Songs of the Church: Moving Beyond the Hype
Over the last few months, I have had many discussions with people about worship music; what we should sing, shouldn't sing, and the point of singing in the church. I grew up at the height of the worship wars; I was fighting to get rid of hymns and only sing modern music. I wanted it louder. I wanted the flashing lights. I wanted the fog. I thought impressive, cool, or wow-ing music would result in more worship from individuals, somehow resulting in God moving. It has taken years to undo that thinking that was ingrained in me, but now, even though I can still want to revert back to this at times, my emphasis on worship is much more about the words we are singing and helping everyone's mind and heart be focused on Jesus and his redemptive work.
The first thing we must say about corporate worship is that it is not merely singing; singing is something we do, but worship is much broader than just singing; as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, do it all for the glory of God.” So singing, the reading of scripture, praying, and sitting under preaching are all a part of corporate worship, but for now, let's focus on the singing aspect. The guiding principle for how we think about singing in church is and must be God's Word. Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." According to God's Word, the point of singing is to help God's word dwell in our hearts more richly, and it is meant to teach and admonish, or correct, our thinking for our lives. If this is true, and it is, then what we sing really matters. The content, the words, and what is being communicated matter because it teaches us just as much about who God is and how we should relate to him as the sermon does.
In the multitude of new worship songs released every year, I am seeing three main problems.
Theological error: Many modern worship songs are either theologically incorrect or, at best, fuzzy and confusing. They communicate either untrue things about God or, in the attempt to be poetic, come across as communicating something that could be troubling if the person learning from this song doesn't know better. The trouble is that many people do not notice the errors in these songs because they have not been taught to think theologically, so they have become slaves to what sounds right. When I was young, a wise man told me that the number one thing I needed to learn was that "I didn't know what I didn't know," and that little nugget of wisdom has proven true. So often, we do not spot theological errors in our worship music because we simply do not know what we don't know about theology. Since we are a people of truth, and as Jesus said in John 4, we must worship in spirit and truth, singing songs that are true about God is highly important for authentic worship, and since songs teach us about God, getting the theology in music right will enable us to teach people who God is rightly.
Hyperindividualism: Many modern worship songs are not directed toward God but have a hyper-focus on the self. The songs are not so much about God and what he has done but about me and what I am doing for God or what God can do for me now. There is a hyper-focus on the self and one's experience with God. This is a problem because worship is not about me; it is about God. So not only should worship not be about my experience, my feelings, or my preferences, but worship through song should never focus on me. Instead of singing about how I want to sing to God, we should simply do it and sing about God because he is the object, or recipient, of our worship.
The New Prosperity Gospel: I think the third problem, though, is the most dangerous because it's everywhere, and we have been blind to it, and in some ways, it is the combination of problems 1 and 2. The third issue is what some call the "new prosperity gospel," which is a gospel not focused on money and how God will bless you with material things if you believe but a gospel that is focused on how God can heal you, particularly your mental health, and remove your problems if you believe. This is not surprising with the mental health crisis in our country. People are looking for healing; they want to be out of the anxiety, depression, and addictions they have succumbed to; they want freedom, and so there are songs filled with those buzzwords. So you ask, but can't God heal my anxiety? My answer is obviously he can, but often God chooses to allow us to endure trials and suffering because his power is made perfect in our weaknesses (2 Cor 12:9). In effect, what we have communicated in singing songs like that, is when your anxiety doesn't go away, either on the one hand, God wasn't powerful enough to take it away, or your faith wasn't strong enough. So either God was the failure, or you are, and that makes the anxiety you're struggling with all the worse. It is the error that combines issues 1 and 2 because it is both a theological error in how we think about God and how he relates to us in our trials, such as anxiety, and it's hyper-focused on the self and what God can do for me.
So, let me give you an example of a super popular worship song right now, and I'll point out why we at Fellowship will not be singing it.
I Speak Jesus
I just wanna speak the name of Jesus
Over every heart and every mind
'Cause I know there is peace within Your presence
I speak Jesus
I just wanna speak the name of Jesus
'Til every dark addiction starts to break
Declaring there is hope, and there is freedom
I speak Jesus
'Cause Your name is power
Your name is healing
Your name is life
Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire
I just wanna speak the name of Jesus
Over fear and all anxiety
To every soul held captive by depression
I speak Jesus
1) Theological error: Speaking the name of Jesus does not have the innate power to bring healing or life or help in any way, shape, or form. The usage of "the name of Jesus" here is simply wrong. I once heard a story about an evangelist who asked an unbeliever to read this gospel track to him because he couldn't see it to read it, and after reading the prayer of salvation to the man, the evangelist proclaimed the man saved because he said the words of the sinner's prayer. This is obviously silly; we know people aren't saved by repeating words, and in the same way, people's anxiety doesn't go away from saying the name of Jesus. However, you might argue that it is poetic and does not mean just saying the name of Jesus over people, but that it is poetic language for faith in Jesus, but even if that is the case, the problem remains: your anxiety might not go away just because you have faith that Jesus will take it away. Fighting anxiety might be a lifelong battle you need to fight, and that is okay because we should count it all joy when we face trials of various kinds because trials produce steadfastness, that you may be complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4) So, simply put, this song is teaching something both wrong, incredibly misleading, and unhelpful to those who are actually struggling with things like anxiety and depression.
2) Hyperindividualism: This song is about what I want to do, i.e., speak the name of Jesus, not about what Jesus has actually done to free us from anxiety, namely his sovereign care over us. The entire song is about what God can do for me and others.
3) New Prosperity: This song has all the buzzwords of our current cultural crisis of mental health, and the song is promising that the name of Jesus has the power to bring healing and life and break the strongholds of depression and anxiety. The song lists many things that the name of Jesus can do for people, but strikingly missing is anything about the gospel. There is no mention of forgiveness of sin, defeating Satan, or victory over sin and death; instead, all of the positive things the name of Jesus can do in the song manifest as present healings of physical or mental afflictions. How easy is it for a young, immature believer to walk away from this song, thinking that if they believe enough and proclaim the name of Jesus over their trials, they will just go away by the power of Jesus' name? And when their troubles don't magically disappear, will they be left believing that either God or their faith failed? The cure for anxiety isn't a mystical faith I conjure up by proclaiming the name of Jesus; the cure for anxiety is pressing the truth of God's word deeper into our hearts.
What's the answer?
We are told the answer in the Bible, so we should not try to invite a better answer. According to Colossians 3:16, the answer is to sing! And by singing, we will be taught and admonished, and the Word of God will dwell richly in our hearts. So, the answer is to sing worship songs that are theologically true and deep. The feeling of worship we sometimes get, where our hearts leap for joy, or we are overcome by emotion, should not arrive in us because of moving lights, fog machines, or because the right buzzword was in the song. We should be moved because the words reminded us of some deep biblical reality that enflames our affections. After all, Jesus becomes more real and tender to us at that moment. The answer is to sing songs that aren't about me; we are full of ourselves; we do not need more of ourselves but more of God. He is the object of our worship, so we should sing about who he is, what he has done, his character, and His Gospel. So whether we sing hymns, modern worship songs, whether it's quiet or loud, to a piano or an organ, whether there are moving lights and fog, a man in a suit or a guy in skinny jeans, let our focus be on the words, and let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.