Portraying Jesus as Weak
Jesus doesn't beg people to be his disciples. He bids them to count the cost.
A common weakness among some poorly written hymns is how they portray Jesus as weak or impotent. This is especially true of hymns written during the evangelistic era of the nineteenth century. The revivalism of the time influenced hymn writing a great deal. Verses of the era tended toward emotionalism and begged the listener to make a decision for Jesus.
The First Alter Call
One such early driving force behind this development was Charles Finney. A preacher rather than a hymn writer, Finney was active as a revivalist in New York from 1825 to 1835. Known for his innovative methods of preaching as much as his charisma; Finney developed ways of coaxing a response from his listeners.
The most effective and often imitated of his means was the anxious seat. A bench was placed near the front where undecided souls could come for prayer and persuasion. While not problematic itself, Finney called on some by name to come forward. Others, he publicly censured for perceived sin, both in his sermons and public prayer.
Under Finney’s lead, evangelism transformed from sharing the Gospel, to the act of getting a decision and signing a card. B.B. Warfield, beloved theologian and president of Princeton Theological Seminary commented on Finney’s theology. “God might be eliminated from it entirely without essentially changing its character.”
Singing About a False Jesus
Hymns such as “Let Jesus Come into Your Heart” and “Softly and Tenderly” pressure the listener to make a decision. Nowhere in scripture do we find phrases or ideas like “Let Jesus Come into Your Heart”. And a quick review of the text of “Softly and Tenderly” again reveals a Jesus who is pleading helplessly. The Jesus found in such songs is a Jesus we never see in the gospels.
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Softly and Tenderly
“Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading, Pleading for you and for me? Why should we linger and heed not His mercies, Mercies for you and for me?”
“Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing, Passing from you and from me; Shadows are gathering, Death-beds are coming, Coming for you and for me.”
Finney’s theology and methods greatly impacted a generation of hymn writers. Many writers were no longer content to express the Gospel in song and through calls for submission and repentance. Songwriters began begging their listeners for a decision, portraying God as passive. The begging deity of Finney stands at odds with the real Jesus of scripture. In scripture, we find the true Jesus who tells his followers to “count the cost” before becoming His disciple.