Theology That Sticks: The Life-Changing Power of Exceptional Hymns

by Chris Anderson

In Theology That Sticks , experienced pastor, hymn-writer ("His Robes for Mine"), and all-around music junkie Chris Anderson provides an in-depth, accessible look at what Scripture says about the kinds of songs Christians should sing. The premise of the book is that God-centered, Bible-based lyrics, matched with beautiful, memorable tunes, remain in our memories far longer than most preaching ever will.

Theology That Sticks is intentionally positive, providing extensive research, well-reasoned teaching, and small-group discussion questions to help churches and Christians embrace the life-changing practice of biblical singing! Plus, it's packed with extras to support worship leaders and church musicians. Theology That Sticks offers Christians and churches a song selection strategy—a biblical grid that answers common questions in today’s world of Christian music.

As evidenced by its enthusiastic endorsements, this book will help you choose songs on purpose, grow in your faith, delight in your God, and even combat your sin. May you be moved to worship our Savior as you read about the life-changing power of hymns— theology that sticks .

Endorsement sampling “ A thoughtful compendium of biblical reasons why the teaching of sound doctrine through hymns is so vital to the life and well-being of the church.”
—John MacArthur, writer and pastor of Grace Community Church, California

“Packed with a plethora of insightful quotes and loaded with lists of hymns in every category imaginable, this volume is one I wish every pastor, church music leader, and believer would read.”
—Matt Merker, author and hymn-writer with Getty Music

“Chris has given the church a thorough, theologically rich resource for recovering the glorious place of song in our worship gatherings.”
—Steve Green, award-winning Christian recording artist

“The message in this book is It matters what we sing!”
—Conrad Mbewe, pastor and founder of African Christian University “Chris' anecdotes are witty, his research thorough, and his insights invaluable. Read this book—from start to finish, you’ll enjoy every moment.”
—Molly Ijames, composer, arranger, pianist

“A treasure-trove of truths! A gift to the church. A magnificent must-read.”
—Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Senior Vice President of Bible Editorial, Crossway Books

“I am grateful for the chorus of theologians who are giving such care and attention to the hymnody of the church. This book will be a help to all who want to seriously consider this well-deserved subject.”
—Matt Boswell, hymn-writer, pastor, and assistant professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Genres: Music, School

355 pages, Paperback

Published May 18, 2022

About the author

Librarian note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.

Chris Anderson is the founding pastor of Tri-County Bible Church in Madison, Ohio. He is the founder of churchworksmedia.com, where he has published hymns (including “His Robes for Mine” and “For the Sake of His Name”) and the Gospel Meditations series of devotional

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

NUTSHELL: Excellent. Very down-to-earth and accessible for members and ministry volunteers. This serves as a good intro to worship musicians and pastors who have not thought much about biblical worship and songs.

MORE: Anderson exists at an interesting intersection of the Christian worship spectrums. He extensively draws quotes from disparate camps of musical perspectives - Scott Aniol, as well as Mark Dever, Bob Kauflin, and Phillip Ryken - all solidly supporting his thesis that cultivating biblically robust hymnody fuels the doxology of the church.

Anderson writes with a fun, friendly voice, sprinkling in plenty of funny asides, cultural references. (I literally laughed out loud at the John Daker reference.) Yet, Anderson doesn’t shy away from challenging the readers’ assumptions, instead plumbing the depths of riches found in hymn lyrics. He not only examines song lyrics, but also discusses musical characteristics of congregational songs.

Another strength of this book is the number of topical song lists that Anderson compiles throughout. (Ex. Life of Christ, Longing for Heaven, Sing Praise to the Spirit, etc.) I found myself taking many pictures of them for future reference.

Because this is a good primer on many worship topics (biblical language, theology of music, beauty/aesthetics, congregational range, excellence, etc) Anderson runs the risk of spreading the book’s content too thin. For example, near the end he discusses a philosophy of excellence in worship, yet does not take time to include the aspect of God’s sufficiency to bring about His glory - something I personally would consider essential to a discussion on excellence in worship. But this detrimental characteristic of the book is minor compared to its benefits. I recommend reading this book!

[Molly Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!
Scripture is packed with commands to sing and bountiful examples of what that should look like. This book reminds us of the treasured gift and the undeniable duty we have to sing to the Lord (often together with his people ... for their good and his glory!), and it was a delight to see Anderson lay out the joy and necessity of singing robust truths that are well crafted. This is just another example of how our God's commands are always good for our souls. How precious and life-giving it is to sing rich songs about who he is, about our dependence on him, and about all he's done.

(This book is also a treasure trove of great quotes!)

[Steve Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recommend this book enough! Absolutely amazing! Music, especially in the church can be so divisive but not here! Author Chris Anderson does a masterful work in this volume. This book will challenge you and make you tear up! God’s word in psalms,hymns, and spiritual songs will minister to your heart!

[John Wiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Anderson’s suggestion for music pastors/song leaders/worship leaders (there’s quite a spread for what designates the person who leads a given church’s ministry of music) is quite simple: identify great hymns and then sing them. The church is saturated with plenty of Christian songs right now, and while some are less than desirable, many of them are good–but not all of them are “great.” And thus, while Anderson’s advice is incredible straightforward–identify great hymns and then sing them–it also provokes some follow up questions, especially in how to determine what is properly understood to be a “great” hymn. That’s why a bulk of the book takes readers through a grid, which I find to be tremendously helpful.

