Worship songs.
There are plenty of them, but are they saying what needs to be said?
Our recent conversation about the importance of theology has led me to consider the content of our worship songs.
Theology is caught and taught through worship songs.
The Gospel is preached through worship songs.
What Are We Missing?
We keep saying a lot of the same things, rehashing the same lyrics.
But that’s to be expected, right? The goal of a worship songwriter isn’t to say something new. It’s about presenting an old truth in a fresh way. The Word of God isn’t new but it is timeless.
But what themes are we avoiding? What are the theological gaps in our worship songs?
This hits even closer to home because a few friends and I are planning to do a live worship recording next year. It’s easy to get distracted by how good we sound.
How amazing the stage will look.
How the cover art will pop.
How we can make our “mark” on modern worship.
But what about the lyrical content? Is it glorifying to God? Does it reflect the Gospel?
I once heard Brian Doerksen teach on songwriting as a sacred trust. We are entrusted to teach the truths of our faith in song.
It’s a beautiful, weighty responsibility.
And I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Question: What are our worship songs not saying? What theological concepts do you think the church needs to declare? Let the comments roll!
I remember a post awhile back where you challenged worship leaders to be truth-tellers instead of song-singers. That’s stuck with me since then, and it’s incredibly profound.
I feel like a lot of today’s modern worship songs are very me-centered. “I’ve done this” or “I need this” or “Lead me here” etc.
I feel like we need more God-centered songs. We insert ourselves into our songs, which isn’t bad, but a song or two that’s all about God… it’s a refreshing thought.
YES!!!!
YES!!!!
YES!!!!
The book of Isaiah…is filled with “There is No one Like Me…”There is No other God Besides Me”
This should be our Focus!…
HIM…
I agree, Ryan. In my songwriting these days I’m challenging myself to write songs that don’t mention me at all. It’s harder than it might sound. Just goes to show how self-centered I am, I guess 🙂
Are we covering the same material as the Psalms did? I feel that we rarely let hurting people have a chance to acknowledge their very real emotions, griefs and pains to God in the context of worship. The reaction I get when we sing “It is Well With my Soul” and “Be Still My Soul” is almost palpable. People are hurting, but wonder if it’s OK to be hurting as Christians. Are we giving the very real Hope of the Gospel, where people are, or are we expecting them to already be in their happy place?
In addition to that, I agree with Ryan above. Are we singing songs TO God, about Himself, and getting ourselves out of the way? Again, the Psalms are a good model. As an example, in services at our church we try to open our time together with songs about YHWH, His character, his attributes, and not expect people to make promises about how much they love Him or how much they will serve Him. We want that time to be a re-focusing on who He is. After the teaching of Scripture, we intentionally sing personal songs (1st person), allowing people to respond to what has been taught, but still with a focus on Him, and who we are in light of that Truth.
Finally, I’d ask if we are fully aware of the Trinity in our music? The beauty of that doctrine opens up worlds of understanding into our relationships with God and with each other as Christ’s body. The more we wrestle with that difficult but beautiful truth, the more we come into His presence and see what He has done for us, for His own glory. Again, Theology should lead to Doxology.
My 2 cents. Thanks for asking…
n
BTW, I’ve been very encouraged by the Getty’s hymns. They seem to get it. Great content, real life with the real God. Some of Sovereign Grace’s music covers these things, as well, although their songwriting is not as consistently good.
Neil, this is awesome. I’m encouraged and challenged by how intentional you are in programming your theology of worship.
And I’m trying to think of any songs that are directly related to the Trinity. Any ideas?
Thanks, David. Thinking of older hymns (which tended to do this better), I think of “Holy, Holy, Holy”, “All Creatures of Our God and King”, and “Crown Him With Many Crowns”. “Shine, Jesus Shine” come to mind, although it’s still a little tired (I do it about twice a year now). In general, the Getty’s do a great job of working the Trinity into they’re lyrics, as well (“Hear the Call of the Kingdom” comes to mind.)
Sovereign Grace Worship does a great job of being intentional in this area. Their song “Only Jesus” does a perfect job of mentioning each Member of the Trinity and their role in the life of the believer.
