Or, as the Prophet Isaiah prophesied: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” God’s wrath against sin - our sin - was atoned through Christ’s sacrifice. In orthodox Christianity, sin demands sacrifice. The core of the dispute is the mainline break with orthodoxy on the very nature of God and mission of Jesus. The reason? The PCUSA Committee on Congregational Song objected to the lyric that proclaims “Till on that cross as Jesus died/The wrath of God was satisfied.” The Committee proposed an alternative: “Till on that cross as Jesus died/the love of God was magnified.” Getty and Townend refused the change, and the Committee voted to exclude the song. So it was with some sorrow that I read yesterday in First Things that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted to exclude the song from the church hymnal.
And it’s a beautiful song, covered by countless Christian artists. It avoids shallow promises of earthly comfort in favor of the ultimate comfort - no matter our earthly destiny - found in Christ. While the entire hymn is outstanding, the last verse was particularly meaningful: Called “In Christ Alone,” it bucks the contemporary worship trend of shallow, emotional lyrics in favor of a theologically rich presentation of the Gospel. When I was in Iraq - especially as casualties mounted, and the IED menace seemed overwhelming - I took great comfort in a contemporary hymn written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. I can tell you that I feel more secure in claiming the promise “No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand till he returns or calls me home” than I do with that rifle and pistol.What do hymn choices tell us about a denomination? A lot, it turns out.įirst, forgive me for a bit of a personal reflection. The picture of Christ standing in victory, the image of sin’s grip being broken and the promise that I am his and knowing that he in fact is mine brings him incredibly close to me.Īs I drive down the highway with my M-16 pointed out the window and my 9MM pistol tucked in my flak jacket pocket. No matter how many times I hear that verse, I get chills up my spine. To know that Christ purposefully gave his life for us helps me to understand that he knows that soldiers are dying and that he is in control. We are losing soldiers here everyday to people that we are trying to help. It moves immediately to Christ’s burden for those who scorned him. It has been an inspiration to me because in each of it verses it reminds me of fundamental principles. I have listened to it almost every night and even tend to sing/reflect on its words on my trips across. It is a new hymn written, I believe, a year or two ago but it has the feel of the traditional hymns. ” I wanted to share a song that has been a real inspiration to me. One particularly moving story was a letter we received from a soldier at war Stuart penned a quite incredible lyric, which the two of us edited, developed and rewrote for a couple of weeks until it became “In Christ Alone”.Īs well as being a credal song, it fires people with hope that here is the God who even death cannot hold “No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me”. Something that could teach people the foundations of what we believed in Christ the God who changed all of history and who wants a relationship with each us. I wanted it to become a hymn that would declare the whole life of Christ and what it meant. I had a strong very Irish melody that I could imagine a large crowd singing. Ironically, it is the first hymn we ever penned together “Of all the hymns we have written, this hymn is the most popular wherever we go. When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!īought with the precious blood of Christ. What heights of love, what depths of peace,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
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