I have an atypical daughter. Despite all the baby books stating that infants sleep 10-12 hours during the night, along with 2 hour-long naps during the day, for a total of 12-14 hours of sleep, my daughter has proved the exception. On good nights, she only wakes up once in the middle of the night, and on bad nights, she wakes up every hour. As for her daytime naps, she prefers to nap only half hour instead of an hour. Whether daytime naps or nighttime bedtime, it takes a while to get her sleeping. At the advice of many baby books and baby website, I find the most effective way to get her to fall asleep is by singing. Naturally, I turn to the songs I learned in church as a child. Upon singing these children's church songs now as a grown adult with a bachelors in Bible Education, a Masters in Divinity and as a Ph.D. candidate in Biblical Studies, however, some of these songs I find peculiar, while other songs rub me the wrong way. In the past, I have been particularly hard on contemporary praise & worship songs. It only seems fair to be equally hard on children's church music. Below I have picked out the children's church songs I sing to my daughter on a regular basis, all of which I learned as a child myself. I will grade each song with a pass/fail grade, and then I will give my reasoning why.
JESUS LOVES ME: This song is probably the most famous of the bunch, and it deserves it. It teaches children 1) Jesus loves them, 2) the Bible teaches them about Jesus's love, 3) that all children belong to Jesus, and 4) they can always find their power and strength in Jesus, even when they are weak and have no agency of their own. Jesus Loves Me clearly gets a PASS.
JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN: This song is probably the second most famous song of the group, and it deserves it. Not only does the song hammer down on the doctrine that Jesus loves the little children (see Matthew 19:13-15/Mark 10:13-16/Luke 18:15-17), it also hammers down on the fact that Jesus loves the children of all races (see Revelation 7:9), which should hopefully take the right steps on fighting the sin of racism that could develop within a child. Jesus Love the Little Children obviously gets a PASS.
THE B-I-B-L-E: This song does an important job of teaching children that the Bible is the Word of God, and that the Bible is the strong foundation on which the Christian's beliefs stand. My only hesitancy is the spelling part, for children unable to spell, or even read for that matter, may not know what they are spelling, and instead think they are just naming random letters. Some iterations of the song end by having the child yell, "BIBLE!" which would mitigate my hesitation. Still, I give the B-I-B-L-E song a PASS.
I AM A C: If the spelling part of the B-I-B-L-E song gave me a slight hesitancy, then I Am A C gives me a strong hesitancy. There is way too much spelling in this song. Don't get me wrong, the doctrine is good. It teaches that every Christian has Christ in their heart, and that a bonus of Christ in your heart means you get to live eternally, as stated in John 3:16. It's just that there's too much spelling. As stated above, for the children unable to spell, or read for that matter, in their minds, they are just spouting random letters. Even for the kid with a basic understanding of reading and spelling, throwing a lot of spelling at the kid, and on top of that a song with a fast tempo, it's easy for the kid to lose track of what he or she is spelling. Even as a grown adult, I have to slow down and make sure I spell everything correctly, especially "live eternally," which is spelled all as one. I have to give I Am A C a FAIL.
DEEP AND WIDE: I actually had to do research on this song. Apparently, the idea behind this song comes from Ezekiel 47, in which Ezekiel has a vision of a river flowing from the temple in Jerusalem, which gets deeper and wider. Without this context, though, there is nothing fruitful about knowing a deep and wide fountain exists. I have to give Deep and Wide a FAIL.
I'VE GOT PEACE LIKE A RIVER: Using water metaphors before Hillsong made it cool! Just like the previous mentioned song, while I'm glad the singer has peace like a river, joy like a fountain, and love like an ocean, without greater context, this really doesn't qualify as a Christian song. There is no hint in the song that the peace like a river, joy like a fountain or love like an ocean came from Yahweh, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Word, salvation, church, or anything like that. For all the singer knows, the peace like a river, joy like a fountain or love like an ocean came from another religion, or not even a religion at all. Anyone worshiping any god of any religion could see this song truly, and even the atheist could sing this song in truth. Some have attempted to connect this song to Isaiah 48:18, but most of my sources concluded that the song's origin is unknown, outside the fact it's an African-American spiritual song. Even if did it come from Isaiah 48:18, it would be an odd choice. The line in Isaiah 48:18 says, "If only you would have paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of a sea" (NIV 1984 ed.). The "if" clause implies that Israel has not paid attention to the Lord God's commands, so they never go tot experience the peace like a river. Therefore, by singing "I've got peace like a river" in the context of Isaiah 48:18, the singer is pretty much singing "I got to experience what Israel did not because I'm doing better off than Israel!" Pretty bold words. Besides, if the phrase "peace like a river" did come from Isaiah 48:18, it only explains the first verse, and it does not explain the origin of the second or third verse. If the first verse did come from Isaiah 48:18, then the third verse should say "I've got righteousness like the ocean," not love, or at least have a fourth verse that says, "I've got righteousness like sea," although I'm not sure such lyrics would align with the music. All in all, that's a lot to say I've Got Peace Like a River gets a FAIL.
