Gimme that Old Time Religion, Part 3

Spirituality Column #191
July 6, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Gimme that Old Time Religion, Part 3
By Bob Walters

Gimme that old time religion, Gimme that old time religion,
Gimme that old time religion, It’s good enough for me.

This is not a song I learned in my traditional church as a kid, but often pops up in American culture (movies and TV) so I sure know the tune. It was adapted from an African-American spiritual by Charles Tillman and was first heard, the story goes, at an 1889 Christian revival camp meeting in South Carolina.

The five tripled verses are:
It was good for our mothers …
Makes me love everybody …
It has saved our fathers …
It will do when I am dying …
It will take us all to heaven …
… and it’s good enough for me.

A simple song for simpler times?

Maybe. But I am not sure there have ever been truly “simpler times” when it comes to trying to express the Christian faith. Jesus Christ has always been a tough sell despite the seeming simplicity of His message: Love God, and love each other.

Certainly not every era of the Christian faith has been great. Early on there were the Christians and lions as Roman entertainment. Then came the heresies of the early church. Then there were the Muslim marauders, the Christian Crusades, the Great Schism, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials and the several TV-inflated maladies of modern times – insincere preachers, church scandals, self-serving doctrine.

It seems someone is always either trying to kill the Christians, or the Christians are trying to kill each other. What’s been nice about the American experiment in democracy and religious freedom is that, with a few notable exceptions, the Christians here have only had to worry about fighting each other.

The Second Great Awakening in America’s early 1800s invited God to the far-flung camp-meeting party by celebrating independence with the Bible, and Jesus.

Christianity has thrived here in the USA over the years. But when I hear “Old Time Religion” it brings to mind a cultural default position that accepts the existence of God, believes Jesus Christ is His Son, and invites the Holy Spirit into America’s collective heart to seek truth and justice with faith, hope, love … and peace.

“Old Time Religion” is a Gospel song that’s extra light on theology, but assumes a widely shared belief in the goodness of God. Gimme some of that this Fourth of July.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) recommends authors Mark Noll, George Marsden and Nathan Hatch for U.S. religious history.