What We Sing

Warning!  This may step on the toes of the worship leader.  It may also make you mad at me for ruining your favorite worship song.  If you don’t want either of these to happen, stop reading now.

Let’s start with the fact I am not a singer.  I enjoy several styles of music and like to sing along… when I’m by myself, in my car with the windows rolled up so no one can hear me.  I enjoy leading small groups, men’s groups, youth, even preaching.  If you want your church to shrink, ask me to lead worship.

Since gaining a revelation of God’s amazing Grace toward us, worship service has become increasingly difficult for me to participate in.  It’s not because of the music, it’s because of the lyrics.

In my study of Grace, I’ve received revelation on some amazing facts.  God will NEVER leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  The Holy Spirit lives inside us and surrounds us, so it would be impossible for Him to leave us (Romans 8:9-11, 1 John 4::13).  If we are in Christ, we are the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).  There are many others.  However, I want to keep this brief.

God will NEVER leave you.  This includes when you or I sin, make mistakes, or forget to read our Bibles.  Why do we sing songs that beg God to stay or come back to us?  He’s already here!  We may turn from Him, but He will NEVER turn from us (just read about the Corinthian church).

Some of my favorite songs before I “discovered” Grace were asking the Holy Spirit to let us into His presence.  These are beautiful songs that inspire a deep emotional reaction.  The only issue I have is were already in Him and He’s in us.  We can’t get any closer.  We are surrounded and permeated by the Holy Spirit much like a sponge in water.  All we have to do is be aware of His everlasting presence.

Her’s a pet peeve of mine; stop calling yourself a sinner in your worship songs!  We are made the righteousness of God in Christ.  We are made new.  We are born again.  The old things have passed away.  Why do we continue to call ourselves sinners when God calls us Saints?

“I’m just an old sinner saved by grace.  Which one are you?” – Michael T. Smith

If this upsets or confuses you, please continue to read.

I’ve never been one to simply complain.  I like to propose solutions to problems, not just the problems themselves.  There are many beautiful songs, both classic and contemporary.  They have wonderful melodies and lyrics.  Some of these, though, have one or two lines which go against everything we learn about Grace.

As a worship leader, you have the freedom to rewrite a lyric the same way you can rearrange the accompanying music .  For instance, “I want more of you, Jesus I want more of you…” could easily be changed  to “I have all of you, Jesus I have all of you…”  Do you see the doctrinal difference?  Do you see how this actually lines up with New Testament scripture?

Worship is a wonderful time, not only during church, but throughout life.  My hope is that the lyrics we sing will begin to line up with the message we here when we learn about God’s amazing Grace.  If we have a song in our hearts about how we are in Christ, fully forgiven and loved by God, we can be more aware of all He has done for us.  We would then be more aware of His presence with us.  If the Church is walking around with these thoughts, we would be an unstoppable force for His Kingdom.