We began this writing project inspired by an idea… The idea was joy. More specifically we had in mind Christian joy which we believed to be something quite distinct, and we wanted that notion to inspire, underwrite, and unify the songs written for this project. The songs resulting from this meditation are six simple songs for the church centered upon those remarkable realities of the Christian faith that are occasions for deep and lasting joy.
There is a trend in the church music ‘industry’ to write songs quite quickly. A new song or two a day is a pretty common benchmark for many writers. Good songs can certainly be written that way. But, this method of writing is going to limit the kind of songs that come out. Certain songs just take time and work and reworking and meditation and reworking and discussion. Theology is rich and deep and our songs need to grapple with that. It is unlikely (though not impossible, it must be said) that a writer could dash off a song about God’s sovereignty or the mystery of suffering in an hour or two. In fact, there is the danger of arrogance where a person thinks they would be able to do that without serious thought with whatever ideas come easily to mind. Deep truths about the gospel take time to get a grip on and the songwriter must take the time to do it in order to bless the church. We are feeding the church. We need to feel the weight of that. What we put in the mouths of the body of Christ has the power to either strengthen a believer or distort their theology. We would argue that, because of the way songs stay in people’s minds, we have a responsibility just like the preacher delivering a sermon. In fact it could be argued that songs need even more care than sermons.
Our hymn “Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me” took us 12 weeks to write. We dove deep into the idea of what it meant to have Christ dwell in us. What an incredibly profound, mysterious truth. It needed time. We wrote and rewrote the songs many, many times. We struggled for every word.
This is an exploration of one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith. Having Christ in us calls together two apparently paradoxical ideas: we contend for the faith and we do it with Christ’s energy (Colossians 1.29 (NIV), ‘To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me’). Having Christ in us does not mean we do no more work, and neither does it mean we do it all. Rather, we contend and we contend with his energy. Even our final resurrection is made possible by the gift of Christ in us. He will bring us to glory. In our weakness he is strong, and he will complete the work he has begun. He himself is within us, leading us home, step by step. Every believer has been given this gift. It’s worth singing about!
[As far as the tunes go] we are keen to make sure our songs are accessible. Complicated melodies, with large ranges, can distract from this pursuit. The more we can allow the melody to ‘get out of the way’ the better. Those songs that everyone loves—the ones that are sung the loudest—are often the ones with very simple, predictable melodies. Yet simple melodies are often the hardest to write. We spend a lot of time on creating melodies that carry emotion and lead the church through the journey of the song.
