This post has been on my mind for quite some time now. Most Sundays (regardless of the church I attend) are reminders of the poor quality of worship-song writing in our mainstream-evangelical culture. I frequently find myself distracted during worship, unable to sing a chorus again or compelled to skip portions of verses I dislike. Such distractions take my mind of God. I confess I’ve done more than my share of griping and complaining about praise songs. Although griping is enjoyable; I doubt it is beneficial for others or my own spirit. To make matters worse, I frequently wrestle with whether I or the song writer is to blame for my poor attitude during worship. “Maybe if I were just more aligned with the Holy Spirit, I would be able to worship authentically to this song too,” I sometimes think. And anyway, should Christians even be critical of other believers’ attempts to write and sing to God? This is at least an area on which to tread lightly – such criticism may not be mine to make. Because of these cautions, this topic has sat on the blog side-burner for quite some time.

Yet the same songs, choruses, and phrases that bothered me years ago still grate against me today. This post is an attempt to constructively lay out pitfalls in worship-song writing and leading that cause me to be distracted during worship. It is not meant to disparage any particular song or song writer. Perhaps if we, as Christians, are more reflective about what our worship should be, and what songs are beneficial and supportive of authentic, true worship, we might write just such songs. So the following is a list of seven factors I’ve noticed in common praise songs that detract from the worship experience for me.  The list is arranged from the least-bad to worst offense.

7. Adding to (or subtracting from) much-loved hymns. A popular activity of worship leaders is to “modernize” famous hymns by cutting out verses, adding choruses, and simplifying melodies.  Sometimes my initial excitement at singing a hymn turns to disappointment when I realize we’re singing one of these watered-down versions.

6. Worship instructions. Worship is a very personal activity. Given the diversity of believers (their personalities, cultural backgrounds, and current spiritual needs and situations) there is little reason to think a song will evince the same emotions and responses among worshipers. A song that makes one want to jump for joy may make another want to sit and pray, and still yet another may want to reflect on God’s goodness. Personally, I think there is very little need of any worship instructions at any time. Certainly the last place they belong is in the song itself. Requests to sing or lift up hands are, in general, a distraction for me.

5. Nonsensical or vague lyrics. Clarity is important.  I want to sing lyrics that have easily-discerned meanings.  It is difficult to mean in my heart lyrics I don’t understand (such as saying “yes, Lord; yes, Lord; Yes, yes Lord!” when never explained what I am to say “yes” to.

4. Repetition. Probably the most endemic of the list.  Worship is not just about the heart; it is also about the mind.  I find it difficult to repeat the same words 5, 7, or even 10 times.  Even the best of lyrics eventually begin to lose their meaning.  Singing lyrics fewer times would also allow more songs to be sung during worship.

3. Dishonesty. Some songs make claims (in first-person narrative) that no believer can honestly make.  For example, consider a song I enjoy: Matt Redman’s “Blessed Be Your Name.”  The song states that “every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise.”  Who can honestly sing this?  I certainly will not give God praise for all of His blessings.  I know I should.  But not one day goes by that I miss blessings of God, either because I am not looking for them or because I attribute them to my own (or others’) actions.  Worship should be a time of brutal honesty.

2. Unbelief. The number of well-known praise songs that actively undermine belief in blessings promised us in Scripture is shocking.  A common example is the request for the Holy Spirit to come into the worship experience (“Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”).  There is simply no excuse for such lyrics when we’re promised in Scripture that the Holy Spirit is present when believers gather together.  Another example is Keith Green’s “Create in Me a Clean Heart,” from Psalm 51.  Even though these lyrics come virtually straight out of the Old Testament, they explicitly undermine belief in God’s promises in the New Testament.  As Christians, we are a new creation – complete with the life of Christ inside of us.  We do not need a new heart.  We already have Christ’s!  David, when writing this Psalm, obviously was not living under the new covenant, nor had access to Christ’s life inside of him.  But surely we should not give up our wonderful position on this side of the Cross!

1. Self-Aggrandizement. This, I think, is the most serious worship issue I’ve noticed.  Occasionally, some songs make the worshiper seem as the consistent and reliable partner and paint God as capricious and unreliable.  Such a description is antithetical to worship.  Take, for example, Ten Shekel Shirt’s “Meet With Me.”  The first verse is: “I’m here to meet with You/ Come and meet with me/ I’m here to find You/ Reveal Yourself to me.”  While the lyrics may seem innocuous, the subtext of the song is that the worshiper has fulfilled his or her role – now it’s time for God to fulfill His. And He may or may not.  Another example is Jeff Deyo’s “We are Hungry.”  Deyo writes, “Lord, I want more of You/ Living Water, rain down on me/ Lord, I need more of You/ Living Breath of life/ come and fill me up// We are hungry/ We are hungry/ We are hungry for more of You/ We are thirsty, Oh Jesus/ We are thirsty for more of You// We lift our holy hands up/ We want to touch You/ We lift our voices higher/ And higher and higher to You.”  Notice again the focus on the worshiper as the consistent seeker.  God, on the other hand, has been withholding Himself from us!  The entire focus of this song is on the worshiper, not on God. Our desire is elevated almost to holiness, while God again is presented as waiting with a bagful of blessings withheld for only those who seek and desire enough.  Humility of the believer before a holy and gracious God is absent when self-aggrandizement is present.