Worship Songs These Days

Just a short thought:

There are two main things that bother me about many contemporary worship songs:

1. Sometimes it seems that we are singing things that just aren't true. I do not always worship God with all of my heart; I do not seek to follow Him alone. I wish that was true - and I know that it will be true in eternity - and I know it can be increasingly true as the Holy Spirit works within me - but I can't sing many of those words with true integrity.

Some songs need to be scrapped or rewritten entirely.

2. Some worship songs should not be used in corporate worship because they defeat the purpose of CORPORATE worship. It's good to sing "I love you, Lord" during times of private worship, but doesn't it often turn the worship of the community of believers into private individualism?

One of the things I appreciate most about World Christian Fellowship at Wheaton College (an organization that played a major role in my life during my time there) is that they are very intentional about making sure that the singing reflects our belief that when we worship we join both with those in the room with us and those brothers and sisters all around the globe. We often changed the personal pronouns "I" and "My" to the more community forming "We" and "Our".

Many songs were made into prayers on behalf of the church around the world. Many assumptions about worship and the church were challenged. Many lives were redirected. And all because a few words were changed from the individual to the communal.