False Worship is False Doctrine - The Case Against Listening to Hillsong - By Anthony Wade

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The truculent and bombastic Rev. Wade returns to our blog. As is his wont, Rev. Wade provides a stream-of-consciousness, unfocused, unreferenced rant that is almost completely devoid of any spiritual value. Yet he persists in putting these screeds under the his subheading "devotionals."

In over 2100 words Rev. Wade will make many claims about the Bible, but will not quote it or reference it aside from the opening verse. He will also make many claims about his theological adversaries without even bothering to discuss or explain.

Lastly, we note that Rev. Wade will not be telling us why we shouldn't listen to Hillsongs, he will be telling us why churches should not use Hillsongs in the services.
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You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. - John 4:22-23 (ESV)

The bible warns us to not be ignorant of the schemes of the enemy. (Where in the Bible does it do this? We know it does, but we ask the question to illustrate our point, that Rev. Wade avoids the Bible while making many claims about it.)

One such scheme is to constantly bombard us with polluted doctrine, like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if something will stick. We are used to examining doctrine from the gaggle of false teachers infiltrating the apostate church today (How can false teachers infiltrate the apostate church? It seems to us that it is the true church that would get infiltrated by false teachers.)

but there is a more insidious way into our hearts and that is through the act of worship. What we say in worship often becomes our doctrine. Modern worship reinforces what they call the hook in each song. This is that one part that is repeated over and over again. Just the way humans are hard-wired results in deeper belief formation based upon what we repeat so often. The same concept is applied to studying as we are encouraged to repeat out loud the points we wish to remember more. (We would not disagree with Rev. Wade here.)

Let me provide a familiar example. My readers know I believe the song "How He Loves Us" is one of the worst worship songs ever written. (This song was written 20 years ago. Maybe Rev. Wade should move on.)

Now it has all sorts of songwriting problems including the "sloppy wet kiss" line that most churches have tried to sanitize (Actually, when David Crowder covered the song he received permission from the songwriter John Mark McMillan to change the lyric.)

but the replacement lyric of heaven meeting earth with an unforeseen kiss is equally icky and unbiblical. (Undocumented claim. How is it unbiblical?)

You have the whole "You are a hurricane and I am a tree" nonsense (Word pictures, similes, allegories, and metaphor are commonly used in songwriting. The Song of Solomon is a significant example, but we see this technique used in the Psalms as well. And Jesus himself spoke in parables. So the use of these techniques is perfectly appropriate.

So if this particular metaphor is indeed nonsense, Rev. Wade would need to tell us why he thinks so.)

but the real insidious part is the misperception that telling God how much He loves us, is worshipping God. (Rev. Wade totally misses it here. The lyric is oh, how He loves us, not oh, how You love us. The song is not addressing God, it is addressing the congregation. Therefore it's technically a testimony song, not a worship song. 

We should say that our intent is not to defend the song, for we don't really care for it ourselves. It is Rev. Wade's claims we are here to examine.)

It is not. It is worshipping ourselves. It is the age-old sin of Lucifer where we superimpose ourselves over God. For comparison, forty years ago we all sang how great THOU art and now we sing how great WE art by declaring how much God loves us. (Rev. Wade inadvertently shifts to what we pointed out above, that the song isn't sung to God, it is sung about God. 

Rev. Wade thinks it's inappropriate to sing to one another that God loves us. He thinks this is self aggrandizing, but again he doesn't tell us why.)

Another example of a horrifically bad worship song is the Blessing of Abraham. (We have never heard of this song. And once again we discover that it is not a worship song. The lyrics place words in God's mouth as if He were speaking them to the people in the service. However, a worship song is the worshiper speaking directly to God about His nature, character, and glory.)

This catchy praise song was a regular at my old church a decade ago but it was cringeworthy then and remains so now. It is a song sung like a petulant child demanding God give him his inheritance, much like the prodigal son before he went off.

Let me also speak to the often-wielded accusation that complaints such as these are just because we do not like contemporary worship. That is correct (Ah, so doctrine really isn't the issue? He just doesn't like contemporary worship at all? Why then all the histrionics? Why not just dismiss the whole of contemporary worship and be done with it?

