Three Worship Songs I Hate
I figured it's time I ranted about Christian worship songs. Some of them I like, of course, but there are others that I loath. In the interest of brevity, I'll mention only the three that are most irksome to me at the moment. I've been trapped in a church service with each of these recently.
I can feel you flowing through me
Holy Spirit come and fill me up
Come and fill me up
Love and mercy fill my senses
I am thirsty for your presence Lord
Come and fill me up
Lord let your mercy wash away
All of my sin
Fill me completely with your love
Once again
I need you
I want you
I love your presence
I need you
I want you
I love your presence
The opening line is enough to condemn this song in my mind, but what really gets me is not the claims of physical sensations of God's presence, but how it flip-flops between "I feel God's presence" and "God please come" lines. How can you follow "I can feel you flowing through me" with "Come and fill me up"? To me, this amounts to admitting that the former sentiments were untrue (or at best, premature), which makes it sound like the whole song is an effort to simultaneously coax God into revealing himself and (in case God is uncooperative) brainwash yourself into believing that you can feel God's presence. At any rate, the whole focus of the song seems to be our desire to experience pleasurable sensations. This isn't worship, it's spiritual drug-abuse. And speaking of brainwashing:
Is it true today that when people pray
Cloudless skies will break
Kings and queens will shake
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you
Is it true today that when people pray
We'll see dead men rise
And the blind set free
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you
I'm gonna be a history maker in this land
I'm gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind
I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run
Into your arms, into your arms again
Into your arms, into your arms again
Well it's true today that when people stand
With the fire of God, and the truth in hand
We'll see miracles, we'll see angels sing
We'll see broken hearts making history
Yes it's true and I believe it
We're living for you
Is it actually true today that prayer can raise the dead? Is it? THEN WHY ARE WE SINGING ABOUT IT? Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of this. I feel a little like the hyperbole police. It just bugs me that we willingly, passionately, joyously sing stuff that we would find ludicrous if not set to music. It's clear that this song is pure pep, and as such probably should not be taken too seriously, but I don't like seeing people getting comfortable saying whatever the church expects them to say without scrutiny. And finally:
All who are thirsty
All who are weak
Come to the fountain
Dip your heart in the stream of life
Let the pain and the sorrow
Be washed away
In the waves of his mercy
As deep cries out to deep
(we sing)
Come Lord Jesus come
Holy Spirit come
This song drives me crazy. Pain and sorrow cannot be simply "washed away". Not by choice, and not by request. This is the worst kind of lie that Christians tell because it belittles people's pain. It's so condescending, like saying "Just quit clinging to your heartache!" as if people feel pain by choice, as if they need to be coaxed into letting God heal them. "Hey, person in pain, have you considered praying about it? Have you considered asking God to give you life?" Has it occurred to you, song-singer, the damage that this kind of tripe can cause? I can only assume that you've personally experienced the kind of pain-washing you're singing about (and if this is the case, I'm glad for you) and you assume that what worked for you will work for everyone else. Open your eyes.
What really bothers me about worship songs is how you can get a whole church-load of people to sing without blinking something that they would never say to another person, or tolerate from the pulpit. Imagine how people would react if I stood up in church and said "Isn't it wonderful how we all have a physical sensation of God's presence?" or "Bob's Grandma passed away yesterday. Let's all pray that she'll be raised from the dead." or "God will take away all your pain and sorrow right now if you just ask him to." Why do you sing stuff you don't believe? Or do you disagree with my assessments of these songs?
(Slightly off topic, but too good not to link to.)
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15 comments:
I totally agree...
Old Christian Hymns are filled with wrathful theology and legalistic drivel, and the new charismatic songs sound like cheap sensationalism that does not make any literal sense at all. When I am at church, I have to keep my mouth closed for half of the songs so I dont prick my conscience too wildly.
I don't see why we even have to worship in song, sinceJesus clearly said that the only worship he wants is imitation.
My personal opinion would be that you generalised there. Yes you may not believe that when you pray dead people will rise from their rotten coffins, but many people do in fact believe that strongly. If you don't believe it, then you shouldn't sing it. But I guess I just think that you can't tell everyone else what they do or do not believe, that's just saying that everyone is the same as you.
Excuse any spelling mistakes,
Yours, etc.
