How do we decide which songs to sing in church? Do we just sing what we’ve always sung? Or are we intentional about the music that we offer up to God in sacred worship? This article provides a few of the criteria that I use to evaluate songs that I come across or that have been suggested to me for use in congregational worship. Towards the end, I apply these criteria to the song “Reckless Love” which caused significant controversy when it came out in 2017, and which I was just asked about again this year.
Six Criteria
Thoroughly True
1. Does this song contain anything false or misleading? A. W. Tozer once quipped, “Christians don’t lie, they just go to church and sing them.” Some songs include words, phrases, lines, or whole verses that reflect false doctrine or poor theology. For example, the hymn “He Keeps Me Singing” says, “Soon He’s coming back to welcome me far beyond the starry sky. I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown, I shall reign with Him on high.” This is a wrong eschatology, and so I will not sing this verse, and I generally avoid the song altogether (see the article “Salvation as Recreation, Not Escape” in which I address this hymn).
Occasionally a song has one line or phrase which is problematic or potentially misleading, but the song is so good overall that I look for a way to “spin” it. One of my favorite hymns, “And Can It Be,” has a famously controversial stanza which seems on the surface to reflect a kenotic Christology: “He left his Father’s throne above” and “Emptied himself of all but love” (see my treatment of this hymn in the article “Did the Son Set Aside His Godhead or Divine Attributes in the Incarnation?”). I continue to lead this song, but I am careful to explain this stanza to our congregation.
Sometimes it’s very hard to “spin” a line or phrase in a song, but the song is so good overall that the lyrics can simply be changed. I love the modern hymn “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us,” but it says of Jesus on the cross, “The Father turns His face away.” This line reflects a very problematic view about which Tom McCall wrote an entire book, Forsaken: The Trinity and the Cross, and Why It Matters (listen to the podcast “Did the Father Forsake the Son on the Cross?” where I discuss this hymn with David Fry and Travis Johnson). The hymn is so beautiful, however, that one of my pastor friends changed the lyric to “As Jesus suffers on the cross.” One reason why there are so many different versions of classic hymns is that hymnal editors have made changes over theological concerns.
A song may be true but still theologically shallow.
Theologically Robust
2. How theologically robust is this song? The New Testament is very clear that a primary purpose of congregational singing is to teach doctrine (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19). Gordon Fee said, “Show me a church’s songs and I’ll show you their theology.” It’s not enough to make sure that our songs don’t contain anything blatantly false or misleading. A song may be true but still theologically shallow. Some popular songs (e.g., It Came Upon a Midnight Clear) are theologically shallow and there is little value in singing them. This is not to say that we can only ever sing theologically deep songs. “Jesus Loves Me” has a simple profundity and stirs the affections (see the next point). However, the Church needs a steady diet of theologically true and robust songs or its music will not form deep disciples over time.
I like to use the Bible itself as a guide. Look at the psalms and canticles (e.g., Mary’s song, Zechariah’s song, Simeon’s song, the song of Moses, the Christ hymns in Philippians and Colossians, the songs of heaven in the Book of Revelation). If most of our church music is less theologically robust than the Bible’s own songs, then something is wrong.
The Church needs a steady diet of theologically true and robust songs or its music will not form deep disciples over time.
The problem with many churches today is not that they sing some theologically shallow songs, but that they mostly sing theologically shallow songs. Many are far worse than “Reckless Love”—what Douglas Sean O’Donnell comically calls “Twinkie Tunes and Ding-Dong Theology.” They may give a heightened emotional experience on Sunday mornings, but they say little of substance. They don’t form deep disciples over time. And they don’t maximally glorify God.
Affective
3. How well do the words and tune of this song stir up spiritual affections? Notice that I am not merely asking, “Does this song make people feel emotional?” Sometimes a song’s music alone can cause us to feel emotional, and emotions are sometimes equated with “feeling the presence of God.” This can actually be dangerous if we are feeling emotional while singing something untrue or distorted! However, the goal of church music is not merely to reach the head; it should also reach the heart. A good song reaches the heart through the head, using poetic language and a fitting tune to draw people deeper into the truth of the song. For example, the verse in “And Can It Be” that says “My chains fell off, my heart was free” uses poetic language and dramatic music to stir the heart to rejoice in the saving power of regeneration and the new birth.
Familiar or Learnable and Singable
4. Is the song already familiar or learnable and singable for the whole congregation? The theological depth and affective value of some songs is overshadowed because they are difficult to sing, and so people can only focus on stumbling through the tune. Of course, there is always a learning curve for new songs, unless they have a very simple tune. Some songs, however, have a very difficult tune or are simply not written for congregations.
I’m especially concerned that some contemporary music is written for professionals and not for groups of ordinary people. One of the great things about so many traditional hymns is that because they are written for the people of God, they can be sung in church and around grandma’s bedside. I appreciate contemporary hymnwriters like the Gettys because they write many theologically robust and affective songs that are also easy for congregations to sing (e.g., In Christ Alone).