The Trinity doesn’t have to be the point of the song. When I’m writing, I merely try to bring each Member into the process and see how they impact the topic of the song. I’ve recently written a song that attempts this with the lines: “Father, You have found me / Jesus Your life surrounds me / Spirit in Your power, raise the dead to life again.” These passing mentions of the Triune God are simply a reminder of who God is, without beating people over the head with a Theology lesson. 🙂
n
One more plug, here. I have truly been blessed by Marva J. Dawn’s books on this very subject: “Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down” and “A Royal Waste of TIme”. Check ’em out if you want to be challenged on what we preach though our worship.
Love new books. Thanks for this!
I think there are some subjects that just don’t fit “worship” songs very well. But. I think we can – and should – worship God because He has delivered us from hell, even though hell is an uncomfortable subject for “worship”, which we automatically assume must be positive.
Writing songs that are “hopelessly intertwined” with particular endtimes theories that often divide Christians is a tough subject, too.
I don’t hear worship songs about divorce, abortion, prostitution, and other things that hurt people. Even tho God delivers, it’s hard to not be man-centric when we get down to issues.
There need to be songs about these things, but are they “worship” songs”? Probably not.
Why do you think those topics can’t be worship songs?
There would be significant challenge to creating a song that worships God but focuses on prostitution, drug use, etc. It can be done, I think, but there are definite challenges.
Perhaps those specific, explicit topics would be difficult, but addressing our fallenness and the Hope of the Gospel would definitely be doable. Songs calling for bringing justice in light of our own salvation would absolutely be appropriate. Go for it!
Great point, Neil.
Maybe some topics could be: marriage, purity, the value of life etc. These could be songs of teaching and exhortation. “Worship” songs play and important role but teaching and exhortation are also valid uses of music in worship services.
Interesting ideas, Michael. I love how you’re thinking outside the box. Have you ever tried to write a song on these topics?
Sometimes songs are written to minister to individuals. Kind of like a pastor preaching a sermon. Some musicians do it through their music. The best songs to me are the ones that minister to me and then i can praise God with them.
God is Near by The Robbie Seay Band…
God’s resplendent glory full
On display for all to see
God creator – God of hope
Beautiful redeeming Grace
Healer of the broken down
Of the orphans and oppressed
Find Him dining with the poor
Find Him here surrounding
Chorus:
Hallelujah God is near
Hallelujah God is near
David…
What other worship song has orphans and the poor in it?…
I haven’t heard another…
This is a great example of a Gospel-Centered song…
It can be done….
If we are not all focused on writing a “Hit” Song…
I love this song and I love Robbie. I should do an interview with him about this subject soon. What do you think?
Duh! lol…im mean…yes…sounds awesome!
I’ve seen robbie like 3 or 4 times in concert…but haven’t been in a while…
not good…
I haven’t responded here before, but for the past month I’ve really appreciated reading your blog, it has challenged and encouraged me, so thanks David.
When I was leading worship at my old church I remember a couple times thinking “I wish there were more songs on (blank)”. What it led to was me sitting down with my Bible and a guitar and writing new songs. Now most of those songs didn’t get past the 4 walls of my basement, but that isn’t the point. I believe that God has given us music as a gift and that He wants us to write new songs about what He is putting on our hearts. They don’t all have to be “good”, “singable”, or even “congregation friendly”, I think God is just calling us to be honest in our pursuit of Him.
Maybe the question here isn’t “What are our worship songs not saying?” but “What is God calling us to write?”
(And Arny, maybe God wants you to write a new one. There are some others out there, Solution – Hillsong, Our God Reigns – Delirious?, God of Justice – Tim Hughes, but they are few and far between)
Taryn, thanks for commenting! 🙂
“What is God calling us to write?” – fantastic question. I encourage any worship leader to do what you described. Just write for your congregation. Don’t worry about “the global church” and don’t worry about being perfect. There’s freedom there to write from where you are for the people you serve.
