Monday, June 23, 2014

"Go" Who?

When I was pastoring two small "Primitive Baptist" churches in eastern North Carolina, they use to sing a song at the close of the service that contradicts neo Hardshell teachings on the duty of fulfilling the Great Commission. A sacred harp web page says this about the song, title "Cuba."

"A simpler type of religious song that was later incorporated into sacred harp was the camp-meeting song. This was a substitution song of one or two lines that was based on repetition. For instance, in a song with the unlikely title of "Cuba," the line "Go, preachers, tell it to the world" is repeated three times and then tagged with a final line, "Poor mourners found a home at last." The chorus is "Thro' free grace and a dying lamb," a line repeated three times and followed by "Poor mourners found a home at last." The song could be sung as long as the leader could think up substitutes for "preachers": "Christians," "Baptists," "brothers," and so forth."" (See here for citation)

Here are the words to the song.

Go, preachers, and tell it to the world,

Poor mourners found a home at last.

Chorus:

Through free grace and a dying Lamb,

Poor mourners found a home at last.

Go, fathers, and tell it to the world,

Poor mourners found a home at last.

(Chorus)

Go, mothers, and tell it to the world,

Poor mourners found a home at last.

The Great Commission, as I have shown in my series on "Hardshells and the Great Commission," makes it the duty of all Christians to "go" announce the Gospel. This the Hardshells deny, however. Yet, who can deny that the above song makes it the duty of all, and not merely that of those who are called to preach?

Recall how I pointed out, in the series "Hardshells and Mission Opposition," how the Hardshells are inconsistent to sing the song "I love to tell the story."

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