Lord I Want to Be a Christian
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart;
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian" is structured entirely as petition, which gives it a distinctive theological character as a prayer of aspiration rather than a confession of achievement. The text does not claim Christian virtue; it longs for it, and in doing so acknowledges the gap between the singer's present condition and the life to which God calls. From a Lutheran perspective, this is a theologically honest posture: the simul justus et peccator (simultaneously justified and sinner) is implicitly enacted every time the congregation sings this hymn. The singer is already Christian — already addressed by God in baptism — and yet still longing to be more fully Christian, more loving, more holy, more like Jesus. This tension between gift and calling, between indicative and imperative, is at the heart of Lutheran moral theology. The progression of the stanzas is itself theologically instructive. The movement from 'Christian' to 'loving' to 'holy' to 'like Jesus' traces an arc of sanctification that culminates in conformity to Christ — what Lutheran theology, drawing on Paul and Luther himself, calls conformitas Christi. The final stanza, 'Lord, I want to be like Jesus,' is the interpretive key: it reveals that the earlier stanzas are not vague moral aspirations but specifically christological ones. To be Christian, loving, and holy is, in the end, to be like Jesus. This Christocentric framing is deeply congruent with Lutheran sanctification theology, which insists that the moral life of the Christian is always shaped by and oriented toward the person of Christ. The repeated phrase 'in my heart' deserves particular theological attention. In biblical anthropology, the heart (Hebrew lev, Greek kardia) is the center of the self — the seat of will, desire, and identity, not merely emotion. The spiritual's insistence on the heart as the locus of transformation reflects a theology of interior renewal that resonates with Luther's own emphasis on the hidden, inward work of the Spirit. At the same time, the communal singing of this petition prevents it from collapsing into mere private pietism: when a congregation sings together 'in my heart,' the individual longing becomes a shared, public, and ecclesial act. In baptismal and Lenten contexts especially, this text functions powerfully as both examination of conscience and renewal of baptismal vocation.
History & Background
"Lord, I Want to Be a Christian" is one of the most beloved and widely recognized African American spirituals, with origins traceable to the mid-eighteenth century American South. It was first documented in published form in 1867 in 'Slave Songs of the United States,' the landmark collection by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison, which preserved dozens of spirituals that had circulated orally among enslaved African Americans for generations. The text's specific origins remain, as with most spirituals, communal and anonymous — forged in the crucible of the praise-house and the brush arbor meeting, where enslaved people created a theology of resistance, longing, and hope expressed through song. The spiritual takes the form of a simple, iterative petition, with each stanza substituting a new attribute — Christian, loving, holy, like Jesus — while the refrain 'in my heart' remains constant, anchoring the desire for transformation in the interior life of the singer. This structural simplicity belies profound theological depth: the repetition enacts the very longing it expresses, becoming a form of prayer through music. The melody, I WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN, is pentatonic in character, reflecting West African musical influences that shaped the entire spiritual tradition, and its call-and-response potential was exploited in communal singing contexts. Through the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the spiritual entered the repertoire of white mainline Protestant churches through the choral and folk revival movements, appearing in hymnals across virtually every North American denomination. Its ecumenical spread was accelerated by the civil rights movement, when spirituals became anthems of the broader struggle for human dignity, and by the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. It now appears in Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed hymnals, and is sung globally in translation, particularly in Africa and Latin America, where its themes of heartfelt conversion resonate deeply with indigenous revival traditions.
In Negro Slave Songs in the United States (1953), Miles Mark Fisher Scripture References suggests that this African American spiritual could well have st. 2 = 1 Thess. 3:12 originated in Virginia in the 1750s, based on this story from st. 3 = 1 Thess. 3:13 Hanover, Virginia, 1756: “A black slave asked Presbyterian preacher William Davies, ‘I come to you, sir, that you may tell me some good things concerning Jesus Christ and my duty to God, for I am resolved not to live any more as I have done ... Lord [Sir], I want to be a Christian. ’ ” Apparently the story fits well with the ministry style of Davies in Virginia between 1748 and 1759. Stanza 1 is a prayer expressing the initial desire to become a Christian; the others are prayers for growth in Christian character: to be more loving (st. 2), to be more holy (st. 3), and to be like Jesus (st. 4).
Hymnal Appearances
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 815
- Glory to God — 727
- The Hymnal 1982 — 402
- Lift Up Your Hearts — 341
- Psalter Hymnal — 264
- United Methodist Hymnal — 402
- Voices Together — 431
Liturgical Use
As a hymn of response to hearing the Word of the Lord—the Word that calls for commitment to become a Christian and challenges all of us to mature in our walk with God; stanzas 2 through 4 can be used separately in the service of confession and 406
Bulletin Note
An African American spiritual dating to the 18th century, preserved in 'Slave Songs of the United States' (1867). The tune I WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN is pentatonic, reflecting West African musical heritage. Each stanza deepens the petition: from Christian identity to love, holiness, and Christlikeness.
Preaching Connection
This spiritual gives voice to the honest longing at the center of the Christian life — not the boast of the arrived, but the prayer of the becoming — making it a powerful musical companion to any sermon on discipleship, sanctification, or the renewal of baptismal identity. Preachers exploring Luke 9:23, Micah 6:8, or Romans 12 will find this text an almost perfect congregation-voiced counterpart to the call they are issuing from the pulpit.
Catechism & Confessional Connections
- The Definition & Command of Baptism Small Catechism — Holy Baptism
Themes
discipleship sanctification baptismal identity longing for God conformity to Christ holiness love of neighbor prayer interior transformation Lenten renewal African American heritage vocation