"Give Me That Old Time Religion"

How many of us have heard this song growing up in Conservative Christianity, either in our home church, on the radio, at the school/college we attended, etc. etc.?

Give me that old time religion
give me that old time religion
give me that old time religion
it's good enough for me.

And the verses are usually something like this:

It was good enough for Father [replace with mother, sister, grandpa, etc. for other verses]
it was good enough for Father
it was good enough for Father 
it's good enough for me.

Now, let me ask you this, have you ever actually thought about this song as you were listening to it? Have you ever considered what it is saying, what is meant when it is sung, or even whether or not we ought to sing it at all? I know when I first started thinking about what music is used in the church, this song quickly rose to the top of my list of songs I will never use in a worship service, will never use at a summer camp, will never listen to in the car, will never use period.

A few thoughts about this song.

1. What old time religion are we singing about?

• the song never states which religion we want.
• it could easily be talking about paganism (whose followers claim it is the oldest religion, btw)
• or any other religion for that matter.
• This song could easily be sung by anyone, a buddhist, a moslem, a pagan, etc. etc.

2. Why do we want this "old-time religion?"

• according to this song we are Christians (or whatever religion we are) because it's the "good old religion"
• according to the verses we are Christians (or whatever) because that's what our parents were.
• thought doesn't seem to be important in this process. Just the fact that it's what my daddy believed, so that's what I'm going to believe.
• according to the logic of this song we should just stay whatever religion our parents are, because it was good enough for them wasn't it?

3. Are we satisfied with it being "good enough"?

• just because something is good enough for me, doesn't mean it is the best choice for me.
• are we satisfied with the religion that is "good enough" or should we seek the one that is best?

And yet if I were to sing this song as a special in most conservative Baptist churches I would get a lot of hearty amens and pats on the back.  Very few would question the words or meaning of this song. Very few would wonder if we should be singing this song. Very few would question the song at all. They would just agree with the sentiment that we need to stick to the "good old-time religion" and not any of this new-fangled stuff. I have news for these people. There was a time Christianity was considered the "new religion." Could the early church have sung this song? Most of them were ostracized and even disowned by their parents for believing in that "new-fangled" religion. According to this song you should stick with whatever religion your parents follow, whether it's buddhism, taoism, paganism, islam, satanism, etc. etc. What matters is it is the good old time religion that our parents follow. According to this logic then the early Christians should have just stayed Jewish or pagan, and not switched to this "new" religion.

But even more importantly this song completely misrepresents why we should be a Christian. If you are a Christian merely because it's the "Old-time religion" or because "it was good enough for Father" then you really aren't a Christian, are you? To truly be a Christian one must make a conscience choice to accept the work of Christ upon the cross for redemption of our sins.  It is a personal choice, not something we are born into, and if we choose to be a Christian merely because it's the good old religion, then we don't even truly understand what Christianity is, nor are we truly saved!

So then why do we sing this song? Why do we fill our children's heads with ideas that directly contradict scripture? I want my children to choose Christianity because they understand that they are a sinner, that the punishment for sin is death, that their works will never make them righteous enough for God, that the only payment for our sin is death, that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins, and that he rose again victorious over the grave. I do not want them to choose Christianity merely because Daddy is a Christian.

I think the answer to why we sing this song lies in the fact that it expresses the true reason many of us do many of things we do (especially those things we do in the church) for specifically this reason. We've always done it this way, it's the good old fashioned way, and we aren't a a part of the "new" crowd. I however submit that we should never do anything merely because it is the way it's always been done. If the people who started doing it had thought that way, it would never have been done in the first place! Furthermore, how do we know that it is right? The ones who started doing it could have been wrong! God help us if we do wrong the first time! I personally am glad that Martin Luther, John Calvin, Martin Zwingli,, Menno Simons, John Smith, John Huss, Wycliffe, Tyndale and many others didn't stick with the "old-time religion" of their parents or the accepted institution known as the church in their day. We as Christians and musicians ought to be testing everything we do according to the standard of the Word of God, not the standard of time, or acceptability in our "circles".

Why am I a Christian? I can tell you one thing for sure: it is not because it's the good old-time religion that was good enough for my parents.