I'VE GOT THE JOY JOY JOY JOY: No, just no. It promotes a Christian version of hedonism too much. It doesn't allow a church-going Christian, who has gone or is currently going through a time of trials and pains, to rest in the comfort that the Sovereign Lord remains in control, but rather, it forces that Christian to feel emotions that he or she cannot feel or doesn't want to feel. Yes, the second verse speaks on "the peace that passes all understanding," and the third verse talks about, "the wonderful love of our blessed Redeemer," but most of the time, when I hear this song, it never goes beyond the first verse. Even if/when it doesn't chorus repeats the idea of happiness in the words, "And I'm so happy, so very happy..." Again, too many of my Christian millennial peers already grade Christianity based off how happy it makes them, and I can't help but wonder that some of that thinking might find its roots in the song. Yes, I know the Bible talks about the joy of the Lord, but maybe we should hold that theology off until they are grown adults, who can weigh out the joy of the Lord with the cost of discipleship. In conclusion, I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy gets a FAIL.
THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE: To me, this song is reminiscent of Matthew 5:14&15/Mark 4:21/Luke 8:16, in the sense that these verses talk about not hiding a lamp light, and the second verse of the song says, "Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm going to let it shine." From that, it's easy to extend the light shining to not letting Satan blow it out to shining it over until Jesus comes. This song gets a PASS.
MY GOD IS SO BIG: Again, this song is so simple, yet it works. It establishes doctrine, like 1) God is omnipotent (all-powerful), 2) God created the whole world, and 3) God is in control of the world. My God is So Big gets a PASS.
FATHER ABRAHAM: Technically, Abraham only fathered 8 children, and only 1 of those were the son of the promise, whom Sarah bore. Yes, Paul does teach twice in Galatians 3 that those in the faith are sons of Abraham (3:7) and those in Christ are Abraham's offspring (3:29), but this teaching needs careful interpretation. Paul says these things to compare the Christian faith to the faith of Abraham. Just as Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6) apart from having the Law, so the Christian comes to faith in Jesus Christ, not the Law. Such a concept might be too grand for a child to grasp it, and even if the child can understand it, this song does not do a good job of explaining it. Besides, children think more literally than figuratively, so they will think this song teaches that they are related to Abraham of the Bible like they are related to grandparents. Father Abraham gets a FAIL.
12 MEN WENT TO SPY ON CANAAN: Of all the Bible stories to teach children in song, it seems weird to pull out a random story in Numbers (a book that most Christians don't visit regularly anyways), in which Moses chooses 12 men, 1 from each tribe, to spy out the Promise Land, of which 10 come back with a bad report and 2 come back with a good report. Thankfully, the song skips over the part when the 10 bad spies die of plague and the rest of Israel doesn't get to enter the Promise Land. Despite the random choice of Bible stories, the song still ends on the strong note that some spies "saw that God was in it all," which in turn teaches the children see God in all their lives, whether going through the good parts or the bad parts of life. Therefore, 12 Men Went to Spy on Canaan gets a PASS.
HALLELUJAH/PRAISE YE THE LORD: Pretty cool that this song actually teaches children Hebrew. Indeed, the Hebrew word הַלְלוְּיהּ (hallelujah) is a compound word that literally translates into "Praise Yahweh" or "Praise (Ye) the Lord." Furthermore, the Hebrew word appears 46 times in 23 verses of the Psalms, making it very Biblical. Hallelujah/Praise Ye The Lord definitely gets a PASS.
THIS IS THE DAY: This song is literally Psalm 118:24 put to music. Can't criticize a song that literally uses Scripture without criticizing the Scripture itself. If one would grasp at straws to complain, the complaint would be along the lines that we don't if this musical piece is how the original Psalm was sung, but that's really grasping at straws. This is the Day definitely gets a PASS.
