We Gotta Get Out Of This Place: A Theology Of Spirituals

I remember a friend of mine playing “Do Lord” at a churchy conference and apologising for the incorrect theology in the song. Like many old spirituals it looks forward to being whisked away. Tom Wright devotees will say that the song should be about resurrection and “Kingdom on earth as it is in heavan” minded people will argue that we need to start bringing the Kingdom of God to earth now. This particular had mostly people who would agree with both these tings, me included. I still sing these spirituals and in fact more so as my personal thrology has moved away from a “let’s all get a ticket to heaven” orientation. Not only because they are great tunes but because I appreciate the theology.

It’s easy to talk to a middle class western person, like me, about resurrection and re-creation. I can look around at my beautiful (slightly flawed) surroundings and imagine how this could be made perfect. For the poor of the spirituals living in terrible conditions this is much harder. Given the conditions they were in a recreated earth would be so different from what they knew that they might as well call it heaven.

Similarly, the thing that stops me being a part of some kind of kingdom of God change in the world is most usually my own apathy. For the poor of the spirituals they were powerless, the best they could hope for is that one day God would step in rescue them and take them to a better place. Which I might say is a recreated earth but I’m sure they would stand aghast at call heaven.

So I will continue to enjoy singing my “theologically incorrect” spirituals because I want to remember not only the tunes of these people but the conditions that they lived through that produced this wonderful music. For me it is a way for a brief musical moment of joining in solidarity with the poor.