Rise Up, O Men Of God
Rise Up, O Men of God
Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of kings.
Rise up, O men of God!
His kingdom tarries long;
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.
Rise up, O men of God!
The Church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task:
Rise up and make her great.
Lift high the cross of Christ,
Tread where His feet have trod;
As brothers of the Son of man,
Rise up, O men of God!
THIS HYMN has been criticized because it speaks only of men of God and not women of God. Many contemporary hymnals have changed the words to “saints of God.” Yet William Merrill’s notion was not to discriminate against women, but to challenge men. Women in his day already had numerous church organizations and groups like the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, but there were no Christian movements for men that could rival the various fraternal organizations proclaiming a brotherhood that was only pseudo-Christian.
Merrill’s hymn is full of exclamation points and military-sounding commands. The Christian message still comes to us—both men and women—with exclamation points and definite commands. Followers of Christ are called to be soldiers, not just passive recipients of God’s blessings.
These are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13
From the book
