Worship Part 3: Hidden Evil

Previously...

In the last article, we looked mostly at what makes a passage, a teaching, a song mean what it means. In the article before that, we saw how worship songs are inherently instructive. In this, our third and final time together studying worship, we’re going to bring it all together. More importantly, I want us to see that, apart from all the ridiculously long theological words and the confusing philosophy, the Bible speaks with clarity on this topic of worship music, and what kind of songs we should avoid. It may not speak directly about unbelievers writing worship songs, but, as we will come to find out, God certainly has things to say about the relationship between a false teacher and their words.

‍

Origin Matters

Do the beliefs of the author of a worship song matter? The Bible is very clear about this. Unbelievers can’t worship God. In Philippians 3:3, after warning ‘beware of evildoers,’ Paul says, “For we are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God…” The mind of a heretic is darkened and vile; utterly displeasing to God (Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 1:21–25, Ephesians 4:17–19). In Matthew 12:34 Jesus goes so far as to say to the sect (literally ‘hairesis’ in the Greek, see Acts 15:5) of the Pharisees, “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” Matthew Henry says of this passage, “Those who are themselves evil, have neither skill nor will to speak good things, as they should be spoken. Christ would have his disciples know what sort of men they were to live among, that they might know what to look for.” Later, in Matthew 15:8–9, we see with absolute clarity that worship can appear sincere because of word choice, but that doesn’t make it so. “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.’” Likewise, Romans 1:25 states clearly that the unbeliever does not worship God, saying, “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

The unbeliever’s ability to write worship songs is also clearly connected to their ability to interpret and accept God’s word. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But a natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually examined.” How could we say that an unbeliever is going to teach us the word of Christ as Colossians 3:16 commands, if they themselves, by definition of being an unbeliever, can’t understand it and don't believe in it? 1 Timothy 1:5–7 condemns those who teach what they do not understand, “But the goal of our command is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and an unhypocritical faith. For some, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.” When the unbeliever attempts to teach the word of Christ he must then be condemned, since he is truly worse than the man from Matthew 7 who tried to educate someone who had a speck in his eye, when he himself had a log in his own. At least that man’s view was only obscured, whereas the unbeliever is dead (Ephesians 2:1). What dead man admonishes the living on how to live? We can't simply ignore the blatant fact that the context of Colossians 3:16 (verse 12) clearly says that the commands of the passage are given to the elect of God. In all of this the relationship between the unregenerate and what they teach is both preserved and condemned.

‍

Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs

What the unregenerate teach is false teaching (Matthew 12:33–37); they do not teach the word of Christ. The unconverted have absolutely no ability to fulfill the command of Colossians 3:16 (Ephesians 2:1–3, Philippians 4:13, Hebrews 11:6). We must remember what the psalmist says in the very first verse of the very first psalm, “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…” When Gordon Hinckley, the former president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, writes in his song My Redeemer Lives the words, ‘I know that my Redeemer lives, Triumphant Savior, Son of God,’ he is not praising the God of the Bible. Is it a hymn? Yes. But does it let the word of Christ dwell in us richly? No. When Leonard Cohen sings the lyrics, for which his famous song is named, ‘Hallelujah,’ which means ‘praise the Lord,’ he is not worshiping God in spirit or in truth. He made a spiritual song, but, as an unbeliever, he cannot fulfill the command of Colossians 3:16. And when Horatio Spafford penned the now popular hymn It Is Well, he no more worshiped God than the false teachers in Matthew 7:22 who say, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ We must reply with our Redeemer that He never knew them (Matthew 7:23), and we must tear down the false teachings of false teachers (2 Corinthians 10:5–6, Ephesians 5:11).

‍

Self-Centered Interpretations

One thing we have to understand about this debate is that the only reason we think songs like the ones I just mentioned are orthodox is because we shove our own personal theology into them. This gets back to a reader-based hermeneutic which I had mentioned in part two of this series. When Mormons take a Christian worship song and use it for themselves, they also think it’s proclaiming orthodox beliefs… Orthodox Mormon beliefs; totally opposed to the true Gospel. But what makes their interpretation any less valid from ours? We might say that it’s because Christianity is true and Mormonism is not, but, although that’s true, that doesn’t mean that the meaning of the song is by default specifically Christian, or specifically our brand of Christian. Both parties are just assuming that the song writer is on the same page theologically as them.