The problem with this attitude is that all worship music was contemporary at one time. Every hymn was brand new and introduced to the congregation for the very first time. Every worship song, no matter when written, was never before heard.)

but the reason is we need to look at where the majority of it comes from. If you want to know why there are so many problems with contemporary worship music look no further than the sources, most of which are Hillsong, Bethel, and Elevation. For Elevation music we need to look no further than Steven Furtick. Hillsong, we need to look no further than the absolutely disgraced Brian Houston. Jesus Culture/Bethel music we need to look no further than Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton and Shawn Bolz. The false theology of these teachers naturally makes it way into the music of those who have grown up under their teaching! (This is a familiar argument, one that carries little weight with us. Our criteria, which we think is just as valid as Rev. Wade's, is that a worship song stands or falls on its own merit. If it's theologically acceptable, honors God, is well-crafted and singable, that is sufficient for us.)

Which brings me to the often asked - what's the harm of listening to Hillsong (and place any other heretical outfit in this question)?

The first issue comes down to financial support. The bible says to have no partnership with darkness. (Where does the Bible say this? Again Rev. Wade appeals to a Bible that remains closed on his desk. We shall do his work for him: 

Ep. 5:11-12 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

With the actual passage in front of us, we can see that Rev. Wade misapplies it. This passage is not about having no partnership with darkness, but rather it is about not doing the secret evil things that evil people do.)

 

The reason why Hillsong grew to the heights it has is largely due to the money brought in by their music business. Buying CD's or going to concerts is a means of direct support not only for their music but for their ministry. The unspoken support is at the church level where the reprinting of lyrics, for projection during service, requires royalty fees that go directly to the source church. So, singing Hillsong in church means the church has paid this royalty to the Hillsong church, which again is a direct support of their ministry. (Maybe so, but a good worship song being used for a fee supports the good work someone has created. This seems good to us.)

That means supporting the disgraced Brian Houston who is currently fighting charges in Australia for covering up his father's sexual indiscretions with children. He also recently admitted to inappropriate relationships with women and has blamed everything from prescription medicine and alcohol addiction to literally blacking out. Moving outward, Hillsong NYC saw the Carl Lentz scandals as he was caught seducing the babysitter of his children to have sex in the bed he shared with his wife over a period of years. That was not even the affair that cost him his position. Hillsong has routinely discarded doctrine even within worship, with Hillsong London once sang the club hit "I like to Move It, Move It" and Australia butchered Silent Night into an erotic sleaze-fest. NYC also had their youth pastor "dress up" as the naked cowboy during a Women's Conference. The abuses do not even tell the story found in the recent documentary about individual lives that were crushed at Hillsong. The same can be said for Bethel, Elevation, IHOP, or any other heretical outfit. (We have no intention of defending egregious behavior or false teachings. Our consideration is only for ascertaining the quality of a worship song.)

The second reason is the "gateway drug" factor. Music always seems more harmless than preaching but it takes up far more of our time. Music is the gateway into the bad theology. People see us post on Facebook or tweet a song that may even be fine lyrically, but it leads people to the heretical church. (Rev. Wade thinks Christians are stupid sheep that need to be led around by pastors like himself, never maturing or growing in faith. From one of his previous "devotionals:" The bulk of the people are still sheep and they need a shepherd by definition. So it is risky to let the sheep chose the worship songs they like because they can be led astray so easily. It's a "gateway drug" that hooks the helpless Christian into the whole "NAR" thing. Thus Rev. Wade is boldly protecting us from our dumb selves.)

Our endorsement is tacit when we give a pass to the music. The "wrongness" of the music is just as proportional as it would be for the preaching. False teachers are not wrong all of the time. (All teachers are wrong some of the time, but not all wrong teachers are wolves. Rev. Wade needs to try again.)

The leaven gets into the yeast and ruins the entire batch. Wolves do not walk into church with a wolf sign around their necks. Discernment is more a battle of distinguishing between what is right and what is almost right, rather than what is right or wrong. (Discernment is not a battle at all, it is simply the spiritual gift that enables a Christian to distinguish between spirits [1Co. 12:10] and to separate good from bad [1Co. 14:29].)