Good question, David. I realized a few months ago that in our church’s worship song repertoire there are not many (if any) songs about the community of the Church, the Body of Christ. I can think of a few old hymns – “We are one in the bond of love”, “They will know we are Christians”. Maybe I’m just missing them and they’re out there, but I’m wondering if the lack is due to individualistic thoughts on worship (and maybe just individualistic society in general). Anyone know of some good, more recent songs on this subject? I set out to write one, but haven’t gotten that done yet. 🙂
Good question, Daryl. You’re right – most of our songs are very individualistic in their expression. I really like Matt Redman’s new “Here For You” – a great community song about encountering God in worship.
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I love, love, love all the contemporary Christian praise and worship songs, but I miss some of the old hymns.
My church rarely sings any hymns and when we do, many of the youth have no clue what they are. I can’t speak for other churches, but I feel as if the youth in my church are missing out on some wonderful old songs.
I remember growing up and our worship leader provided a mixture of the old and new. He also would tell us the history behind some of the great old hymns, it really helped put them into perspective.
TC, my experience has been that youth appreciate hymns if the style is somewhat modernized. You also need to be high on explanation. If you’re singing a phrase like, “Here I raise mine Ebenezer” you really need to explain that – not just for your youth but for unbelievers who are watching you lead worship.
Hey guys – I want to echo Ryan’s comment and the replies on the God-centered vs. me-centered songs. This actually brings up a question, and I want to preface this by saying that in no way am I intending to knock any particular songwriter or band, but I sincerely want some objective thoughts about a particular song:
On a previous post, David had interviewed the Elevation worship band, and several people were giving the band props for their song “Give Me Faith”. From a devotional standpoint, it’s an awesome song, and it’s definitely popular judging by the number of views on YouTube. However, when I submitted it to my church leadership, they had reservations about it because it seemed a bit on the me-centered side. I first learned about the song through a couple teens in our church in response to the question: “What song has made you think, ‘Man, I wish we would do that one on Sunday sometime’?”.
Now my question for the group: What are your thoughts about “Give Me Faith” in light of Ryan’s comment to this post about God-centered vs. me-centered?
Great question, Cheyne. First of all, I’m grateful your church leadership is so concerned about the theology of your worship songs. I think that is great.
My opinion is that the song is a great song, but those types of songs shouldn’t permeate an entire worship set. If all your church is singing is songs about their own worship, it is unbalanced. So, use “Give Me Faith”, but sandwich it among songs that declare the greatness of God. It just needs to be balanced. Anyone else?
David – what’s your thought on this? Is the song me-centered or God-centered?
Yea, I think it’s a combination of both. There’s some good God centered moments in this song too.
Your Spirit’s strong in me
My God you never will (fail)
You’re good and your love is great
etc…
How about singing about the other atributes of God – God of Justice (ok I know there is one song but I hate octave jumps!), God of Anger? On a second thought, that might be kind of awkward – but maybe we need more awkward.
In the interest of awkward just to stir up our congregations and get them to think, how about singing about the feminine aspects of God? Why is everything He? I know we sing about the Holy Spirit, but do we acknowledge the feminine aspects of the Spirit – the Shekinah glory? How about the wisdom of God – Sophia? The Eastern Orthodox church gets this…they built Haggai Sophia in honor of the wisdom of God.
There is a part of me that wonders what lion we would awaken if we sang about the forgotten parts of God.
Sarah, I love your thinking. Maybe we do need more awkward. It might be worth exploring. Have you written the “God of Anger” song yet? 😉
Sarah – interesting thought. Incidentally, Jaye Thomas at IHOP has a song called “Shekinah”, asking for the Shekinah glory to come down.
I liked this song when I heard it. For some reason I hesitate to lead a song with the word “Shekinah”. Maybe I should try it 🙂
The blood. The old hymns are timeless, but there are not many new songs about the blood. Also repentance. Staples in our faith that get lost when we stray from singing the old hymns.
GREAT suggestion, Michelle. I agree, songs of repentance are few and far between. But what a necessary aspect to our worship!
Worship songs should be centered in God, but nowadays sometimes our songs are not god centered but self centered, so thanks for this blog.
I guess you have to define what you know a worship songs is? Its not everyday i turn on the Christian radio and once and awhile i will hear a song that does not sound like your typical “worship” song. Until i developed a musical ear as far as arrangement, that is when i figured out why they sound like “worship” songs. Its because it is a mind set on a artist to say ” ok, i have to write this song so it sound worshipy”.
