Ryanne Molinari

This article is the second in a five-part series, in which I suggest a simple but powerful resolution: sing more. You can read or revisit the first article, which focuses on singing as a spiritual discipline, using this link.

Singing Creatures

Human beings are singing creatures. We are uniquely made to sing, with a biological construction that allows for both articulate speech and expressive vocalization. Anthropologists point to singing is one of the earliest and most significant markers of human community. Scripture confirms this; remember Adam’s outburst upon seeing Eve? The first recorded words of mankind in Scripture are poetry:

 “This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:23, ESV).

This is the first love poem and it might also be considered the first praise hymn. Adam is declaring is intimate affection for Eve, as well as praising his Creator’s work in making him the perfect companion. While we only have the words, isn’t it reasonable to assume that such musical lines could have been sung?

I am reminded of this lovely rendition by the Oh Hellos:

Human beings were loving, poetry-writing, singing creatures from the start. We were made to sing and are moved to do so when we apprehend things worthy of our love and praise. It’s embedded in our nature. We are singing creatures.

We were made to sing and are moved to do so when we apprehend things worthy of our love and praise. It’s embedded in our nature. We are singing creatures.

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A Singing Faith

While human beings are singing creatures, Scripture places a particular calling on the people of God to be singing people and Church history reveals Christianity as a distinctly singing faith.

A quick Google search reveals that 33% percent of the Bible is poetry—including many, many songs.¹ Over and over, Scripture calls worshipers to sing to the Lord and even to each other. There are songs of praise, anger, love, thankfulness—you name it. Scripture is not merely a history and handbook but a hymnal.

Then, consider our heritage as Christians. When describing his approach to writing sacred music, British choral composer John Rutter remarked:

“It is clear that Christianity has always been a singing faith, as was Judaism before it. The psalms are filled with quite specific references to music—its purpose to praise God, its resources quite lavish on occasion, with trumpets, lute, harp and instrument of ten strings…The New Testament has only one musical reference that I can find: at the Last Supper, ‘when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives’. Thirteen male voices, singing unaccompanied, and it must have been something they knew by heart, perhaps a psalm…In later centuries, as Christianity developed its own liturgy, we start to be able to know more – church music was the earliest type of music to be written down, largely because monks and clerics could read and write whereas street musicians couldn’t.”²

Although not a believer himself, Rutter rightly recognizes that God’s people have always been engaged in singing; it is integral not only to how we worship but who we are. Indeed, if you pick up a textbook on the history of Western music, a majority of it will correspond with a history of the church.

God’s people have always been engaged in singing; it is integral not only to how we worship but who we are.

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Human beings have always been singing creatures, but there is something unique about Christianity as a singing faith.³ From creation, through the Old and New Testaments, throughout church history, and into the eschaton where choruses of “Holy, Holy, Holy” will resound forever, the people of God have been and will be singers.

Tempted Toward Silence

But what about today?

I agree with John Rutter that Christianity is a singing faith, but I am not so sure we are still a singing people. On Sunday mornings, sure, but what about Monday through Saturday? If we are really a singing people and our faith is really a singing faith, why do we so often relegate our singing to Sunday mornings? Or, worse, why are we so comfortable coming late to church—patting ourselves on the back for making it in time for the sermon even if that means skipping over the singing?

Listen: a musician is not someone who plays music once in a while, but someone who makes music a routine practice. So, too, with Christians as a singing people.

So let’s take stock: Is this really who we are? Do we make singing a priority alongside our other spiritual disciplines? Do we take it seriously throughout the week? Moreover, do we take it seriously on Sundays? Do we prioritize being at church on time so we can sing together? Do we stay through the final choruses?

Even aside from worship music and singing as a distinctly spiritual disciplines, are we singing? We can hardly expect to rejoice in our singing faith when we have lost touch with ourselves as singing creatures. When was the last time you sang just for fun? When did you last look forward to a solitary drive as a chance to belt out some Broadway tunes? When did you last opt for a familiar album over a new podcast while doing housework? When did you last serenade your cat? Or make up a silly song about ice cream? Or hum tunelessly just for the sake of doing so? Do you still sing in the shower because—let’s be real—it has the best acoustics in the house?

And what about as a society? When did we stop gathering to sing beyond Sunday services? When did we stop playing music together just for fun? When did music become a way of isolating rather than connecting? (Probably with the rise of headphones.)

No wonder Sunday worship can feel dreadfully awkward! We are losing our identity as singing creatures and quick to forget our singing faith, so of course singing on Sunday feels more like a weird anomaly than the natural continuation of a routine habit.

We have become like the musician who turns up to rehearsals expecting to play with perfection, despite having never practiced on his own. Or like the student who aspires to perform a flawless recital but practices only sporadically.

Again, musicians are not people who occasionally make music, but who have made music central to their lives. It’s not just what they do on Sundays, but what they do on most days.

Singing—as with Bible study and prayer and gathering with other Christians—is a discipline that must extend beyond Sundays.

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We cannot just roll into church on Sunday and halfheartedly hum along with a praise chorus or self-consciously try to sing songs we would never sing elsewhere. Singing—as with Bible study and prayer and gathering with other Christians—is a discipline that must extend beyond Sundays.

Why Aren’t We Singing?

I remember loving my commute to and from work because it was a chance to sing my favorite songs without fear of being overheard. When my parents first let me stay home alone as a kid, I would rush to the piano to see if I could hit the high notes in The Phantom of the Opera. (I couldn’t, but man did I love trying!) When I had free time in college, I often found myself writing songs.

While I still do all of these things—yes, even the Phantom attempts—I do so with less frequency. More often, I find myself listening to a podcast while I clean or an audiobook while I drive to work. Or I flip aimlessly through Spotify playlists without really listening to anything with much attention.

We live in an era perfectly described by T.S. Eliot in the line “distracted from distraction by distraction.” Before I had instant streaming via Spotify and an iPhone, if I wanted to hear a piece of music, I had to play or sing it for myself. I had to learn it on the piano. I had to remember the lyrics and the tune. I had to create rather than just consume. Now, though, I can listen to new song after new song without ever internalizing any. Constant novelty and immediate gratification are the laws of the land.

Then, with the rise of podcasting, speech is overtaking song. (This is an interesting irony, as singing used to be a way of conveying information prior to the rise of literacy and, subsequently, recording.) Whereas I used to use Spotify solely for music, now it has audiobooks and endless podcasts readily available. It is all too easy to just put on the latest episode in a podcast—conveniently listed right at the top of my home page—and to forget the app’s original purpose.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying podcasts or listening to music. I do both nearly every day and frequently share my favorite episodes and albums on this blog. However, I did come to the starting realization lately that I have become far more of a passive consumer than an active creator when it comes to singing.

What about you? Are you singing? Did you used to sing more? What changed? What is preventing you from singing more often? These are uncomfortable but necessary questions to ask if you want to prioritize singing as a spiritual discipline. I encourage you to sit silently in this discomfort for a bit. Spend some time pondering and praying over these questions.

And then, spend some time singing just for the joy of it.

Stay Tuned…

If resolving to sing more sounds daunting, take heart: in the next installment in this series, we will consider singing as a genuinely fulfilling activity. I hope you’ll stay tuned!

1. https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/what-bible-project/#:~:text=The%20Bible%20can%20be%20broken,resistant%20poetry%20of%20the%20prophets. ↩︎
2. https://johnrutter.com/latest-blog/church-and-composers-words-and-sounds ↩︎
3. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-christians-singing/ ↩︎