Hypothetical question here: As a Baptist, would you sing a song written by a Catholic? Would you sing a song written by someone who holds to prosperity theology? What about someone who does not believe in the Trinity?
Those may be hypothetical questions to you, but they are very real to me. Each week, as we select songs, we come across a lot of popular ones written by people we don’t agree. Should we sing their music?
Matt Maher, who has written some great songs like Lord I Need You and Because He Lives (Amen), is Catholic. You can find him on Youtube singing for the pope. Many of the popular worship leaders out there come from a more charismatic background and hold to prosperity theology. Bethel and Hillsong are two of the most popular, at the moment. From what I have read and heard, the Christian group Phillips, Craig and Dean deny the doctrine of the Trinity. They have several well-known songs in the church, such as Revelation Song.
Because of this issue, there are some churches out there that choose not to sing songs written by folks like these. This usually only ends up being a group of hymns written by well-known pastors such as John Newton, Isaac Watts, and Charles Wesley.
So where do we stand as a church? Make no mistake: We believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. We do not believe in prosperity theology. We are certainly not Catholic. However, we still choose to sing songs written by these people.
Here’s why: I believe each song should be selected based on the lyrics, not the writer. We intentionally try to choose songs that are Christ-centered, theologically correct, and appropriate in a congregational setting. If a song’s lyrics pass this test, then we will consider singing it.
This means that we do sing songs written by all of the folks mentioned above. Hillsong and Bethel has written some songs that are theologically off, so we avoid those. They have also written songs that are Christ-centered and theologically correct. If they pass our lyric test, we will (and have) sung them.
I have nothing against those churches that choose to be more selective about the music and writers of the music. I just personally have no problem singing a song written by someone I disagree with. Once a song has been written, it leaves the writers and goes off into the world to stand on its own. The music and lyrics are what will ultimately prove whether it is a good song or not. Just as theologically sound Christians have written unsound songs before, theologically unsound Christians have written sound songs. It does not matter to me. I choose based on the song itself.
Not only is this the simpler way, but I believe we can’t truly judge all the music out there by the writers. For one thing, we sometimes don’t know the writer. Second, sometimes it is written by multiple people. Third, some songs are written by one person and then made popular by others. Amazing Grace was written by John Newton, but the music of the song came from a popular bar tune. We are basically singing a bar song! Lastly, it is a slippery slope to go down when trying to judge the character of writers. If they have correct doctrine but then fall into sin (such as have an affair), is their music then disqualified? What if they later denounce their faith in Christ, should we no longer sing their songs (such as the hymn Come Thou Fount).
No, I prefer to simply judge it by the lyrics. If the song is theologically sound and Christ-centered, no matter who wrote it, we will consider singing it.
I would encourage you to do the same with the music you listen to, even outside of church. Be intentional and thoughtful with the words you are putting into your mind. Bad lyrics will eventually breed bad thoughts. Don’t let them in there and certainly don’t give them a fortified position in your mind. If you are listening to music that is theologically unsound, then watch out, because unsound thoughts and beliefs are not too far away.