A couple days ago, the radio woke me by playing that most irksome praise song, "I Will Worship" (thanks a lot, Moody). The remainder of my day perfectly demonstrated why I loathe these catchy, theologically pathetic, self-exalting tunes. Why? Because I ended up humming or singing that stupid song all day. It was awful. No matter what I did, it kept popping back into my head (by now you may have noticed that I easily get annoying songs stuck in my head—is there a name for this condition? And, lest you think I'm the only one with this problem, please note that Thabiti Anyabwile had a worse song stuck in his head this morning.) It wasn't just the fact that I had an annoying melody running through my brain, though, it was the fact that I ended up singing about myself all day because of it.
Let's look at some of these stellar lyrics:
I will give you all my worship
I will give you all my praise
You alone I long to worship
You alone are worthy of my praise
I will worship (I will worship)
With all of my heart (With all of my heart)
I will praise you (I will praise you)
With all of my strength (With all my strength)
I will seek you (I will seek you)
All of my days (All of my days)
I will follow (I will follow)
Follow all of your ways (All your ways)
I will give you all my praise
You alone I long to worship
You alone are worthy of my praise
What a perfect example of the narcissistic mindset that encompasses and defines not only our culture, but our churches! If you are singing this song in church, look closely and you'll discover with very little difficulty (I hope) that you're singing about yourself, not God. You may as well be singing these lyrics:
I am really, really awesome
I'm so awesome, it amazes me
You're so lucky to receive my worship
You're so blessed to receive my praise
I am awesome (I am awesome)
Every ounce of me (Every ounce of me)
Knows I'm awesome (Knows I'm awesome)
Can't you see? (Can't you see?)
I have sought you (I have sought you)
All on my own (All on my own)
And now I'll follow (And now I'll follow)
Trusting in me alone (Me alone)
I'm so awesome, it amazes me
You're so lucky to receive my worship
You're so blessed to receive my praise
Me-centered worship. It's been the one of the great contributors to the downfall of the visible church. And it's not just our songs that are glorifying man, but our sermons and our interpretation of Scripture. One day, when the wheat and the tares are separated, oh what a surprise some will receive! Ah, well, no matter, so long as it feels good while we're here, right?
I had to let a number of other people know about this
ReplyDeleteUhh, don't see much difference between Jeremy Camp and this...
ReplyDeletePsalm 5[a]
For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.
1 Listen to my words, Lord,
consider my lament.
2 Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
with you, evil people are not welcome.
5 The arrogant cannot stand
in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
6 you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
you, Lord, detest.
7 But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
toward your holy temple.
8 Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make your way straight before me.
9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongues they tell lies.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.
Seriously? One of them is talking about God. The other is talking about himself.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I agree. That song follows the pattern of the Psalm near exactly. I agree with the overall point that there is in much worship (Contemporary, but even traditional) a man-centered approach. I cannot agree with this example. Frankly, if reference to oneself was what determined a song was wrong, then we would undo many of the Psalms (and other passages) as Holy Writ. The whole point of this song is that God is worthy of our worship, which certainly is a biblical idea (Ps 96:4; Rev 4:8-11; etc).
ReplyDelete