Singing is a spiritual exercise (Psalms; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Few things can open up hearts to God like beautiful music and meaningful lyrics. The effects of music on the soul are nothing short of amazing. That is why virtually all Christian congregations feature music in their services. But what we sing about is just as important as the fact that we are singing. After all, singing the latest Taylor Swift song would not be deemed spiritual just because it was sung in church. Content matters. But not just any ‘ol content that mentions God will do either.
Theologically Lean
I have been increasingly concerned over the years with the lyrical content of mainstream “worship” songs. Many of our songs suffer from theological anorexia. There’s not enough theological content in them to make the Devil yawn, yet alone choke. They are so generic that one may have a hard time telling what God they are talking about (if God is even mentioned). Then there are the “God of my girlfriend” songs that are spiritually androgynous. One can’t tell whether they are singing about their love for God or their love for their girlfriend. Finally, there are songs some have called “7-11” songs: They contain seven words sung 11 times. If you want to know what theologically robust songs look like, get yourself a hymnal that’s more than 30 years old. They are pregnant with theological substance.
Theologically Wrong
Other songs we sing are fraught with theological error. No, we don’t feel angels’ wings brushing our face. No, it’s not true that “the little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.” He cried like every other baby. No, we won’t spend eternity in some ephemeral heaven in the sky. Our eternal state will be a bodily existence in a renewed, physical universe.
Theologically errant songs are even more egregious than theologically thin songs because songs are a powerful means of teaching theology. Songs are lyrical theology. Just think of how many songs you know from heart versus how many verses of Scripture you can quote. Music makes words easier to remember, and thus theology sung is more memorable and influential than theology taught. When Arius wanted to spread his heretical views about Jesus in the early fourth century, he wrote songs. The lyrics reflected his theology, and because his tunes were so catchy, people all over started singing them. And when they started singing them, they started believing what they were singing.
Given the lack of doctrinal teaching and personal Bible reading today, for many Christians their primary source of theology comes from the songs they hear and sing. This is a scary thought given the lyrical content of so many modern Christian songs (worship songs as well as Christian contemporary songs). They believe what they sing about, and assume the church is singing it because they believe the lyrics accurately reflect Scriptural truths. That’s why we should be all the more attentive to the content of the songs we sing. “But the melody is so nice,” we say. I understand. I hate the fact that I can’t sing along with some of my favorite worship songs. It’s disappointing. But in the same way we would never intentionally teach error from the pulpit, we should not intentionally teach error from the choir loft with the songs we sing.
Out of Focus
I am also troubled by the focus of the lyrics in many modern worship songs. They hardly engender worship of God because they barely speak about Him or extol Him. Sure, some songs may have quite a number of references to “God” or “Jesus,” but too often they talk about our feelings for God rather than God’s acts and glory. Rather than glorifying God, they glorify our feelings about God. If you wonder why people aren’t worshipping in your church, it might be because the songs you are singing are not promoting the worship of God because they are me-centric. Many of these songs are very entertaining, have catchy melodies, and poetic lyrics, but they are focused on the wrong thing. If we sing about us, it should not surprise us when worship services are about us rather than God.
Entertaining Melodies
I don’t believe there is such a thing as “Christian music” per se. Rather, there are Christian lyrics. Christian lyrics can be accompanied by any number of music styles and it would still be Christian music because the lyrics are Christian. That said, when it comes to worship songs, music style does matter. There are certain styles of music that are amenable to engendering adoration of our God, while other styles do not. Some styles of music do not touch the heart, but entertain. There is a place for Christian music that entertains, but that place is not in a worship service. It is not a performance, but an invitation to the body of believers to join together in a corporate exaltation of their Lord and Savior.
Conclusion
Songwriters, worship leaders, and pastors, I encourage you to rethink the songs you write and sing. Let’s write/sing songs that are ripe with good theology and meaningful lyrics that touch the soul, directing our attention to God rather than ourselves and our feelings.
Are there any lyrics that come to mind that exemplify the shortcomings I’ve discussed? If so, share the song title and applicable lyrics in the comments.
February 2, 2015 at 10:19 am
Interesting post. If you check some of the old hymns they to are not accurate and use words we would not understand today.
Have look on YouTube at Life worship and check out the song We believe. This is a modern song from a church in Bradford in the Uk.
A modern song but very theological correct and makes some great declarations.
Check out Forever by Kari Jobs on YouTube. Another modern song but some very powerful lyrics.
There are some great modern songs out there if you know where to look.
Enjoy
Martyn
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February 2, 2015 at 11:12 am
I have heard some songs referred to as…..Jesus is my boyfriend music. Great points well made. Thank you.
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February 2, 2015 at 11:22 am
Hi thanks. Check out songs from Soul survivor in the UK. They ate from a Church in Watford UK and hold youth camps in the UK. GreT songs from Both Croft, Matt Redman and Ben Cantalon. Search YouTube also for bethal music. There do song great songs.
Martyn
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February 2, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Cool I will thanks
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February 2, 2015 at 12:11 pm
I do like Matt Redmon.
