I’ve wanted to write about this for some time now but never had the inspiration to do so. But this past weekend was the tipping point.
The book of Jude is often ignored or skipped by many who read the Bible. In fact, in my 6 years of being a believer, and the last 3 being employed by the church, I have never heard anyone quote the book of Jude. In fact, just in the last year, I was the one who led a Bible study on the book of Jude for my staff group meeting, which was met with my manager looking at me like I had two heads.
Jude essentially talks about the falling away of the church. This short book is a warning to the church that ungodly men had crept in and have and will distort the truth and defile the Gospel.
While this is happening in so many different ways, one clear platform of this deception is in worship music. Now to understand where I am coming from, let me give a little bit of personal history.
I was born in 1983 in the thick of hair bands, glamour metal, and cheesy electronic pop. But it wasn’t until the early 90′s that I began to show a serious interest in music. I quit piano lessons in exchange to teach myself the electric guitar. I bought a flannel shirt and began cranking out Nirvana and Soundgarden tunes. It was the advent of grunge rock and a new wave of teen rebellion. Then i got into metal music. Metallica became my absolute favorite band. I couldn’t go a day without listening to it. It fueled my anger and rage towards the world. And my guitar playing was steadily improving as I learned Metallica songs note by note. I was also very much into blues music and one Stevie Ray Vaughn, who I still consider one of the greatest guitar players of all time. In any case, my goal became to make it big in music. I wanted to be a rock star. But as I grew into my late teens and early twenties, I began to realize that the music industry was changing. Once the internet came into play, popular music became way more of a business and a product rather than an art. The change was disturbing because I saw the radio waves turn from good music, to one hit wonders and shallow repetitive nonsense. Nevertheless, there were still many bands that were big in their own right and I worked hard to get to that place where I could write and play music for a living.
It wasn’t until I came to understanding fully what it meant to be a Christ follower that I had a major paradigm shift in my thinking and understanding of the world, especially music. In fact, worship music was the one thing I despised, even after i declared my faith. But I came around to it. Now I think bands like Hillsong United are great in bringing glory to God while remaining fairly artistic. But the reason why I wanted to make this post happened this last weekend.
There was a major conference happening at my local church of which I was an AV for. The opening day came and there were hundreds, if not thousands of young church leaders gathered to talk about moving the church forward in the 21st century. It began with worship. There was a single candle lit on the stage with a keyboard player singing on the left and a guitar player on the right. That was it. The worship leader began the conference with a very interesting proposition; “Take a deep breath and clear your mind. Let go of all the troubles and difficulties holding you down and just open yourself up. Invite the spirit to make his presence known.” Accompanied by long drawn out ethereal chords with lots of re-verb and echo, this sounded more like new age meditation than worship. After the small “moment of stillness,” the duo broke into a popular worship song. It sang of Jesus and God as any worship song would even though the style was still ethereal and new age-y.
After the first song, the worship leader stepped away from his piano and picked up his acoustic guitar. He plucked some chords while encouraging to pray for God to manifest. “Ask God to manifest right now. We know God is present and He is everywhere, but we want Him to manifest. A doctor could be present here in the crowd, but once he steps on the stage and begins to perform surgery, he is manifesting. In the same way, ask God to manifest.” Okay. What in the world is this guy talking about? God manifesting is first off, in Jesus, God who became flesh, and secondly the Holy Spirit. Am I wrong? In what other way does God manifest? And does he mean in some allegorical way or literal? This was very vague and confusing for me.
I was happy to find out that a couple of fellow co-workers of mine felt this was strange as well. But this was only the beginning. The following weekend, I set up the band for the High School Ministry as I always do on Sunday mornings. The band came in as usual and began their rehearsal. One of the “traditions” of our high school services is to perform an opening song that is catchy, poppy, and popular in main stream pop culture, but somehow also relates to the message for that weekend.