I have to admit, after while, it gets boring and i would rather listen to a sermon on the direct message to song is trying to get across.
There are 2 types of Christian musicians to me. One is your worship leader who arranges worship sets for church and maybe writing his own song here and there. Then there is the music ministers. Music ministers are more original in that they try to gear towards the outsiders and write music that is “catchy” that can be considered a radio style song but also…something you they can relate to and praise God through. Each one has their specific goal as a musician and none is more important than the other in Gods eyes.
In the two types i mentioned, i do believe they need to stick to the gospel in the bible and present a clear message with out manipulating it.
I want to sing more songs about God drawing us and chasing us down and this Love He has for us. More about His Glory and what happens in the Throne room when we meet Him in His presence.
I want to sing about us going closer and deeper than ever before.
I want to sing about worshipping Him in Spirit and what that looks like when you apply Faith.
I’m a few days behind on my blog reading and it’s interesting you posted this last week. I was thinking about you yesterday during our worship time, and wondered where I might leave these comments.
I agree with Ryan that there are too many me-centered songs. I don’t want to sing and ask God to fill me up, or rain on me, or bless me. I don’t want to sing about “taking this city”, or “get ready for your breakthrough”. I even struggle with “I’m desperate for You” although it is a beautiful and meaningful song.
I want to sing true worship to Jesus, telling Him how holy He is, thanking Him for dying for my sins, blessing and loving on HIM.
Neil (and others) have a good point on songs for the hurting. I’m tired of walking into church and acting like everything in life is perfect because we serve God and nothing should ever be wrong. No, things go wrong. We all have struggles, so why do we have to fake it? (Um, don’t want to go off topic, but…)
I love the idea of the more me-centered songs after the Word has been delivered so we can act on it. Now how can I get my worship staff to do that?
John Waller’s “Breathe on Me” is the only song I’ve ever heard ask for the miraculous gifts of the Spirit like this:
“I want to walk in signs and wonders / I want to speak with tongues of angels”
Tongues being a hot topic for another blog post, I feel we’re lacking songs that truly speak to the miraculous power we possess with the Spirit in us.
Fantastic. We need more songs like this! I might start one today 🙂
I’ve thought a lot recently about whether we are teaching and expressing a balanced diet of theology through our song selection. What took me down this path was thinking about Andy Stanley’s 7 checkpoints way back when he was in youth ministry. These were the 7 things that they desired for a student to know and fully understand by the time that they graduated high school. It served as a guide for their message content throughout each year and made sure that they were giving their students a strong and deep foundation.
I wonder what the worship leader’s 7 checkpoints would be for our people. In other words, are we selecting songs that are exhibiting the width and depth of what Biblical worship exemplifies or are we just saying the same things over and over?
Here are some possible checkpoints we came up with. Any additions, subtractions, combinations?
Surrender
Thankfulness
Awe
Lament / Confession / Self-Examination
The Cross / Jesus / The Blood
Praise / Creator
Love
Sustaining / Endurance
Go
Prayer
Salvation / Gospel
Freedom / Healing
Hunger / Desire / Our Passion
How do we combine these into maybe 7-10 memorable and actionable themes? Or do we even mess with it at all? Ha!
Aubrey, this sounds like a fantastic post in itself. Great idea. I would add the “Holy Spirit” into that mix as well!
Jesus sang with his disciples. I’ve often wondered what they sang.
Do you think worship-song writers, just automatically write about the theology they believe? Or do they avoid certain topics that have traditionally been denominational separating points? Or are there just too many musicians in charge of worship who are just not theologically deep. It takes some courage to offer theology that some people may not understand, or may flat out disagree with. Are we by design avoiding issues and theology in our songs? I mentioned a book in a another post. Title,”Selling Worship” by Pete Ward. Theme, “How what we sing has changed the Church”. It is an historical overview of the Contemporary Christian Music movement. It is loaded with facts, that have been lost in the last 50 years. It asks some pointed questions, but leaves the reader to ponder issues. If some one has read this book, what do you you think?
Don
I haven’t read the book, Don. I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks!
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