Mr. Lantern
I'm a worship leader at a church, so I have a good amount of experience dealing with praise songs (the good, the bad and the extremely ugly). I find myself being very critical of worship/praise music, for a lot of the reasons you're pointing out. I also hate the cheesiness that has plagued the whole movement. (what non-christian listens to Twyla Paris and thinks, "Maybe I should be a christian?")
However, I completely disagree that you should only ever sing things that you would also say to a friend, or preach from a pulpit. Music is an artform, and even worship music needs to maintain that sense of art, or else what's really the point? That's like saying that poetry should only consist of things you would say to a friend. I think music is meant to be a different way to worship God as an individual or as a community, and that doesn't have to make sense outside of the song itself.
I had to laugh when reading Morgan's comment "what non-christian listens to Twila Paris and thinks, 'Maybe I should be a christian?'", as essentially, that is me.
I Am Ready, excerpt:
I am ready to be all You've given me to be. Lord, I offer You my pride lay it down. Where I have been bound, Father come and set me free, I am ready now to be finally, faithfully, willingly -- me
I certainly agree about the sensationalism of songs, and perhaps even about this particular song, and while I don't credit Twila Paris with my salvation, it was this song that was playing in my dorm room, that caused me to stop, listen to it again, and say to God, "yes, that is what I want. I don't know what that even means, but I do want that".
There could be more to write here, but to try to stay on topic, I will finish by saying, I also agree with Mr. Lantern, that we shouldn't sing the lyrics of songs we don't believe. I do think such "cheesy" songs such as "I've Got a River of Life -- flowing out of me" should not be sung as a happy, clappy kids' song, but rather should be used as an inspiration/conviction that if you don't have a river of life, that it is something to be desired, and seek after that, rather than plodding along like life is the way it is supposed to be.
Sorry for how long it's taken me to respond to these comments. I've been computerless at camp since I last wrote.
Timothy: I'd just like to clarify that I personally like many of the songs we sing at church (both old and new), just not all of them. I also have no problem with people expressing their love for God through music, so long as it is done with proper motives and without hypocracy. But of course you're welcome to disagree.
Lantern: Yes, I generalized. I made the assumption that most of my readers don't actually believe that their prayers can raise the dead, but perhaps I should have worded it to sound less retorical.
Patmos: My favorite song for the past bit has been "Give us clean hands". Two others that I particularly like are "Lord over all" and "Refiner's fire". The astute reader will notice a common theme through those songs.
Morgan: I don't mean that I think worship songs ought to be sermons set to music, or that they be free from figurative speech and literary devices. But I do have a problem with singing things that I feel are misleading or blatantly untrue.
Jon: I'm glad that Twila Paris had a positive affect on you. I think it is precisely the emotional power of music that makes it so neccessary to scrutinize. (Even more so than sermons, maybe. Most people will remember the songs they sang in church better than what the pastor said.)
I can think of many songs that have had an effect on me similar to what you describe, mostly songs about experiencing God's presence. I suspect it was such songs that got the idea in my head that I could have tangible interaction with God, more than anything preached or said in conversation. It was difficult and painful to realize that I couldn't feel what the songs told me I could feel (or was feeling). But that's another story.
Well yeah, I didnt mean to be as harsh as I came across... I did only say 'half the songs'. And also, I said I dont like when singing as a form of worship is forced onto people as necesarry for a relationship with God, not sining in general.
pain and sorrow can be washed away. We aren't doomed to stay bleeding to death from wounds ... and the song does not sayit's instantaneous . but rather that it's God who heals. Being in his presence can and does help.
I wonder where you are coming from? is it just a bad hair cut day. Saw you in rlp btw :)
be blessed
All I have to say is get lives.
I appreciate this post Jacob.
As usual, I agree and I disagree. :) I think I need to be more careful about what I sing... more thoughtful and honest. I do love "All who are thirsty" though. For me it sums up the power that I see God having to comfort and heal and purify. I know what you mean about it being unrealistic to think that pain can just be washed away, but when I sing this song I remember all the times that I have been 'broken' and the only person I can come to is Christ. His healing is slow, but complete. Again, this is my experience.. and I know that is not concrete evidence.
Thanks for continually being brutally honest. It's refreshing.
