Worship leaders have a challenging task when choosing songs for a couple of reasons. First, song writers may not always have thought through carefully the implications of chosen lyrics or the lyrics may even be influenced by what we might describe as at best “wonky theology.” At the same time, you are also trying to keep a lot of people happy at the same time with their different tastes and priorities over tunes and words. In fact, it is probably fair to say that we may tend to overlook questionable words in a song either because we like the tune and the rest of the words in the song or because we are sympathetic to the theological thrust of the author, even if they are getting us to sing something which isn’t quite right. For example, conservative Evangelicals are likely to defend Stuart Townend’s lyric “the father turns his face away” even though that isn’t exactly right because we sympathise with the overall theology of penal substitution and propitiation expressed. So, here are some thoughts on navigating the minefield.
It is helpful to think about why lyrics might cause issues. First, a lyric may be theologically fine but carry unhelpful connotations for members of the congregation. They may find it hard to sing them at certain times. Sometimes it is a case of recognising that there is little we can do about this because for most people the lyric would be fine. A Christian may struggle to sing about God’s sovereignty over tough times and trials but those are words we should be able to sing at some point. In such cases, we should simply allow grace for people not to be able to join in at certain times. It is still good, even if hard for them to hear others singing the words. However, some lyrics may be unhelpful because of connotations that have increasingly filtered through into the culture. For example, the hymn “All to Jesus I surrender” like a number of hymns and songs talks about being taken, “take me Jesus, take me now”. Whether we like it or not, such language today has sexual connotations and so we need to consider how this sounds to the abuse victim. As the hymn is in the public domain, I would be inclined to amend the lyrics.
Other songs may include lines that reflect an imprecise theology. Take the example I mentioned above. The lyric “The Father turns his face away” is an attempt to reflect Jesus’ cry on the cross. Strictly speaking, the Father doesn’t turn his face away, the risk is that we may begin to over divide the Trinity. And yet, we do want to give as full force as possible to “my God why have you forsaken me.” Then there is the song “reckless love”. It essentially uses the parable of the lost sheep to describe God’s pursuit of us but should we describe God’s love as reckless? There are two issues here. First, if we think of God as reckless then does that mean he will put us at risk. Noone wants to be in a car with a reckless driver. Secondly, God simply isn’t reckless is he. He is sovereign and so never takes risks. There was never a danger to his sovereignty. Has the author simply tried to describe the way in which God’s love may appear that way to us, just as the shepherd may have been seen as reckless in leaving the 99 behind, although that is not the point of the parable.
In such cases, we may choose to give the author the benefit of the doubt. We can allow for poetic licence and whether or not, they intended to say one thing or the other, we can encourage people to sing the lyrics with a right understanding. This will require a bit of explanation.
At other times, it may seem harder to do this. It may feel as though the questionable lyrics are much more tangled up with faulty beliefs. Consider the song “Everlasting (from the inside out). It includes the lyric:
“Consume me from the inside out.”
The imagery of consumption is from the description of God as a consuming fire. However, when something is consumed, it refers to absolute destruction. Consider how God is seen in the burning bush by Moses. The startling thing was not that the bush was on fire but rather that it was not consumed. This may be helpful for our thinking about what it means to trust God. Moses was being called to be the bush on fire, to represent God. That was terrifying because the expectation was that you could not come into God’s presence without being consumed, without being destroyed. Yet, Moses could and so can we when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
I presume that the songwriters’ intention was to speak of how God refines us. It is the dross, the sin, the evil that is burnt up and consumed. Yet, the problem is first that pagan religion has historically thought and acted as though its gods do consume, humans are offered for them to feast on. Secondly that when we think about what evil spirits do when they possess or demonise someone, we see that this involves them devouring at the essence of the person so that it is dehumanising. Indeed, our secular idolatry does the same. Thirdly, I am concerned that the thinking can become part of our culture and influence the thoughts and actions of believers. When we sing about losing ourselves, when we talk about people burning out for Jesus, it can betray a misperception of the Holy Spirit taking us over and consuming us so that we lose our identity, our personality. This is to misunderstand the nature of becoming a new creation.
I’m sure you can think of other examples. In those cases, I think we need to be much more cautious about singing lyrics which may reinforce significant misconceptions about God. People are more likely to remember those lyrics than the orthodox theology in our sermons.
I hope that this has been helpful for those of you involved in choosing songs for worship. I also hope that it gives a helpful insight into one of the challenges for the rest of us. Whether it’s the senior pastor or a worship leader choosing the songs, they need our prayers and deserve our encouragement.
Faithroots 