The motive of our worship must be consistently examined. Why do you crave a certain kind of worship? The cancer of church consumerism teaches families to move from one church to another separated by just a couple of miles because one church offers a more “exciting” song selection, a more passionate band, or a larger choir. Do you assemble weekly with a hunger and desire to please God, or are you in search for something new that will satisfy your fleshly cravings? If you listen to evangelical Christians describe their worship, they often talk about their experience or how the songs made them feel as they engaged in worship. To hear people describe worship based on the way songs moved their emotions and made them feel sounds more like judges from American Idol or America’s Got Talent than followers of Jesus Christ.

In recent days, we’ve had multiple families showing up at our church who are saying the very same thing. “It’s refreshing to sing to the Lord songs that are doctrinally rich and designed for a congregation rather than a band.” Singing matters.

One of the most important things you will do on the next Lord’s Day is sing unto the Lord. While singing must never take the place of preaching, it’s an essential part of Christian worship. David penned seventy of the psalms and put a high priority upon the worship of God through song. However, we must consider the fact that God puts a high priority upon how we sing and what we sing as well.

Yet, when we examine the singing of the evangelical church in our day, the sound of the church is often the sound of the band. It might be loud, but is it excellent? Many churches are passionate, but is their singing proper? Did you know that the average evangelical church selects songs in order to please people without proper consideration of pleasing God?

What We Sing Matters to God

Years ago, I had a conversation with a particular individual who took a critical stab at me for my deep appreciation of hymns like Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” This person was criticizing how I was leading our church to embrace a more intentional and regulated worship of God based on Scripture rather than our culture. What we sing matters to God. What determines the song selection? The cravings of our culture and the trends of evangelicalism or God’s Word?

John Calvin wrote:

We may not adopt any device [in our worship] which seems fit to ourselves, but look to the injunctions of him who alone is entitled to prescribe. Therefore, if we would have him approve our worship, this rule, which he everywhere enforces with the utmost strictness, must be carefully observed. . . . God disapproves of all modes of worship not expressly sanctioned by his word. [1]

Words matter. The depth of our singing is directly connected to the depth of doctrine in our songs. In years past, the songs of the church were penned by theologians, scholars, and pastors who were fixated on the health and strength of the church. Charles Wesley penned some 6,000 hymns in his lifetime, and yet on his deathbed he wanted to write just one more song. Although his life was fading and his strength was gone, he dictated the following hymn to his wife who wrote it down. It was his last song. It was short. But, it was filled with a sobering richness that points us to God.

In age and feebleness extreme

Who shall a helpless worm redeem?

Jesus, my only hope thou art!

Strength of my failing flesh and heart.

O could I catch one smile from thee,

And drop into eternity!

Today, such rich hymnody has been replaced with cheap substitutes. I recently reviewed the top praise and worship songs for this past year, and the top song for church worship in evangelicalism was, “Way Maker.” Originally written by Osinachi Joseph, it has now been recorded by artists like Leeland, Bethel Music, and others. The words of the song are very shallow and generic about the God who has revealed himself in brilliant splendor in the pages of Scripture. Consider the words:

“Way Maker” — Osinachi Joseph

Verse 1

You are here, moving in our midst

I worship You, I worship You

You are here, working in this place

I worship You, I worship You

Chorus

Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper

Light in the darkness, My God, that is who You are

Verse 2

You are here, touching every heart

I worship You, I worship You

You are here, healing every heart

I worship You, I worship You

You are here, turning lives around

I worship You, I worship You

You are here, mending every heart

I worship You, I worship You

Bridge

Even when I don’t see it, You’re working

Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working

You never stop, You never stop working

You never stop, You never stop working
What fuels the words that we find in our modern-day worship songs? The simple answer is—money. The contemporary Christian music industry is a massive machine that has a bottom line. The bottom line is based on financial success. The truth is, doctrinally rich songs simply don’t make as much money as songs that are light and fluffy and doctrinally generic. This means, the average evangelical church is singing doctrinally deficient, shallow, and trite songs to God, and while they may be satisfied with it—God isn’t.

This past week, our church sang the following hymn titled, “Complete In Thee” as we lifted praise to God. Consider the depth of words and theology in comparison to modern day praise songs.

“Complete In Thee” — Aaron Robarts Wolfe (1821-1902)

Verse 1

Complete in Thee! No work of mine

May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;

Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,

And I am now complete in Thee.

Read More