I have people all the time send me quotes or sermon snippets from wolves that are technically correct but it takes reviewing the entire context sometimes to realize the dangers. Likewise, it is easy to find a good Hillsong song, meaning the lyrics are biblical. Most worship songs do not have a lot of detailed lyrics. Many are loosely based on scripture. For every "good" song however there are bad ones too and much like a false teacher, we need to throw the entire batch out. (This is the crux of Rev. Wade's position, finally. He thinks that because the whole batch is bad, a worship song from the whole batch is also bad. But this is what he needs to demonstrate, and he never does.)

The third reason is that some of the heresies are subtle or may not make up the majority of the song. We end up raising our hands and singing it and as discussed, incorporating it into our beliefs often unchallenged. Shouldn't we be a little more careful what we are singing to God? (We would once again agree. Too much of what constitutes worship music is substandard, false, or self-oriented. We have examined numerous bad worship songs ourselves.)

Take for example the Hillsong song entitled, "What a Beautiful Name It Is." This seems to be a fairly popular song these days in church. The song is about Christ and the refrains are pretty spot on. What a beautiful, wonderful and powerful name is the name of Jesus - no argument there! The problem is the opening of verse Two:

You didn't want heaven without us

So Jesus You brought heaven down

This is unbelievably wrong. I can hear the criticism, should we throw away so much good because of two lines? YES! These two lines are central to the theologies of Hillsong, Bethel and Elevation and they are absurdly heretical. ("Absurdly heretical" is quite a claim. Rev. Wade tries to establish this in the paragraph that follows, but doesn't use the Bible to do so. 

Again, we have no intention of specifically defending Hillsongs or their music, but we do want to examine Rev. Wade's claims. So are these lyrics "absurdly heretical?" Generally speaking, heresy applies to a doctrine that is unbiblical to the point that it speaks to salvation status. The two stanzas of this song obviously don't qualify. 

It is certainly a fact that God's love for use exceeds measure. John tells us: 

1Jn. 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

It seems quite clear that God went to great lengths to save us. Therefore, He wanted us to be with Him. You didn't want heaven without us is simply another way of stating this. We realize that the idea that God loves us to this degree grates on some Christians. They think that deep down they don't deserve any of God's blessings or favor. For them salvation didn't change their status in the eyes of the Father. They still think they are lowly, dirty, and unworthy. 

But this isn't what the Bible teaches. We are new creations [2Co. 5:17], clothed with Christ [Ga. 3:26-27], and are citizens of heaven [Ph. 3:20]. We no longer have to wonder if we measure up, all that has been taken care of. So God desires us to be with him, and it's therefore not heretical to claim that He didn't want heaven without us.

And the second stanza, Jesus You brought heaven down, isn't even mildly problematic: 

Mt. 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Lk. 17:20-21 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, `Here it is,’ or `There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”  

I once tweeted that if your worship song includes the line "You didn't want heaven without us" then it was not God you were worshipping! Look how great we are! The Creator of the entire universe didn't want heaven without me! Yay me! The arrogance and the petulance is staggering. This "bringing heaven down" theology is constantly taught by these three ministries. It feeds the NAR dominionism theology as well because the church believes it is their job to replicate heaven here on earth. Wrong! We are pilgrims and sojourners beloved, and our only citizenship is in heaven! Jesus overcame the world! He did not make it more like heaven! (A spew of incoherent assertions and undocumented claims.)

What makes this song more insidious is that the rest of the song is ok but you cannot avoid these two lines. I do not blame the writers because this is what they were taught! (The writers are stupid sheep, and they are not even responsible for the content of their own songs. Hmm.)

This is why discernment when it comes to what worship music we listen to, support and even hear in church is so crucial. I wish everything was as obvious as Rick Pino, who once wrote a worship song that included the line:

I lay my head upon Your heart

Take me to Your chambers, lead me by the hand

I can't keep my eyes off of you

I would hope I do not need to explain the eww factor here, but we should not feel the need to shower after singing a song. Jesus is not your boyfriend. (No argument from us here.)

