Song for the Nations -- Chris Christensen

 

Chris Christensen had been to many places in the world, even before he turned 30, so he must have been considering that what he would write would emerge from his travelling background. And so, it must have come as little surprise that he was in the midst of a trip between Portland and Seattle on the American northwest coast one morning in the mid-1980s when “Song for the Nations” sprang from inside him. It would take him several hours to get where he was going to a conference, so Chris took advantage of the time, most likely while he was on stretches of Interstate 5 between northwest Oregon and the Puget Sound area of Washington, where Seattle is located. So, how many times did Chris pass a road sign, like this one, on that trip? Chris probably could not say, nor whether the signs might have been a subliminal reminder that he possessed something like a traveler’s gene, and a desire to spread a message wider and faster than he could travel.

 

Chris Christensen may have germinated the seed for ‘Song for the Nations’ while he spent much of his first quarter-century travelling between three continents. His missionary parents moved the family from the United States to South Africa when he was but a toddler. By his mid-teens, Chris’ family had come back to the U.S., where Chris would stay for college. But, then he and Laura (whom he would marry) began their land-hopping between Africa, Europe, and North America, as Chris’ music ministry carried them abroad. It was on one return trip to the U.S., when Chris attended a conference in Seattle, that he wrote the song so effortlessly between there and Portland. He must have felt that this episode to finally bring the song to fruition was leading him somewhere, particularly when he had the chance to sing the song for the first time at the conference. He’d been many places by that time, and seen many versions of Christianity in various languages, so what he wanted to say could not be limited by human communication barriers. What things did Chris say in the song, ideas that compelled one man at the conference to tell Chris that ‘Song…’ would certainly be used by God? Shining God’s light (v.1), spreading a message of hope and healing through salvation (v.2-3), and of ultimate joy (v.4) that would make His kingdom spread over the globe (v.5) were what Chris envisioned. God’s not complicated, Chris seemed to want to say; He’s just waiting for people with open arms, using us mortals to embrace seekers with His presence.

 

Chris’ vision wasn’t to touch just some people. His emphasis is on multitudes – notice the plural nature of his words. ‘Nations’, ‘peoples’, ‘whole world’ are repeated in every verse of his song. Chris had no doubt seen how some things in God’s delivery and people’s receipt of the message are universal – they can go anywhere and be recognized without much explanation. Similarly, it must have dawned on Chris in all his travels, that some road signs and rules have common features. Did the signs for Interstate 5 that day in the mid-1980s look much different to Chris than others on different freeways in the U.S., or indeed in other countries on different continents? You and I also know traffic lights when we see them – green is ‘go’, yellow is ‘caution’, and red is ‘stop’ just about anywhere we could go on planet Earth. Chris would probably agree. Are you on green, yellow, or red with God on your journey?

 

 

 

See author biography here, which also contains the brief episode of the song’s birth: https://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Chris_Christensen_The_American_songwriter_and_worship_leader/40276/p1/