I hate lots and lots of worship songs. However, I do think you're being too hard on the first one. The whole "flip-flop" can be avoided if you interpret the first two lines to mean "I feel you flowing through me and I want more; I want to be completely filled." No clash there. Besides, what's wrong with wanting to feel pleasurable sensations from worship? That shouldn't be our ultimate goal or the reason for our faith, but what's wrong with wanting to be "filled up?" I've read lots of stuff you've written where you want to feel God's presence. You may not have actually felt it to your satisfation (and usually I don't either) but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Is it possible you've become so cynical tat even if someone, or even you, feel the presence of God during worship you would just dismiss it as something else without considering that it might be the real thing? I don't know, I'm not you, I'm just asking.
I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with enjoying the pleasurable sensations that often accompany worship. What concerns me is that we often make these desires our focus and forget all about God. It seems pretty irreverent and hypocritical to come to church with the goal of experiencing some kind of cheap psychological thrill, and call it worship. (I've done this many times.) What irks me about this song is it seems to me to be entirely focused on conjuring up this kind of self-centered emotional trip, though it's whitewashed with spiritual jargon. But as you point out, there are various ways to interpret these songs.
In regards to what "feeling the presence of God" might be or how it might differ from typical emotional experiences or whether I or anyone else have experienced it at any given time, I'm no longer particularly interested in such questions. I'm grateful to God for my everyday emotions and sensations, and should he see fit to hit me with something entirely new and different, I'll (hopefully) be extra-speacial grateful for that. I have no desire to classify other people's experiences as somehow of Divine origin or not, and I'm done wreaking myself over my unfulfilled desires.
Responding to "morgan's" final paragraph posted at: 6:54 AM, July 26, 2005
"worship music needs to maintain that sense of art, or else what's really the point? That's like saying that poetry should only consist of things you would say to a friend. I think music is meant to be a different way to worship God as an individual or as a community, and that doesn't have to make sense outside of the song itself."
Though I am sure that some others would concur with your ideas, I must vehemently disagree. Most every Christ-oriented church is struggling these days to maintain its numbers, which is SOOoo sad to begin with. Many are turning to the idea that if they Pump-Up the volume and Hype of the music, they will somehow magically draw-in a bunch of our teens who have drifted to ... I-don't-know ... toward the 'Goth' culture or something. Sorry. "Not-gonna-Happen!" Music that is just-plain-purely-glorifying and REVERENT will capture ANYONE and EVERYONE ... when they are ready-and-receptive to it.
No other piece of music in recorded history has brought more people to the TRUE faith (yes, guilty-as-charged, Christ is my Lord and Savior for eternity!) than Handel's "Messiah". If you read all the scriptures from which it was drawn, then listen to it CLOSELY, it will bring you to tears.
(Of course, I'm referring to a GOOD recording of it; whether Sir Thomas Beecham's, Sir Colin Davis', or Walter Susskind's version)... Nonetheless... when a piece moves you to tears, you'll KNOW in your heart: "THERE is the TRUTH!"
The media made a bundle from selling Elvis Presley off as something that he was NOT. Listen to his Gospel albums (3 of which earned him the only 3 Grammy's that he was awarded during his career). His renditions of "How Great Thou Art", "Evening Prayer", "Peace in the Valley", etc etc can also bring on the gushes. And anyone who doesn't believe that he, himself, TRULY BELIEVED needs to sit down with a handkerchief and watch "He Touched Me" (Elvis' inclination to Gospel).
I agree with the crux of the article here:
I'd MUCH rather listen to (or try to sing) words that move me, such as:
"He left the splendor of heaven,
Knowing His destiny
Was the lonely hill of Golgotha,
There to lay down His life for me."...
then to try and grapple with:
"...as deep cries out to deep."
Somebody please answer "From WHAT Psalm, Proverb, or story of the Bible does this come from?!"
...
Be it a hymn, praise and worship song, etc., what I stay focused on is communicating and connecting with God. It is by His Holy Spirit that understanding comes, revelation happens, and I am changed to be more like Christ. I could criticize and pick apart songs, sermons, plays, and other people's opinions on all of the above. And to a degree, this type of conversation can be useful. However, when you get right down to it, the only opinion that counts is His.
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