Should We Still Sing “Onward Christian Soldiers”?
Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus, going on before.
Sometimes things that are obvious to us are not so obvious to others. I was thinking about the words of this song this week in light of the fifty dead at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. How do these words sound to people in the Muslim world—or even the unbelieving world in general? Militancy means something very different to them than to us. This is a world that is filled with hate and violence and for many, that is all they can see. This song is not about racism, Islamophobia, or xenophobia even though that accusation has been made (here). Some purposefully read evil intentions into everything Christian. Others read violence into a song like this because they truly do not understand it.
So let us now be absolutely clear. We condemn the murderous actions in New Zealand as a heinous sin against God and man. All life is precious and belongs to God. No one should live in fear of pain or death because of their faith, skin color, or ethnicity.
Baptists have always denounced violence in the name of religion.
Our Baptist forefathers suffered persecution because they insisted on worshiping according to their consciences. This violence was at the hands of professing Christians. The idea of a Baptist church was born in the pain of persecution. That is why the separation of Church and State was a Baptist distinctive long before it was a political reality on this continent.
The revival movement of the late 1800’s along with the fundamentalist movement of the early twentieth century was (and is) full of militant language. From “The Fight is On O Christian Soldiers” to Curtis Lee Laws declaration that a fundamentalist is one who is willing do “battle royal” for the fundamentals of the faith, we have had a fondness for aggressive expressions. They engender healthy passion and communicate the kind of complete dedication to service that our Lord demands. They are dear to us and we know they are not literal calls to violence.
Bible-believers do not fight with guns, swords, or fists for the faith. These are figurative expressions describing arguing for the faith, standing up to speak against false teaching and evil, and taking a stand in churches and institutions against error. Our battle is and has always been for hearts and minds. We seek to defend and convince people with the truth of the word of God applied by the power of the Holy Spirit. We firmly believe no positive spiritual end comes from religious persecution. We would firmly and completely denounce any violence in the name of religion.
But we are also not pacifists. We believe that God has allowed and established human governments for the purpose of protecting the peace. We will fight and even die as members of our armed forces or as duly sworn officers of the law. We believe that such loyalty is not only allowed but commanded by God–but only in the legal administration of duly established human justice.
Militant Language Analogies are Biblical.
The use of militant language to describe our mission is biblical. Paul, especially in his prison epistles, used such analogies freely. He described Great Commission work as warfare and Christians as soldiers (2 Timothy 2:2-3). He tells us what are weapons are in Ephesians 6:10-17. Jude says that we must “earnestly contend (do battle, fight) for the faith (Jude 3). However, even a cursory reading of any of these passages makes it clear that he is speaking of spiritual and not physical warfare. The weapons commended to the believer are such things as the Word of God, salvation, truth, the gospel of peace, and faith.
We must be perceptive and wise in what we communicate to a violence driven world.
So how do we use biblical analogies without being misunderstood? Our passion for the truth must never waiver. We must stand in the evil day against the sin and darkness of this world. The warfare in which we are embroiled though spiritual is real. As we commit ourselves to this cause, we must do so wisely.
We must always be aware of who is listening. Our intended audience is not our only audience. Others are reading listening and drawing conclusions about us. Make no mistake, the internet is always global communication. Any message we post, any sermon we make available online has the potential for a worldwide audience. There is a proper time and place for militant terminology. Songs like this were intended to be used as fraternal encouragement, not as gospel messages to an unbelieving world. When we do use the terms and analogies we need to explain them. The world is a smaller place now. We must be careful not to communicate globally with language that is only provincially understood.
We will never be able to avoid the hatred and anger of a world that hated Christ first. The gospel will always be offensive to many; however godly wisdom advises us to steer clear of unnecessary offenses.
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18).
So, Kevin, are we up or down on this song being used where we always used it, in our church services to encourage the saints to remember that we ARE soldiers in an eternal fight? How about another favorite of mine, “Am I a Soldier of the Cross”? I am uncertain of your conclusion, it seems.
Ralph, like I said, the militant language is biblical. These songs are beloved and useful in the local church worship service. But I would be mindful of the context. If you livestream your services or record for later online availability, I would be careful. I am not a fan of livestreaming worship services unless access to them is password protected. I would also consider not using songs like this in mission field settings or even domestic community settings where a significant part of your target evangelistic group is from a culture where this would be a stumbling block. If you are ministering in Morocco or Indonesia for instance. The fact is that most unsaved people would not understand a song like that, it is not evangelistic, it is targeted for believers.
Generally, we do not often think of the songs we are using and the setting in which we are using them–evangelistic songs for evangelistic settings, motivational songs for motivational settings, worship songs for worship settings etc. We need to be deliberate in our choices.
For the same reason Maranatha Baptist University changed their mascot from the Crusaders to the Sabercats and it’s so nice to not have to explain to my brass what Fundamental means in FBF that we don’t support flying planes into buildings by replacing the “F” with “Foundations” …. The world at large doesn’t understand the terms that we sometimes use….. I think it’s important that we give no offense when at all possible.