This weekend, the message was on “Talking to God” from the story of Jonah and the Fish. So what song did they choose for the opener? A song by Carly Rae Jepsen entitled “Call Me Maybe.” Keeping in mind that this was sung and performed by a band of high school kids to high school kids, check out the lyrics:
Verse 1
I threw a wish in the well, Don’t ask me, I’ll never tell I looked to you as it fell, and now you’re in my way,
I trade my soul for a wish, pennies and dimes for a kiss I wasn’t looking for this, but now you’re in my way
Chorus
Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number, so call me, maybe?
It’s hard to look right, at you baby, but here’s my number, so call me, maybe?
Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number, so call me, maybe?
And all the other boys, try to chase me, but here’s my number, so call me, maybe?
Verse 2
I beg, and borrow and steal
Your stare was holdin’, Ripped jeans, skin was showin’ Hot night, wind was blowin’
Chorus
Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number, so call me, maybe?
It’s hard to look right, at you baby, but here’s my number, so call me, maybe?
Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number, so call me, maybe?
And all the other boys, try to chase me, but here’s my number, so call me, maybe?
The reason why I wanted to set up my history as far as music is concerned is because I am not some fundamental, conservative, right wing, republican, old school, Baptist church going, guy. In fact far from it. Yet I still have a problem with this. I didn’t say anything at the time, but my heart was hurting every time I heard the kids sing out, “I trade my soul for a wish”. It made my cringe inside. Why would anyone want to bring in this kind of song into the church? Some people unsurprisingly will tell me I am over reacting and the kids are just trying to have a good time and be relevant. But in all honesty, I consider church to be holy and sacred to God. And this song by no ways honors God in any way shape or form, nor did it have anything to do with the message, which itself was mediocre at best.
Jude warned us this:
“They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. ” JUDE 1:18-19′
The issue I have is with leadership. The entire week was a blast of seeing young church leaders talking about how to appeal to a changing culture and society, all the while maintaining the truth of the Gospel. Well, I just think you can’t. It’s a dangerous game to be playing. The fact is, the Gospel message is going to be compromised with such endeavors. It’s not meant to be presented one way or another. The Gospel is just meant to be preached as is. But the church has become a business. It’s about the numbers. It’s about attendance, donations and social justice programs. And while worship is meant to be simply that, worshiping God, it has also given way to the tentacles of the ways of the world.
I have friends who are part of the worship band and I know how caught up they get in political affairs regarding the worship team. There is judgment towards performance, ability, skill set, etc. The politics of who gets to play and who doesn’t, who get’s paid, who volunteers etc. is off the charts. Not to mention what songs get played, how they are arranged, who is featured…it goes on and on, and I often wonder if the main point of glorifying God alludes them. Are they simply lying when they tell the congregation to worship God? Or are they like all of us, just caught up in the affairs of the world?
I have no absolute solution for this, nor am I suggesting we can really do a whole lot about it. I simply write and brings these things to light for the sheer purpose of being a watchmen for the Lord. The point is to simply help people reflect on where their hearts are at when they do do ministry. It’s not an easy thing to do these days, and I get that. My only plea is that you and I keep our eyes on the Lord God and nothing else as we move through the world as aliens. And if I am off base here, I welcome the criticism and conversations about this or anything else.
You are spot on in this area. I grew up in a Charismatic church, so I have been to some really out there worship services, but the lyrics to almost all of our worship songs were scripture set to music. The words had meaning. There was life in them because they were the words of God. I go to an Independent Bible church now and we only sing hymns, which don’t have as much scripture in them, but they are full of doctrine.
I visited another church recently and I could not stand their worship service. It seemed to be more of a show of talent rather than worship to God. I love to hear talented people play and sing, but it was not done in the spirit of praise to God. I was so uncomfortable that I wanted to leave, but I didn’t. I just closed my eyes and tried to focus all of my attention on God….it was extremely difficult.
Thanks for the comment. I think it’s unfortunate that egos get so big that they forget they are simply leading the church in worship and not glorifying themselves. It’s one area…the first area actually where I saw stark hypocrisy in the church. Nobody is free of being a hypocrite but I discovered some folks in worship are more in it for true worship than others.
We (my wife and I) are with you on this, one hundred percent. For a very long time now, we feel that much of organized religion these days has been “compromised” – to put it kindly – in one way or the other. We are not comfortable with what is (or isn’t) being taught in church today.