As a general rule, I try to sing mostly sing familiar songs at our church and to introduce new ones slowly. For example, we might take a month to play a song in prelude and practice it in Sunday School before introducing it in the main worship service.
Time-Tested
5. Has this song stood the test of time, or is it likely to do so? If a trending song is theologically true and stirs up genuine spiritual affections, there’s nothing wrong with singing it. But there’s wisdom in preferring songs that have stood the test of time or that stand out as being likely to endure into the future. We are most deeply formed by songs that we sing over and over again across time—songs that we memorize and internalize. When choosing church music, I am not just looking to impact people in the moment; I am thinking about how to form them as disciples over time. This is closely related to the next question.
We are most deeply formed by songs that we sing over and over again across time.
Worthy of Our Musical Canon
6. Do I want this song to be a part of my church’s limited musical canon? Most churches sing three or four songs each Sunday. That is about 150–200 songs per year. With repeats, a church’s musical canon may only be around 100 songs. When choosing songs, I don’t just want to sing songs that are “okay.” I want to sing the best songs that I can find. I keep a record of which songs we have sung, and I mark songs that I want to sing every year or multiple times per year (e.g., the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” and the contemporary song “Holy Forever”). You are limited in how many songs you can sing. Choose carefully!
You are limited in how many songs you can sing. Choose carefully!
All of the criteria above are important, but they are not equally important. Truthfulness is obviously the sine qua non for church music. For example, the hymn “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” has a difficult tune, but I am committed to using it in our congregation because it is extremely theologically rich and it is one of only a few hymns from the patristic era that is still widely sung today. We will likely need to sing it a dozen times before it becomes familiar enough for our congregation to focus more on the words than the tune. But this is one rare exception where I feel confident that the steep learning curve is worth the long-term benefit. Each pastor or worship leader must weigh the criteria above and prayerfully decide which songs will best glorify God and edify God’s people over time.
An Example: “Reckless Love”
I was recently asked once again about the song “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury, so let’s consider it in light of the criteria above.
1. Does “Reckless Love” contain anything false or misleading? Some claim that it does because of the negative connotations of “reckless.” “Reckless” seems to some like an inappropriate or irreverent way to describe God’s generous, lavish, sovereign, deliberate, and calculated love, especially in a world where open theism has grown in influence (the view that God does not actually know the future or the exact consequences of his own actions). However, John Piper notes that given the lyrics of the rest of the song, the author may have “used the word reckless in the sense that God’s love may look (to an outsider) foolish, ill-advised, brash, and breakneck, but in fact the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men.” I agree with Piper, but if I was leading the song in public worship, I would be sure to explain this as to avoid any possible confusion.
2. How theologically robust is the song “Reckless Love”? On a scale of 1 to 10, I might rate it a “3” or “4.” There are some rich scriptural allusions and meaningful depictions of prevenient grace and God’s character. Compared to most historic church music and the songs in the Bible, though, it’s fairly shallow and generic. For example, compare its lyrics to the classic hymn “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.”
3. How well do the words and tune of “Reckless Love” stir up spiritual affections? Quite well, I’d say. “Reckless Love” is beloved by many because it uses a flurry of adjectives and images to impress on the heart that God loves us passionately and seeks us out at great personal cost: “Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God / Oh, it chases me down, fights ‘til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine / I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away.”
4. Is “Reckless Love” already familiar or learnable and singable for the whole congregation? Some parts are quite easy to sing, others are more difficult (e.g., the bridge), and many churches would find it difficult or awkward to sing without a worship team (which I’m not necessarily opposed to but often overshadows the voices of the congregation). Still, the chorus is catchy. I heard it once or twice and began humming the tune. It’s valuable when music “sticks” because it means that congregants are likely to hum, sing, and meditate on the truth of the song after Sunday service is over.
5. Has this song stood the test of time, or is it likely to do so? I doubt that this song will stand the test of time, but there’s a chance that it will be sung on occasion a few decades from now, like some 90s songs that feel a bit dated but are still occasionally sung.
6. Do I want this song to be a part of my church’s limited musical canon? No. For the reasons mentioned above, “Reckless Love” does not even come close to making it into the 100 or so songs in our church’s musical canon.
When considering these criteria and then stepping back from it all, my conclusion is this: I would be open to singing “Reckless Love” once or twice for those in my congregation who may really enjoy it, but I wouldn’t sing it often, and I wouldn’t make it part of my church’s canon of music. There are too many better songs out there. I would not criticize another church for singing “Reckless Love,” but I would be very concerned if most of a church’s musical diet was at the level of “Reckless Love.”
Conclusion
As Bible-believing Christians, we should want God’s Word to shape everything in our church, including our approach to church music. The Bible gives us principles to guide our church music, and it gives us many songs which provide an example of the level of theological depth that we should expect in music offered to God in worship. Worship is ultimately about God, not us, and so we need to make sure that it’s suitable for the one around whose throne the cherubim and seraphim continually sing, “Holy, holy, holy!”
