on our knees.
The lyric "marching AS to war" to me has never indicated an actual battle, but the firm resolution needed to hold to your faith and beliefs in the face of adversity. Maybe that's because I'm a military brat and marching to a war is not the same as engaging in it. No actual adversary is named that I can recall, other than sin. If the militaristic tone of this hymn is disturbing, then I would imagine you don't like "A Mightly Fortress" either, since God is described as a fortress and a bulwark, which also indicate a "non-loving" and exclusionary edifice.
ReplyDeleteI kinda agree. Marching "as" to war.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to having all of the flavor and none of the calories. It meant to have all of the (positive) attributes of the warrior without the unpleasant aftertaste of "death and destruction", without the unpleasant baggage associated with merely human warfare.
But welcome the new-- "American catechism" that no longer allowes us to disassociate the sacred from the profane, or the sign from the signifier.
i still prefer "A Mighty Fortreas" over "Onward, Christian Soldiers," The former clearly identifies Satan and his demons as the foe and Jesus as the Valiant One who fights for us.
ReplyDeleteThe point of my post was that some in the Church are inclined to treat people as the enemy. Paul is clear that Satan is the foe. People are the objects of Jesus' love, regardless of their distance from Him.
Also, the fortress imagery, as drawn from Psalm 46, means a place of refuge and shelter. Very Gospel-centered image.