Let’s say that we take a Scrabble board and throw the letters in the air and they land spelling out the word ‘ouch.’ We might say then that we’ve hurt the board. No. There is no person behind the word ‘ouch,’ and so it really means nothing. To say that it means something would be to assume that a Scrabble board is like us, able not only to feel pain, but also to express it. Likewise, to assume that an unregenerate person wrote a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song which communicated the word of Christ is to assume that they are like us, able to understand the word of God, teach it, and love Him. Just because we would mean something by using a certain word does not mean that every time we see that word it must mean whatever we would mean by it.

‍

What I’m not saying

As we come up on the end of our study let me take a second to explain some of what I don’t mean by all of what I’ve said. I won’t be able to answer every question— certainly there are questions I am still confused on— but there are a few things worth talking about here. I don’t mean that it’s a sin to listen to or sing anything written by an unbeliever, only that we shouldn’t worship to it. I don’t mean God can’t use ‘worship’ songs that are written by heretics and unbelievers. Certainly God can use our own misinterpretation of a song for good (Romans 8:28). This doesn’t mean that God wants us to misinterpret worship songs (1 Thessalonians 5:21). I don’t mean that you are a heretic if you have sung a song written by a heretic for worship. If we’re speaking in literary terms, when we sing songs on Sunday morning we are effectively quoting. If you didn’t write the song, and you’re singing it, it’s a quote by definition. When we are quoting something, we are trying to communicate what the original author communicated (refer back to introductory formulas which I mentioned in part two). But, if we have an inaccurate interpretation of what a song actually means, I don’t think we’re unknowingly proclaiming the accurate interpretation. I just think we’re confused, and failing to test all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Finally, and maybe the most important of all, I don’t mean that we should throw out all worship songs by writers who have committed terrible sins or even those who have some bad theology. Certainly if wrong doctrine is being taught in a song then it shouldn’t be sung (Colossians 3:16). However, David committed awful sins, and yet he wrote half of the psalms which Colossians commands us to sing.

‍

Conclusion

I realize that many will think what I’ve said is judgmental or stifling to worship. How dare I say that we should only worship with songs written by actual Christians?! To be frank, I don’t need It Is Well; John Newton; or the others, and neither do you. The way some people talk about worship is as if they absolutely have to have certain songs or artists. I think that makes worship much more about you than God. I don’t need any particular song or artist. I don’t need John Newton’s Amazing Grace. I do need the word of Christ, and Christ’s amazing grace. To those who I haven’t convinced, I challenge you to find how Colossians 3:16 would be ‘disobeyable’ if you deny authorial intent. As E.D. Hirsch Jr. has said, “Almost any word sequence can, under the conventions of language, legitimately represent more than one complex of meaning.” Colossians 3:16 is a command. It is not a command to teach with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, but to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we teach with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. In a 2017 Shepherds Conference sermon, Pastor Mike Riccardi summarizes worship this way, “The heights of our worship will not exceed the depths of our theology.” Unbelievers and heretics can’t teach us the word of Christ, since they neither love God nor believe in Him. What worship song could they write that’s not affected by their heresy? Even if they say ‘God, I love You,’ so long as they are still unregenerate, it will either not be about the true God of the Bible, or won’t be true praise of the God of the Bible, since they neither love Him nor do they believe in Him (Romans 1:21–25). Are the false teachings of heretics communicated in their songs? Yes. Do we automatically perceive those false teachings? No, a lot of times it will take some digging. But we are commanded to be on guard and test all things (1 Corinthians 2:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:21). Ignorance, though bliss, is not an option. We must not allow these false teachers to gain a foothold in our worship, and allow ourselves to be taken in because of vague generalities or inarticulate lyrics. We can't forget Peter’s warning to us in 2 Peter 2:1, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies…”