My parents still go to church every Sunday, yet they just don’t seem to be all that aware of what is going on around them, nor why it’s happening. They almost sound sad at times. How can this be so for people who have been so fortunate, loved by so many, and go to church every week?
Something just doesn’t seem right.
I feel ya. My wife stopped going to the church I am employed at because the heresies are become too much for her to bear. She loves the people, the community etc. But she said it feels more like a show with some pebbles of self help wisdom from a verse in the bible and not much else.
I think moving back to a verse by verse style of teaching will do wonders for the institution of church. It would lose a lot of members at first, but hopefully would rebuild with solid believers. But that’s my will and not God’s. So ultimately His will be done.
I found this article fascinating and like to share it whenever the topic of pop music comes up : )
Inside The LC: The Strange but Mostly True Story of Laurel Canyon and the Birth of the Hippie Generation. A long but fascinating background in how groups like the Byrd’s, Mama’s & Papa’s, etc suddenly appeared on the scene:
http://www.davesweb.cnchost.com/nwsltr93.html
I love the book of Jude. It is so relevant today and makes a very good book to study in a Bible study, since it is short but packed with many useful points.
Thanks for the link. I’ll definitely check it out. Yes Jude is so awesome. And it’s one of those books that verifies a lot of the theology that many hold as “fringe”
Yes, I agree. Like Genesis 6:2
We recently left our church, loved the people but couldn’t take the lack of Bible study, the wishy-washy sermons, and the gushy, repetitive, loud loud music. (I’m in my 40′s, I should like the contemporary music, but I so prefer the hymns.)
We found a church 1 1/2 hours away. The pastor teaches word by word, verse by verse, reminds me of Barnes or Matthew Henry, as he has so much background info and so many cross references. We got more Bible in 1 Sunday school class there then in a whole year of our previous church. It took me months of research finding this new place, pouring over websites and downloading sermons to see their style. It’s hard to tell how a church is just by reading their doctrinal statement. It was worth the search and worth the drive.
Wanted to add, I enjoy the new podcast, what a great show! I too am a Future Quake refugee
I gotta say, I resonate with what you’re talking about here in so many ways. Your comments about the ethereal, meditative worship music and the calling for God to “manifest” stuck out to me in particular, because this whole issue of “Christian Mysticism” is one that God seems to keep bringing me back to, again and again. Once you really start to see it for what it is, it’s crazy to realize just how pervasive this these concepts of mysticism have already become in the church and the culture at large. I spent a handful of years navigating through the “house-church/organic-church movement”, because I had become disillusioned by the whole “Church-as-a-corporation” paradigm you described above. For a time I believed that the hypocracy I had witnessed in many church-goers, and the growing apostacy I was hearing in so many pulpits, was largely due to the institutional, business-model approach to church that I had been raised in. Unfortunately, over time I was forced to recognize that the gospel was being slowly and craftily twisted both inside and outside the walls of the institutions…
Every time I have thought I’d “figured something out” about what the Body of Christ should look like and how to “do it right”, I have inevitably run into the same core concepts of mysticism (which is really just the most homogenized level of paganism/occultism) trying to take root in whatever circle, group or “movement”. Again and again I’d keep encountering the same themes: * An appeal towards personal, experiential spirituality as opposed to “dry, abstract theology”, * An emphasis on social justice and a belief in the overall progressive evolution of society, * A call to be “open-minded” rather than “dogmatic”, * The concept of “evil” becoming defined as a list of systemic social ills, (poverty, crime, corportate greed, etc.) instead of the sinful nature of each individual, * “Satan” is either treated as being completely metaphorical (an archetype of the social evils), or even if he is believed to be a literal being, he is still in the practical sense treated as being more metaphorical than literal, and certainly not as someone who has direct, deceptive influence over the affairs of mankind.