FISHERS OF MEN: This song is pretty much Matthew 4:19/Mark 1:17 put to music, except that the song takes the phrase "Follow me" and puts it at the end of the verse, adding the word "if" to make it conditional clause. The changes the song makes really don't change the meaning of the verse. Even adding the word "if" to the phrase "follow me" to turn the clause conditional does really affect anything. Clearly, Simon and Andrew had follow Jesus to become fishers of men. Simon and Andrew couldn't follow Jesus without becoming fishers of men, and Simon and Andrew couldn't become fishers of me without following Jesus. And thank goodness that the music does not allow anybody to change "fishers of men" to "fishers of people" like the NIV 2011 edition did! Fishers of Men gets a PASS.
THE WISE MAN BUILT HIS HOUSE UPON THE ROCK: This song pretty much paraphrases Matthew 7:24-27/Luke 6:47-49, and it pretty much does so faithfully. The first verse speaks of the wise man building his rock upon the rock, and the house stands firm. The second verse talks about a foolish man building his house upon the sand, and the house collapses. Together, these 2 verses accurately retell the parable of Jesus. Recently, however, it has come to my attention that this song has a third verse. The first half of the third verse say, "So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ." I didn't think the song needed to explicitly declare the meaning of the parable (even so, Jesus teaches the meaning of the parable is to reflect the difference between those who put Jesus's words into practice and those who do not, not that Jesus is the firm foundation), yet here in the third verse the song does so. The second half of the song states, "The blessings go down as the prayers go up." At best, this is a misunderstanding of the parable. The blessings come as a result of obeying the instruction of Jesus, not by (merely) praying. At worst, this is the prosperity gospel, for it communicates to the children that they will receive blessing as long as they ask for it in prayer. Based on Bible Quizzing's two-thirds rule, The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock get a PASS, on the condition that nobody sings the third verse.
ZACCHAEUS WAS A WEE LITTLE MAN: The story of Zacchaeus takes up the first 10 verses of Luke 19. The song, however, stops short after the first 5 verses of Luke 19. The song seems fixated on his small height. Even the fact that Zacchaeus climbs the sycamore tree is to get up high to see Jesus, once again due to his short height. According to the song, the climax is that Jesus went to Zacchaeus's house. I would disagree, however, arguing that the climax is that Zacchaeus receives salvation, evident by his willingness to donate half his wealth to the poor and repay anyone he has wronged fourfold. Zacchaeus was a Wee Little Man only covers half the pericope, and half falls short of Bible Quizzing's two-thirds rule, so I have to give Zacchaeus was a Wee Little Man a FAIL.
REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS: Again, this song is literally Philippians 4:4 put to music. To argue with this song is to argue with the Bible. Rejoice in the Lord Always gets a PASS.
BELOVED, LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER: Once again, this song is literally 1 John 4:7&8 to music. To criticize this song is to criticize the Bible. Beloved, Let Us Love One Another gets a PASS. (For this song, the last song, and This is the Day, they should all be glad that I am grading them on theological accuracy, not creativity.)
HE'S GOT THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS: I've heard many iterations of this song, and all iterations come back to the fact that God has the whole world, from the weather to the people, in his hands, i.e. in his control. He's Got the Whole World in his Hands gets a PASS.
I'M IN THE LORD'S ARMY: Ironically, I first learned this song in the Mennonite Church! The music leader, however, was very careful to stress that being a part of the Lord's army means that we will never march in an infantry, ride the cavalry, shoot the artillery or fly over the enemy, as the song's lyrics say (i.e. joining the country's military is a sin). Even more ironically, when this music leader taught us pupils motions to the song, the line "shoot the artillery" had the motions of pretending to shoot guns! To continue to add to the irony, I find it funny that Christians from church of other denominations will teach their children this song, yet still have a very pro-military stance, especially viewing those young men and women in their congregation who do join the military. The Mennonite in me wants the word "may" in the phrase "I may never..." to the word "will" to make the phrase "I will never..." Even pushing my Mennonite bias aside, this song teaches what the Lord's army isn't, but it does not teach what the Lord's army is. Thus, I'm in the Lord's Army gets a FAIL.
I AM THE CHURCH: If any song on this list deserves a "very pass," it would be this song. This song attempts to rectify mistaking the church as a building, especially one with a steeple, when in reality, the church is the people gathering together to worship Jesus. I haven't heard this song recently, and perhaps this song needs more air time, especially considering how many of these megachurches continue to add comforting amenities to their building. I am the Church gets a PASS.
Final Score: PASS - 14, FAIL - 7
In all honesty, even the songs that failed I will probably still sing to my daughter.
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