There will be a Marriage Supper of the Lamb but we are not going on the honeymoon.

Beloved, worship of the Lord should be something we take very seriously. (Rev. Wade will now invoke the Bible verse he quoted at the beginning, which to us seems a little like adding spiritual cover to legitimize his attack on his theological opponents.)

The key verse shows Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman and one of the major points of difference between the Jews and the Samaritans was geographical. The primary disagreement was where they believed God chose to dwell. While the Jews hold that God chose Mount Zion in Jerusalem, Samaritans believe he chose Mount Gerizim near Shechem. This may not seem like much but the rift was huge and the Jews despised the Samaritans. Jesus corrects the Samaritan woman in the key verses and points out that true worshippers do not quibble over such carnal matters as which mountain is better but they worship in spirit and truth. The first part of this means that what we say to God in worship must be in alignment with His spirit. (A moment of lucidity for Rev. Wade.)

The lyrics supplied here and countless others simply do not pass this test. For example, Reckless Love is a bad song because the love of God is not reckless! Sometimes it is that simple! Other times you have to dig a little deeper to properly discern as we saw with some of the previous lyrics mentioned. Not only do the lyrics have to align with the spirit of God but so does the ministry from where they came! God does not want partial alignment. He does not want lyrics that align from a church that is wildly heretical. What we are singing is what we are saying to God! I do not want to tell the Alpha and Omega to lead me to His chambers! I do not want to tell Him He needs to give me my inheritance! I do not want to brag to Hm (sic) about how much I think He loves me! These are not aligned with the spirit of God and are not worship! (Another rant.)

The second part of the key verses deals with worshipping in truth. I know this may get tired coming from discernment ministries, but the truth matters a whole lot to God! If your worship song does not align with the bible, then it is not God you are worshipping! Heaven does not meet earth with a big sloppy wet kiss. God was not up in heaven miserable without us. He did not bring heaven down to earth not does He expect us to try and do so. (Rev. Wade makes several contrary statements, but all of them are bare contradictions.)

Please, I am not speaking about minor differences. There has to be some leeway for creative license. (Rev. Wade concedes his whole case.)

If the only problem with How He Loves Us was that silly line about being a tree to God's hurricane, I would not call it heretical, just poorly written. The line about God not wanting heaven without us is untrue. It is not only misaligned with the spirit but it biblically inaccurate by miles. (Again Rev. Wade asserts the lyric to be theologically incorrect but doesn't explain why.)

It does however resonate with the modern false doctrines that place man at the center of their theology. It is very much a song belonging to the doctrine of me but from a bible perspective it is flat out false. The bottom line here is God wants true worship that is in line with the indwelt spirit of God within us. The 800-pound gorilla in the room is that the vast majority of folks in the apostate church are not actually saved. Thus, there is no indwelt Holy Spirit. Thus, the things of God are foolishness to them and thus these songs are merely entertainment. Have you been to an apostate mega-church? They hype their worship as an "experience" and even provide a five-minute countdown. It opens like a rock concert as the music is used to create an emotional response that the leader and pastor try to convince you is spiritual. It is not because it cannot be so. I am very encouraged at the spread of discernment in the body and the increase in folks who take seriously the doctrine they follow and believe. It is high time to get just as serious about false worship. Jesus is not your boyfriend. God did not send Him to suffer and die on the cross because He was lonely in heaven. Worship is doctrine and we need to start discerning as such. (Another blaze of claims and denials, none of them explained or referenced, culminating in the significant assertion that "worship is doctrine." We are tempted to simply respond, "no it isn't," since this in keeping is Rev. Wade's rhetorical practice.

But we cannot leave it there. Worship is not doctrine. This is a Category Error. 

Worship is 

proskuneó, to kiss the ground when prostrating before a superior; to worship, ready "to fall down/prostrate oneself to adore on one's knees..." 

Doctrine is 

didaskalia, instruction, teaching.

Certainly our worship expression ought to be doctrinally correct. But doctrine is not worship, just as worship is not doctrine. It ought to be obvious that a Christian never has perfect doctrine. That fact should not stop a Christian from worshiping.)