As I have visited in person a handful of evangelical churches in the past couple of years, and watched many more online, I have become deeply concerned about the future of worship in our churches. I have studied and observed a few patterns that are leading churches into charismatic theology practices, a fact I’m sure many pastors would deny. Before I list the issues that I have observed, please understand this is written from a desire for leaders to understand the importance of worship practices in their local churches. I truly hope to shed light on what are areas of concern in our churches and how pastors/elders/church leaders can help right a tilting ship. Let me highlight three issues that have gotten churches where they are today, illuminating the areas pastors need to understand themselves.
Theocentric Liturgy vs Anthropocentric Liturgy
The churches I have observed would probably define themselves as holding to a fairly conservative theology, supporting the historic doctrines of the faith. These churches would consider themselves as holding a theocentric worship liturgy, but when examined beyond the opening of God’s Word, they hold a strong anthropocentric liturgy. A theocentric liturgy places emphasis upon the Bible and the standards God has set forth in his Word regarding how we are to worship Him. When we read the entirety of Scripture, we see God has a lot to say about how he is to be worshiped. At no point does God say, “Whatever you want to do is fine with me!” He establishes the rhythms, and in response, we worship in an acceptable manner. But when a pastor does not understand how the songs are shaping his flock, there can develop an incongruency between theocentric worship and anthropocentric.
Anthropocentric worship focuses on the desires of the congregation over the established worship practices in God’s Word. Think seeker-sensitive churches. Seeker-sensitive churches place the unbeliever as the object of their liturgy because they want that person to feel a certain way when they enter the church. Do you see the shift that has occurred? The church no longer maintains a liturgy that has Christ as both object and subject.
The subject of the old gospel was God and His ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference.
J. I. Packer
Charismatic Influence
A quick hit on the CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International) current top ten songs used in Christian churches are all written by charismatic writers. Every song. And I venture to guess if you were to hit that chart weeks or months from now, you will find the same thing. Why does this matter? It matters because, as I mentioned, most churches I have observed hold conservative, Calvinistic teachings while charismaticism emphasizes an experience in which, “all the exciting, extravagant, repeated songs of pure praise give way to a hush of awe, and, in silence or quiet song, believers may enter the very presence of God, the Holy of Holies, where (according to their definition) worship finally takes place. In this most intimate experience of relationship with God, believers may express their adoration however the Spirit leads, praying or singing in corporate tongues (“Spirit-singing”), in prophecy, or otherwise.”1 More will be discussed on this below.
If we look into the first three centuries to understand how worship was structured, we glean from writings of our church fathers that they rejected all pagan forms of music in the church. Calvin Stapert discusses the character of Greek and Roman pagan worship in his book, New Song for an Old World, and he describes their music as being ecstatic and frenzied. Jewish music, however, was not that way; thus, early Christian music was ordered and modest. This led our church father, Clement, to conclude that music which leads to indecency and rudeness should be avoided. In pointing to important historical church practices, then, we see that worship has been, since the Old Testament, orderly and structured.
Pentecostalism and The Praise & Worship Movement
Fast-forward to today and we see the two most impactful influences on worship in the church have stemmed from Pentecostalism and the Praise & Worship Movement, both of which developed in the twentieth century. The Pentecostal Movement is considered to have come in three waves: 1: Pentecostalism (development of denomination itself), 2: Charismaticism (when Pentecostal teachings spread to mainline Protestant and Evangelical churches), 3: Neo-Charismaticism (a development of different eschatological teachings). Pentecostal worship theology, as discussed by Donald Hustad above, does not align itself with historic doctrines of the faith to which most evangelical churches ascribe. The Praise and Worship Movement furthered teachings of Pentecostalism, where worshipers needed to begin with praise, where they lauded God’s power, and then transitioned into worship, where they experienced God’s presence. The priority was placed on the worship “flow,” where emphasis was more on emotionalism and feeling than on scriptural guidance. This is reflected in many evangelical church liturgies today, where the worship leader is concerned with getting the congregation excited at the beginning of the service, and then settled down before for the sermon, rather than shaping disciples through the selection of songs that contain theological truths set to beautiful melodies. The first example is anthropocentric, the second is theocentric.
The delineation between “praise” and “worship” developed after the Pentecostal Latter Rain Revival in the twentieth century, which eventually led to “Praise and Worship” becoming “a fully developed liturgical phenomenon, [where] music was the primary tool used to express the liturgical movement.”2 Theologian Matt Sikes explores this topic in his paper, “Does God Inhabit the Praises of His People? An Examination of Psalm 22:3,” and he summarizes by writing, “God’s presence with his people is not because of the efforts that the redeemed bring or the particular songs they use to bring praises to him; and it does not correlate with the amount of physical effort that is exerted. God inhabits the praises, Scripture reading, prayers, preaching, singing and any other Scripturally ordained means of worship that they bring to him by faith as his covenant people, because he is sovereign over all and he has chosen to make his dwelling on earth with his people as a guarantee for the inheritance that awaits all who are in Christ (Eph 1:13–14).”3 In other words, we do not have to process from “praise” into “worship” in order to enter God’s presence.
People learn from everything that happens in a worship service, not just the sermon.
Carl Trueman
Plea to Pastors
Church leaders, please take the time to examine your most-used songs (I hesitate to call them hymns). Your congregation is being shaped by the songs that they sing when they gather on Sundays. Are the songs shaping them more toward Christ, or more toward culture? Reflect on the songs you sang this past Sunday. Was there an increased emotional response because the music swelled or diminished to create a response from the congregation? If so, then that song was anthropocentric, focusing on a response rather than God. A question to always ask is, what are the words that are being placed in the mouths of your congregants? Are they anthropocentric, where it’s all about their thoughts and feelings toward God? Or are they propositional truths wrapped in beautiful tunes? When a church member is faced with a horrible life experience, will the words they sing bring comfort and clarity, or abstraction? Here are a few guideposts to help you discern which songs are best in creating disciple-makers:
Elements to include:
- References God more than self
- Lyrics are theologically and doctrinally accurate
- Depth of lyrics (there is nothing better than sung Scripture!)
- Lyrics that portray a wholly accurate picture of our triune God
- Music that compliments the depth of lyrics
Elements to avoid:
- References to self more than God
- Lyrics that highlight a person’s experience over God’s mighty deeds
- Instrumental or vocal riffs that make it difficult for the congregation to follow
- Music that emphasizes an emotional response
- Donald Hustad, Jubilate II: Church Music in Worship and Renewal (Carol Stream, IL: Hope Publishing, 1993), 289.
- Matt Sikes, “Does God Inhabit the Praises of His People? An Examination of Psalm 22:3,” Artistic Theologian 8 (2020):5-22.
- Sikes, “Does God Inhabit,” 22.
For further reading on this topic, please read Scott Aniol’s By the Waters of Babylon: Worship in a Post-Christian Culture, Bryan Chapell’s Christ Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, and T. David Gordon’s Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns: How Pop Culture Rewrote the Hymnal.
For further reading from Acceptable Worship, see Worship is NOT about You, Hezekiah and Modern Worship Practices, and my two-post series on Discernment in Worship. Click here for Part 1, and here for Part 2.
For an excellent podcast, listen to Costi Hinn (Benny Hinn’s nephew) discusses the impact of Charismatic music (Bethel, Hillsong, Elevation, Jesus Culture, etc.) on our churches. The podcast can be found at The Antithesis: Should Churches Sing Bethel and Hillsong Music? A Conversation with Costi Hinn.
