I am not a fan of country music, I know too many of the songs glorify while the singers embody immodesty and ungodliness, and I am fully aware that many of the genre’s stars have politics closely aligned with the left-wing hip-hop moguls and pop singers of Los Angeles. But I still believe in giving credit where credit is due.
And at the Country Music Awards last week, country singer Carrie Underwood performed a classic hymn almost exactly as it was written, and with the powerful conviction it was always intended to convey.
Honoring the memory of country music singers who had died over the last year, as well as the 58 people who perished in the Route 91 Festival shooting in Las Vegas, Underwood sang these moving words first written in 1880 by Will Thompson:
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me.
See, on the portals, He's waiting and watching; Watching for you and for me.
Come home, come home, Ye who are weary come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling; Calling, "O sinner, come home!"
O for the wonderful love He has promised, promised for you and for me.
Though we have sinned He has mercy and pardon; Pardon for you and for me.
Come home, come home, Ye who are weary come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling; Calling, "O sinner, come home!"
If you haven’t seen it, you should right here. Not because of Carrie Underwood’s undeniably impressive vocal talent. In that moment, I’m convinced that her talents were used but as a conduit for God to be glorified on national television in a way average Americans are not allowed to witness much these days.
And it’s for that precise reason that I think these kind of moments should be shared and celebrated. I have always believed that when the Word of God is open and read, it can do what it needs to do without a preacher or a pastor saying a single thing. And though Softly and Tenderly is not Scripture, it is the embodiment of the Gospel in a beautiful tune.
These moments don’t happen on American television much anymore. Let’s do our job to make them famous when they do.
