The second trend in today\u2019s Christian worship music that I see is the increasing emphasis on me instead of on God. The worship songs may mention the names of God and Jesus, but the focus is on me and my feelings<\/p>\n
Worship should be about God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. It should be about their great love for us and what they have done for us. It should be about their faithfulness to us. Instead, today\u2019s Christian worship music is about me and how much I love God and what I am going to do for him. It is about my faithfulness to love him and to praise him for the rest of my days. It is about me and my feelings.<\/p>\n
For example, the song, \u201cI Love Your Presence,\u201d has this line in it:<\/p>\n
I can feel you near, God.
\nI believe, I believe.<\/p>\n
It implies that I believe because I can feel him near. What happens when I don\u2019t feel him near, which is the vast majority of the time? Do I stop believing? The song implies that our belief is based on our feelings, rather than on truth.<\/p>\n
For the truth is our feelings are not a sure foundation upon which to build our faith. Our feelings change from day to day, even from minute to minute. If we build our faith upon our feelings, then our faith wavers when the \u201cgood\u201d feelings disappear.<\/p>\n
The Church has always taught that our faith is based on truth. The truth is that God is always near, even when we don\u2019t feel his presence. He always loves us, even when we feel that he does not. He is always faithful, even when we feel that he has let us down. But today\u2019s Christian worship music assumes that our relationship with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ is based on our feelings rather than on truth.<\/p>\n
The song, \u201cYou Know Me,\u201d says \u201cWherever I go, you find me.\u201d That sounds so spiritual and so Biblical because the Bible does say \u201cI will never leave you or forsake you\u201d (Heb. 13:5). But the line actually reverses what Jesus himself said: \u201cIf anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also\u201d (John 12:26). God is not our servant. We should not decide where we are going next, expecting God to follow us. We are called to be the servants of Jesus Christ. He<\/em> decides where he<\/em> is going next, and we are expected to willingly follow him<\/em>. The song ignores the truth because it is really exalting me<\/em> instead of God.<\/p>\n But that this song exalts me should come as no surprise when you learn from where this song came. It was written in 2011 by Steffany Gretzinger and William Matthews, both of whom were worship leaders at Bill Johnson\u2019s Bethel Church at the time. My pastor once pointed out with great insight that the Word of Faith theology is an error unto itself, but it also tends to lead people further and further away from the truth. The Word of Faith theology ends up putting us in charge. We<\/em> decide if we should be wealthy and we <\/em>decide if we should be made well and we<\/em> end up commanding<\/em> God to give those things to us. God is not in control; we are. And in fact, that is precisely what Bill Johnson teaches his congregation (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zB1BGhvCij4<\/a>). That is why his worship leaders wrote a song that pictures God following us instead of us following God.<\/p>\n At the same time that today\u2019s Christian worship music teaches us that we can control our circumstances, it also teaches us that we can\u2019t control ourselves and even that we shouldn\u2019t want to control ourselves. The song, \u201cSet a Fire,\u201d was written by Will Reagan, the same person who wrote \u201cBreak Every Chain.\u201d \u00a0The chorus says:<\/p>\n So set a fire down in my soul, But this request is contrary to what the Word teaches. The fruit of the Spirit includes self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). The Word tells us repeatedly to \u201cbe sober\u201d (I Thess. 5:6, 8; Titus 2:2, 6; 1 Pet. 1:13, 5:8). The Word says that “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets\u201d (1 Cor. 14:32). The idea of losing control is a pagan idea. Satan wants us to lose control because it opens us up to demonic suggestions and can cause us to sin.<\/p>\n The teaching that we should lose self-control is appealing because it releases us from all responsibility for our actions. If we end up doing something wrong, well, it\u2019s not our fault; we lost control. And yet, if we lose control and end up doing something \u201cspiritual,\u201d we still want the credit for it. Somehow we believe that we are better people if we love someone because we couldn\u2019t help it, rather than choosing to love. We believe that we are more spiritual if we couldn\u2019t help but do what is right, rather than choosing to do what is right. The Word never teaches us to lose self-control. It teaches that we are to be in full control of our faculties so that we can choose<\/em> to submit them in obedience to God.<\/p>\n Years ago, my worship leader sang a song (I do not remember the title) in which we asked the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit to come fill this place and be with us. Then he prayed, \u201cLord Jesus, we do ask you to come fill this place.\u201d He paused because it suddenly occurred to him what he had just requested. Then he went on: \u201cBut in fact you are already here because you said that if two or three are gathered in your name, you will be there.\u201d This perfectly illustrates my point. So often today\u2019s Christian worship music proclaims error because it is based on our thoughts and our feelings and our desires and, dare I say, our lusts. But the Word proclaims the truth. Our worship songs, like our teaching, should be based on the truth. Any worship song that is not is simply not worth singing.
\nThat I can\u2019t contain, that I can\u2019t control.<\/p>\n
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