MUSIC IN A REVIVAL – D. B. TOWNER

The day is past when any intelligent person doubts for a moment the helpfulness of singing in revival services. The time was, when some very zealous people objected to singing in church services, and who even now do not encourage it to any great extent, and yet these same people make the best use of singing that they know how in revival meetings. Therefore, no matter what the objection may be to singing in the regular church services, all are agreed that for mission and revival meetings singing is helpful. It would be a very easy matter to prove by the Scripture that the early Christians believed in singing, and that even our Lord Himself approved of it and engaged in it, but that is not the object at this time. The Wesleys cer­tainly were heartily in favor of it, and made much of it—and so have all the successful evangelists from their day down to the present time. It is very gener­ally conceded, we think, that Mr. Moody was the prince of evangelists, and he perhaps made more of singing than any man of his time, or before him, and if any one doubts the wisdom of his course in this direction, they have only to listen to the testimony of men and women from every country where the Gospel has been sung, to be convinced that the Gospel when sung is as powerful to convert men and women as it is when preached. One who was an actress, but is now an evangelist, says that the singing of a Gospel song by a company of Christian Endeavorers in a public park of Chicago convicted her of her sin and turned her heart to God, and that she was saved on the spot. A pastor in a large city of this country says that the singing of a man and his wife brought him to Christ, and these are only two of a great multitude who have come under our personal knowledge, who have been led to Christ through song. But one says, “These are isolated cases, and since so much singing is done that seemingly does not produce conviction of sin, does it not follow that singing is not of much importance in revival services?” Not at all, no more than the fact that many sermons do not convict of sin is proof that there is no power in preaching to convert men.

Singing, like preaching, must be of the right sort to be helpful in bringing souls to Christ. Many who are disposed to use singing to promote evangelistic work have erroneous ideas about it. They think that the principal thing is a fine solo singer, and it does not matter very much how the people sing, or whether they sing at all. But quite the reverse is the correct idea. While solos, duets, quartets, etc., are excellent, the greater power lies in the singing of the people. Therefore, to get the greatest help from the singing in a revival meeting, the people must be made to sing. Hence it is necessary that there be a good leader, and by a good leader we mean a man skilled in music, filled with the Holy Ghost, and a love for souls, a good organizer and choir conductor, a good solo singer, and a man with a fine sense of the fitness of things. Such a man will be a channel through which the Spirit can work, and will under God be a power in a revival. A man may be a splendid musician and have a magnifi­cent voice, and yet be of absolutely no use in revival work because he is not a spiritual man and does not sing for the definite purpose of winning men to Christ.

Having the right sort of a leader of the singing, you still must have a suitable collection of hymns and tunes. I say hymns and tunes, because we so often see a good hymn coupled with a poor tune, or a good tune coupled with a weak hymn. In either case the result will not be satisfactory. Because of this many are opposed to the introduction of new books and songs in a revival. But this should not be the case, for if you have such a leader as has been described, and give him the selection of the book, you have no more to fear than you have in giving to the Spirit-filled preacher the choice of subjects he should speak upon, or the methods he should employ. But so long as the selection of a book is left to a committee who either are not at all musical, or else are not in sympathy with revival work, or want to get the book that costs the least money, or are prompted by any other motive than to obtain the book best adapted for the work of winning souls, you will be crippled in the music. A poor book is dear at any price, and does incalculable harm to the meetings. For we say frankly, that many of the so-called Gospel hymns have not a particle of the Gos­pel of Christ in them, and many of the tunes are such an abomination to every person with a knowledge of or taste for music, that even if there is much blessed and converting truth in the hymn it is lost sight of in the dislike awakened by the bad tune. There are two extremes which should be avoided in choosing music for evangelistic meetings: first, the frivolous light songs, and, secondly, the too staid and grave ones. I do not say classical, for the term classical as generally applied to music is misleading. It is a prev­alent opinion that classical music is difficult, which is as great a mistake as it would be to measure hymns by their length, or a picture by its size. Many of the very simple tunes are truly classical, while much of the difficult music is anything but classical. It often requires time to determine whether a tune is a classic. I venture that very few, if any, would have pro­nounced “Old Hundred’’ classic in the year it was written, and yet, to-day, no man of any caliber would pronounce it otherwise.

