Communion of Saints

I didn't think much of it at the time, but I went to Africa with three others who were all members of the Lutheran church. I was the odd man out being a member of the Christian Reformed Church. After a day or two, we started getting together for evening devotions and praise. I flipped through the hymnal they handed me and realized I didn't know any of the hymns. "Oh, great," I thought to myself, "I hate singing songs I don't know."

Eventually, this sparked a conversation about the many differences in worshiping God through song.

Some like traditional hymns and others like contemporary worship songs but most people fall somewhere in the middle, liking songs from both of the categories.

With hymns and traditional worship, the people singing are joined together with the saints of old. It is the fulfilling of "communion of saints" in the sense that the saints are believers who have passed on. By singing, one joins in worship with all those singing and all those who have sung that very song in the years gone by. It unites worshipers together in a way that time and even death cannot impede.

On the other hand, with contemporary worship music, people are joining in with their current brothers and sisters- who are still alive on this earth- to praise God. There is still a fulfilling of "communion of saints" in the sense that the believers worshiping here on earth are saints. By singing, one joins in worship with all those who are presently singing the song as worship.

Contemporary worship music is an active and creative praise of God. The songs we write and sing are current psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs that we, specifically, lift up to God. The songs are a genuine outpouring from our hearts.

Believers Singing and Dancing in Sudan

For me, less is more. With some traditional hymns, it is very hard to sing genuinely when there are so many words for me to focus on. The simplicity of most contemporary worship songs allow me to focus on lifting the words up to God like a prayer. I become less worried about what the next verse says and more concerned about praising Him.

When it comes down to it, both traditional hymns and contemporary worship songs offer communion of saints and both are ways to bring praise to our God. Just remember, the important thing is to "speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Eph. 5:19-20