Occasionally people ask my opinion on various personal or church issues. I recently received the following question which I have reprinted below, followed by my response.
QUESTION
Bob,
Recently I watched some youtube videos stating we should not use worship songs from Hillsong, Bethel, and Elevation because their churches teach some questionable doctrines. I wonder if you are familiar with the teachings of these churches and could give your opinion on this issue? I think their songs are good, but by singing these songs in worship are we supporting the wrong gospel? I would love to know the correct way to evaluate this and appreciate your wisdom.
MY ANSWER
I am not familiar enough with all of the doctrinal positions of those who produce worship and praise music to comment on their orthodoxy. Regardless of the source, I think it is wise for worship leaders to examine the lyrics of every song to ensure it is doctrinally sound and worthy of congregational participation.
However, if we eliminate a hymn or praise chorus because we disagree with a doctrinal position of the individual who wrote it (or the church they attend), we probably wouldn’t have many songs left to sing. I don’t agree with composer George Frideric Handel’s view on infant baptism, but that doesn’t prevent me from worshipping and humming along when Handel’s Messiah is performed at an Easter service.
The Bible says, “We have this treasure in jars of clay.” That means God uses very imperfect people, including me, to communicate His truth. So, I think each individual song should be evaluated on the truth conveyed as well as its “singability,” not on the individual who originally wrote it or the church they attend.
One of my favorite praise songs from Hillsong is “What A Beautiful Name It Is.” The lyrics accurately express basic Christian beliefs:
You were the Word at the beginning
One With God the Lord Most High
Your hidden glory in creation
Now revealed in You our Christ
What a beautiful Name it is
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ, my King
What a beautiful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
To refuse to sing that song because the composer’s home church holds to a doctrinal position that’s somewhat different than mine would deprive me of the benefit of expressing praise to God through a song that I find highly inspirational.
The Apostle Paul advised those who felt it was wrong to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols, “…eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience” (1 Cor. 10:27). I like the way Eugene Peterson paraphrased that verse in THE MESSAGE, “Eat anything sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don’t have to run an ‘idolatry test’ on every item. ‘The earth,’ after all, ‘is God’s, and everything in it.’ That “everything” certainly includes the leg of lamb in the butcher shop.”
In other words, don’t go looking for things to object to. There are enough real problems to deal with that we don’t need to search for additional issues or make a mountain out of a molehill. There may be a few dramatic exceptions, but we don’t have a responsibility to run an orthodoxy test on everyone who writes a hymn or a poem. If it is doctrinally sound in itself, sing it without feeling the need to investigate the history of the individual who wrote it.
All truth is God’s truth and love “rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6).
– Bob
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