While great care should be exercised in the selection of music for revival meetings, yet one must not be hypercritical about new songs. About twenty years ago a committee of literary men and musicians were com­piling a denominational hymnbook, and certain hymns and tunes were rejected as not being of a high enough order. But to-day those same tunes and hymns are being used in all denominational books as they are revised and compiled, and have proven by their vitality that they belong among the classics. If a tune is well written, no matter how simple, don’t be afraid to try it. If a hymn does not teach error, direct or implied, don’t be afraid to give it a trial; but if it does, no matter what its literary merit may be, let it alone. Let it be distinctly understood that we are not opposed to the use of old hymns, not by any means, for quite the contrary is the case. We believe that the good old hymns are the heritage of the church, and should be regarded as such, and that they should be sacredly kept and perpetuated, and that each successive genera­tion should be taught to sing them well, but to hold on to these to the exclusion of the new ones would be a calamity. As new men come on the scene, they embody the truth into new hymns, and it gives it a freshness just the same as is the case with a new ser­mon, and new tunes awaken new interest in these themes, such as the old ones do not. As we become familiar with a tune, it gradually loses its power with us, even though we never become tired of it. But the new tune arrests the attention, and gives the truth it carries a chance to enter the heart. Some people seem to outlive their usefulness, while others never do. It is just so with songs. There are those that should be .in every selection, and there are others that seem to have been embalmed, as it were, and laid away in the denominational books which are never used. We do not object, they have served well no doubt, now let them rest in peace, while others come on and do serv­ice in their turn.

Then we believe there is a place for sentimental songs in evangelistic meetings. By this we mean songs with a good religious flavor, on topics calling to mind home and dear ones, for through these songs the emotions are stirred, and men are frequently made to think and finally to repent. Of course, these songs must be of a high order, and judiciously used.

In short, what is needed in revival or evangelistic meetings is hymns that contain a message for the sin­ner, founded on the Word of God, worshipful hymns for believers, and hymns of thanksgiving and praise, written by men and women whose hearts are aglow with the love of God, presented by a leader who is a musician anointed by the Holy Ghost for such service.

When these conditions obtain, the music in evangel­istic meetings will be a mighty power, and no one will doubt but that it has the approval of Almighty God.

When the soloist sings he should do it with just as definite a purpose of leading some one to Christ as the preacher has when he preaches. He is not there to entertain people, but to save people, and he needs the baptism with the Holy Spirit for this work just as much as the one who preaches the Word. The same is true of the chorus. They should be trained to realize that the salvation of some in the audience hangs upon the way they sing and the way in which they conduct themselves. Both the soloist and the choir should come to the meeting after very much and very definite prayer to God for His blessing upon their work.

Mr. Moody made very much of solos and quartets and choir singing and congregational singing, to get the audience into a receptive mood, so that when he preached his word dropped into prepared soil. He would have them sing and sing until he saw just the favorable moment had come, and then he would arise and deliver his message. He attributed much of the wonderful effects of that message to this fact—that the singing got the people ready for it.

A suitable solo or duet or even chorus often serves to clinch the message and bring people to immediate decision. It is well for the preacher, oftentimes, to say, “Now I am going to ask Mr. to sing, and while he sings I want to ask the Christians to bow their heads and pray God to bless the song to some one’s conversion and let the unsaved think, and when the song is ended I will give all who wish to accept Christ an opportunity to arise (or, come forward) and say so in that way. ’ ’ Music can also be used very effectively while all the Christians are standing, by asking all those who wish to be saved to come forward while we sing “Just as I Am,” or some similar hymn of invitation. People should be so familiarized with a few choice hymns that they can sing them without a book while kneeling at the altar or bowing in prayer. Many a successful revival campaign has been signalized by one or more hymns that have been the keynote of the whole movement, and were not only sung again and again at the meetings, but on the streets, on the cars, in the home, and everywhere.

In the great reformation under Martin Luther in Germany, the historic Huguenot movement in France, the Methodist revival in England and America, hymns were one of the mightiest instruments used of God to spread and perpetuate the work. If we are wise we shall make much of holy song in the great revival upon which we are now entering.