Anyways… I could probably keep rattling on and on but I won’t do that to you. Been enjoying the new podcasts btw. I feel like you guys are a couple of people I would really be able to sit and talk with for hours about all kinds of stuff. (very much like how it feels when I listen to FQ or something…) I guess that’s why it was so cool when God finally brought me into contact with the whole “RRN family” and really starting waking me up. I probably wouldn’t have been ready or willing to accept a lot of these things if He hadn’t already walked me through so much of the stuff that He did. But now that I find myself in the place I’m at now, it’s so good to know there are others out there who “get it”. (and probably understand it a lot better than I do!) But yeah, only a couple of years ago I probably would’ve laughed if someone would’ve tried telling me about things like Bohemian Grove or the Nephilim or Luciferic Globalism. Sure is funny how God can work and bring us around to places we’d never thought we’d go…
D,
Thanks for the comment. We’re all still learning and as I always try to say, the veil is lifted, but it’s not a one and done thing. It seems God is continually lifting the veil further and further away. Ironically, I feel the detachment to this world as a whole the more God does this. But I think it’s natural and it echoes a lot of what Paul talks about.
In any case, I think it takes people who are not in the midst of the “bubble” to really see it for what it is.
I don’t blame the folks who are part of the movement. I understand where they are coming from. They may have grown up in a church that was closed off and indifferent to culture. In response to that, they went totally the other way and began to be a part of a social justice movement. The pendulum seems to be swinging back towards sound doctrine, but the danger is that we fall into a state where we sit in our houses and discuss theology all day (sounds so awesome) but live out the faith. So I think it’s a matter of balance ultimately.
Thanks for tuning into the podcast too. I’m lucky to have found “Basil” at my church. We both work in the same department and never knew we had the same passions. But together we are the lone voice it seems out here in the OC. God bless and hope to talk with you more soon.
Very much agree. And balance feels like more of a tricky thing to achieve than ever, at least for me anyhow. Maybe because for a while, I was so fixated on trying to scripturally show people why institutionalism was so full of dangers, it was almost all I could talk about. But now? I just feel such a burden to see more people opened up to what the Bible really says about the reality of the spiritual realm and the path of ‘Babylon 2.0′ that we are now headed down globally. So I guess by comparison, something like “institutionalism” feels like little more than a distractionary sidenote when compared to the scope and gravity of things like Genesis 6 or transhumanism! I mean, it’s like I don’t even know where I should begin in a conversation with someone about any of this stuff. (And how much of it ultimately matters?) I find myself in situations listening to people talk about the baseball game, or which preschool they’re gonna send their kid to, and I’m sitting there thinking about things like the influence of Freemasonry on America, or how building 7 fell down, or wondering about what the heck was really going on with that airline pilot who freaked out and started screaming about Iraq and Israel and everything. Anyhow, like you said, it’s definitely not a “one and done thing”. The world gets weirder by the minute, but this much I do know, Christ is real and His Word is true. Talk to you more later.
Writing in English is a big task for me. I’ve seen and experienced enough for more than 25 years about this. Mysticism, syncretism,humanism, ecumenism are sweeping through all denominations.
“There is something deeply and inherently wrong with music that is comfortable in the midst of the most wretched heresy and apostasy. And that is exactly where Contemporary Christian Worship is most at home. …The music itself feeds the charismatic-ecumenical mystical experience. The sensual pulsing, skipping, tripping, body jerking syncopated dance rhythms, the electronic modulation, the reverb and echo and feedback, the unresolving chord sequences, the pounding drums, the sensual vocals styles, the dramatic rise and fall of the sound level, and the repetition create an atmosphere in which charismatic seekers experience an emotional high, are hypnotized to receive an unscriptural message, and are prepared to “sings and wonders” phenomena. Whatever is operating in the charismatic-ecumenical movement, it is definitely “another spirit” when tested Scripturally (2 Corinthians 11:4), and contemporary praise music is that spirit’s vehicle.” Cloud, David. Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians, page 9 and 10.
I myself a musician that only play for worship music. I’ve been tempted many times when I was a teenager, to play secular. I’ve refused. They are many others wrote books about how different the worship in most churches today compare to biblical teachings. Here are some of them; Andrew Storm, David J. Stewart, Jeff Godwin and Dan Lucarini.
We should read this type of book and try to understand what actually is going on today. Most of these writers involved in fully secular music before. For Andrew Storm, he was in the charismatic movement before.
Shalom,
David