Recently, one writer in the National Review aptly described contemporary Christian pop music as “Jesus is my boyfriend” music. With many of its popular stars singing the little tunes with caressing breathy, airy voices from stages replete with special effects lighting and expensive sound systems, religious companies like Hillsong churn out one after another, “worship” hits, with shallow nebulous lyrics having such veiled references to God and the Word of God that one wonders why it would be called Christian music.
With the lack of any doctrinal certainty and the absence of any real depth or substance, it has not been too surprising that in the last month, two more prominent leaders in the Hillsong enterprise have come out publicly to declare their abandonment of any Christian beliefs they may have once espoused.
When one’s “worship experience” is primarily about “how it makes me feel,” and how well it mimics pop culture, it isn’t any wonder that things fall apart when the realities of life get in the way. Biblical worship has nothing to do with creating a feeling or experience for us. Such an approach is of course, largely man-centered rather than Christ-centered.
Worship is supposed to be about us getting out of the way and finding the focus placed on the Lord alone. In fact, very often when you read of worship in the Scriptures you see humbling, bowing, prostration, man down, God up. So, let’s leave the rap and pop and the hippity-hop to Peter Cottontail, to those who have no concern about Biblical worship and whose philosophy is “it can’t be wrong, ‘cuz it feels so right.”
John 4:23, But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.