The first grid (New Testament focused) encourages churches to sing songs that are biblical, doctrinal, “Christian,” Trinitarian, congregational, and unifying. And the second grid surveys themes from the Psalms: sing songs that are inspired, diverse, emotive, experiential, beautiful, and doxological. Not every song will fit every single category, of course. But if a song is selected that fails to meet any of these grid filters, then there’s a good chance that such a song can be left alone.

“Theology That Sticks” is one of the best books I’ve read on music ministry in the local church. Anderson writes with quite a bit of humor, wit, clarity, and theological conviction–but of course, showing much grace to fellow believers who might come from a different theological stripe. This is not a “worship wars” book that uncritically lifts up classic hymns while eschewing any contemporary songs written since the fall of the Soviet Union. But it’s certainly not a “get with the program” and “let’s sing the radio hits” book either. Anderson proposes a very responsible approach that can help both contemporary and traditional churches alike to choose not just good songs to sing for corporate worship, but the very best songs. And then he also offers plenty of extra resources in his appendices, which makes this book almost a 2-for-1 deal, matching doctrinal convictions with practical wisdom from Anderson’s many years of experience.

Disclaimer: I received “Theology That Sticks” as a media review copy from the publisher. All opinions were my own.

[Dogeared Wanderer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really encouraging book about the importance of what and how we sing together on Sundays. The book is divided into four sections:

PART 1 -- What We Sing Matters. Why it's important to sing biblical songs and its impact in the spiritual growth of individuals within the church.

PART 2 -- A Hymn Grid from the New Testament. How to follow the pattern of Scriptural and sing songs that are biblical, doctrinal, Christian, Trinitarian, congregational, and unifying. These chapters address many core issues that relate to our singing, not just the songs themselves.

PART 3 -- A Hymn Grid from the Psalms. The importance of singing songs that are inspired (Psalms), diverse, emotive, experiential, beautiful, and doxological. The author reminds us that our singing should reflect the One we're singing to in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

PART 4 -- Additional Resources. This section covers various miscellaneous topics such as tips for singing with understanding, tips for aspiring hymn-writers, tips for the music team and techies, a list of hymns and poems by the author, and a few sample orders of service.

Though I didn't agree with everything he said, the book is really beneficial overall and would be a great resource for church plants, music teams, pastors, and those in the congregation who want more out of singing than just going through the motions.

🐙 YES study questions

[Christopher Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Anderson’s passion for the topic of congregational song drips off the pages of his book. This book contains all the lessons about selecting and singing congregational music that I was blessed enough to learn during my 28 years of worship music ministry.

I believe this book would be a great read for a young, aspiring or newly beginning worship leader/pastor. But resist the urge to roll your eyes or dismiss some of the more extreme insinuations, you may find at least nuggets of truth that extend beyond the temptation to stay only with the current trends in worship music. Strive to find some value in the classic that can be employed with the current.

Overall: good for the newby or the one who has not given much intentional thought to weekly planning, but not a very useful book for the veteran who had great mentors.

[Luke Seibert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book and respect Anderson’s commitment to Scripture. His criteria for music standards are firmly rooted in the Word of God and cover several aspects of the lyrics we ought to be singing. There is also some discussion about the music itself. These are great guiding principles, but the reader needs to recognize that these are guides and do not equally apply to every song we sing. Anderson does make that point, but I thought it could have been brought out more. Besides that, an excellent resource about how Scripture should guide our music choices, specifically when it comes to congregational singing.

[Sam Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, hymn writer and Pastor Chris Anderson provides a biblical framework for evaluating Christian music. Rather than getting caught up in pointless debates about aesthetics and style, Chris focuses on promoting rich biblical content in our hymns. The book is chock-full of excellent quotes, examples, and careful argumentation. This is an important book for pastors, worship leaders, musicians, and church members to read. You’ll have a greater appreciation for the importance of excellent hymns after reading this book.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks at church music, and tries to provide some guidance on selecting hymns and other music for services. The author provides insight into how to select hymns, what to look for in a hymn, and even how to write hymns. I thought he provided thoughtful insights. However, the book was written in a colloquial style that often got in the way of the author's message. The author also relied on the writings of several well-known pastors to make his arguments, and I found these arguments to be weaker than when the author made his own arguments.

[Mark Beckwith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Theology That Sticks is easy to read while being profoundly impactful. Most importantly, it helps provides numerous example for both why and how the faithful Christian is to worship in spirit and truth (John 4:19-24), to test what we have heard (1 Th. 5:19-22), and to teach sound doctrine (1 Tim. 6:3-6), namely through the music we offer as praise to our holy God.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!

[Matthew Westerholm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warm-hearted and generous, this book compiles the best arguments made elsewhere on the topic.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biblical, balanced, and practical. Recommended for those leading the church as well as members in general.

[A. Jacob W. Reinhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good and Life Changing Book on Hymns

This is an excrllent and balanced look at sacred music and why we should sing great songs. I have some qualms with some of his points, especially as I recall about the need to sing the best songs wherever they come from, but on the whole this book is good work. Perhaps the statements on that point can still be tempered if not explicitly stated in the associated chapter. Most significantly, I am thinking about also how to incorporate psalms in my interaction with sacred music. I want to lead my family and myself to use hymns to bring theology and make it stick. It is recommended. I trust I can be a faithful worshiper of the one True God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.