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February 2, 2015 at 12:14 pm
Most definitely there are great, theologically substantive modern worship songs, and there are bad, theologically errant old worship songs. I did not mean to convey that all modern worship music is bad and all old worship music is good. It’s a mixed bag, but overall, a lot of the modern stuff is lacking. It’s too focused on the believer rather than God, and lacks theological substance.
Jason
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February 2, 2015 at 2:23 pm
Agreed, “give me that old time religion.” This modern stuff seems to me all part of the mega church experience
(ie. preach Christ but not the cross).
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February 3, 2015 at 9:20 am
The first song that comes to my mind when I think “theologically wrong” is How Great Is Our God. The line “The Godhead three in one, Father, Spirit, Son” is a theological error of no small magnitude. I have been in many churches where this lyric is altered, and a few where it hasn’t. I simply can never bring myself to sing those words.
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February 3, 2015 at 10:12 am
Why don’t you believe it? Do you not belive in the Trinity. If not then I can see why you would find it difficult to sing
Martin
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February 3, 2015 at 10:35 am
“The line “The Godhead three in one, Father, Spirit, Son” is a theological error of no small magnitude”
I can see why a person in the UPC would make this statement and I used to think the same way. However, I came to realize that “Trinitarians” believe in the Trinity to affirm the deity of Jesus Christ. So their intent is godly and right even though the actual doctrine of the Trinity may not be 100% theologically correct.
So this error IS of small magnitude since the person who believes in the Trinity has the important part correct. Being theologically correct is not our ultimate goal, knowing Jesus is. If He is God to you then you have it right, Trinitarian or Oneness alike.
As for the song, we should sing it according to our own understanding and not try to jump through theological hoops unless the song is total nonsense of course…..
My “former-UPC” 2 cents worth…..keep singing…
Naz
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February 14, 2015 at 7:37 am
Naz,
I hear what you are saying, but I draw my line at a different place. As someone who rejects the doctrine of the trinity, I will not sing lyrics that perfectly describe it.
On the other hand, I don’t chastise my church family for singing it, because the leadership doesn’t take issue. In other words, I am not going to create controversy over something like this. On the other hand, I do wish that most of us knew our doctrine well enough to easily recognize this song’s statement for what it is.
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February 14, 2015 at 2:51 pm
A New HYmn FOR CONGREGATIONS IN AWE:
PSALM 101:
No truth is ever a lie
so listen to me
you can have life
Not a raft on the sea
OH NO.
No lie is ever the truth,
come to your sense,
leave your belief,
Knowledge will free
YOUR MIND
Yes then you will see,
over and over the plea
to brighten your life
and leave all your strife
BEHIND
The Preach, no repent
they know they are meant
To weave such a web;
every word they have said
IS A LIE
Say-ay goodbye,
Over and over the plea
to brighten your life
Have done with misguide
LIKE WE
Come for a ride
And flow with the tide
The Cosmos is wide
All there is is not small
AT ALL
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March 18, 2017 at 9:47 pm
[…] Lyrical heresies: What’s wrong with modern worship songs […]
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August 1, 2017 at 12:48 pm
[…] Lyrical heresies: What’s wrong with modern worship songs […]
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March 11, 2019 at 11:00 pm
I might as well create nonsense junk-science too. Men can pee on walls, upright. They see parabolas from their earliest childhood and as they change their aim, the parabola transforms in the expected ways. This leads them to an intuitive understanding of gravity, functions, 3-D spatial relationships, leading the way to space exploration and space construction. But don’t worry, we’ll always construct pressurized rooms for the women so they don’t hurt themselves.Women pee in a kind of skunk-spray that teaches them nothing.
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April 12, 2019 at 3:52 am
Nclex-rn Exam becomes
Lyrical heresies: What’s wrong with modern worship songs | Theo-sophical Ruminations
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July 15, 2019 at 9:06 am
truly liked the read.
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July 8, 2020 at 10:30 am
“Stand in Your Love” by Josh Baldwin. Nothing particularly blasphemous about it, but as you so aptly put it, “theologically anorexic”. it uses “I” or “my” seven times before the first “Your” reference to the God/girlfriend. Total self references 17, total Jesus references 0, total oblique “Your“, potentially God references – four. I can’t worship with that song not because I disagree with it, but because there’s just nothing there to worship with, I could be worshipping almost anything.
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May 28, 2021 at 6:16 am
It is not really a question of lyrics, it is the style that’s the problem. You can say what you like about hymns, but that style of music is only applied to Christian worship. However, pop music is mainly about sexual attraction and as far as uptempo songs is concerned, for dancing to. I find that I just cannot authentically address God using a musical form that’s designed for celebrating girl/boy chemistry. The church fathers had similar problems with the music associated with pagan worship and banned it.
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May 9, 2022 at 6:01 am
I can tell you, why modern worships songs do not work for me. There is no Holy Ghost Power. It’s not only the texts being not accurate, it’s the music. It’s pop music. Mainstream pop music. When you hear good old fashioned gospel music, you can tell by the style that’s gospel, that’s a church hymn. Now you can’t. It’s shallow and dull pop music, loaded with arpeggios and fiddling around with chord progressions that would make any hotel lobby pianist cry. We need that Old Time Religion and this goes along with Old Time Church music. Amen.
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June 12, 2022 at 7:24 pm
I surrender all
I sacrifice my life
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