What Songs Should We Sing in Church? Pt. 2

Last week, I shared about three questions that help me select and arrange music for our church family to sing together each week. For any song we might sing, I ask “Is it biblical? Is it pastoral? Is it missional?” I looked at the first question and walked through a case study here.

This week, I want to walk through the next two questions. We could call the first question, whether a song is biblical, a vertical question. It has everything to do with God and how He has revealed Himself in His Word. I start there because it is non-negotiable that the songs we sing accurately teach us about God. These next two questions operate together as horizontal questions. Once I have established that a song lines up with God’s Word, it is not a guarantee that it will be a helpful song to sing. I ask two more questions to establish if it is a helpful song for the people singing with us.

Pastoral Responsibility

On this horizontal plane, I first ask “Is this song pastoral?” Make no mistake, the selecting of songs and leading of corporate singing is a pastoral responsibility. The songs we sing teach us truths about God. The structure of our corporate gathering answers the question “how am I supposed to approach God?” Any worship leader needs to be aware that the role they fulfill is one that requires pastoral wisdom and care.

As I seek to answer this question (is this song pastoral?), I am looking inward towards our congregation. Whether or not a song is biblical is a question that can be answered objectively. But whether or not a song is pastoral will depend on the characteristics and make-up of a specific congregation. Different leaders and pastors will answer this question differently. This question helps me introduce new songs. I can ask questions like these:

• How does this song emphasize a particularly relevant truth about God for our church family?

• Perhaps this song introduces a well-known truth, but does it do so in a fresh way?

• How does this song lead us deeper in our discipleship of Jesus, in new ways?

This question also helps me know what songs we ought to continue singing frequently. For many years, churches have wrestled with the question of balancing new songs with old, praise songs with hymns. As a pastor, I do NOT want to select songs with the motivation of pleasing people. I ought to pursue the approval of God, not the approval of my congregation (Galatians 1:10). However, asking if a song is pastoral gives me room to consider what songs my church family likes. So, I pick songs our church family likes to sing, not out of a sinful heart bent towards people-pleasing, but out of a pastoral heart that seeks to honor the specific people God has given me to pastor. This is part of what it means to arrange a corporate worship service pastorally.  

Missional Opportunity

Choosing songs for the church to sing is not only a pastoral responsibility, it is a missional opportunity. Jesus commands us to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). The songs we sing as a church family can absolutely be tools that serve this mission. This question looks outward at the community that surrounds our church family. For me, this means Weatherford, Oklahoma, and it might especially include students at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Again, this is a subjective question. Its answer will depend on your context. This question asks, “When a member of our community visits our church for the first time, what do they expect? What makes them feel welcome and comfortable? What engages them with the truth of God’s Word most effectively?” This might lead me to select a new song with an exciting melody, because it is more likely to engage someone who is not used to singing the songs we know well. I might consider what songs are popular because a guest might have heard it on Christian radio before they chose to visit our church (As long as that song passes the test of the first question – is it biblical?).

There is of course a temptation to craft our services entirely according to what makes ‘outsiders’ feel welcome and comfortable. This might lead us to completely scrap older songs with outdated language. This might even lead us to avoid certain passages of God’s Word because they might make a guest feel uncomfortable. We might gravitate towards preachers who are gifted public speakers regardless of their character qualifications. This is a dangerous path towards unfaithfulness as a church. But Paul gives instructions about church order in 1 Corinthians 14, and he explicitly considers the experience of an outsider (1 Cor 14:16). We ought to seek a balance between letting the watching world dictate how we worship (only God can do that), and worshiping in a way that is totally inaccessible to the watching world. Asking the question “Is this song missional?” helps me find this balance.

And balance is the right word to end on. These two questions, whether a song is pastoral and missional, operate on a spectrum between a look inward and a look outward. Some songs might be highly pastoral AND missional. Others might be highly pastoral, but not missional, or vis versa. Consider the song “Come Thou Fount,” as an example. This hymn is consistently mentioned by members of my church as one of their favorites. The second verse begins with the line “Here I raise my Ebenezar.” This song would be highly pastoral for my congregation. It stirs our hearts to worship God; it invites God to work in our lives; and we just like singing it. But it might not be highly missional, because an ‘outsider’ may wonder, “What is an Ebenezar? Do I have one? How do I raise it?”

So as I consider what songs to sing with our church family, I want to find a balance. I want to choose songs that engage our people pastorally, while also engaging guests missionally. This means finding a way to connect “Come Thou Fount” with a visitor, perhaps by explaining the language we use. Or it could mean pairing “Come Thou Fount” with a newer song that engages the visitor with a clear and inviting message from God’s Word.

The balance you strike will depend on your context. But whatever your context, you can choose more helpful songs for your church family by considering whether they are pastoral and missional. And if you are not a worship leader, perhaps you can now better appreciate the pastoral wisdom and care that your worship leader or pastor must show as they plan your church services each week.

What Songs Should We Sing in Church?

Three Questions.

Every week, I get to arrange 4-5 songs for our church to sing together in corporate worship. As I think about what words I will lead our church family to sing, I tend to ask myself three questions: Is this song biblical? Is this song pastoral? Is this song missional? This week and next week, I will take a look at why I ask these questions, and how they help me choose and arrange the songs we sing at Emmanuel Baptist Church.

St Basil the Great opens his theological discussion on the Holy Spirit by applauding the idea that “not one of the words that are applied to God in every use of speech should be left uninvestigated.” In short, what we say about God matters. A lot. And if what we say about God matters, then what we sing about God matters. Every song we sing together is worthy of careful investigation because the words we sing about God become the truths we believe about God. To the best of our ability, we want to get this right.  

This is why the first question I want to ask of any song we sing at Emmanuel is “Is this song biblical?” Do the lyrics to this song reflect biblical truth? Do we talk about God in ways supported by Scripture?

Jesus invites all people everywhere to worship Him in John 4; however, He insists that the Father wants people to worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). This verse is a guardrail for our times of worship as a church family, that every word we say about God, and every word we sing about God, would be in line with what God’s Word reveals about God.

The temptation to ignore this guardrail is real. Especially in the area of music, we can begin to allow ourselves leeway to sing untruths about God, simply because they come in the form of a popular or catchy song. But we should be careful that the words we sing are in line with truth about God.  

An interesting case study shows the way this first question helps me choose songs for our church. There are two songs that explore the unique qualities of Jesus using similar language. The first is “In Christ Alone” by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. The second is “Jesus, You Alone” by Highlands Worship. When I consider these two songs and ask “Is this song biblical?”, I answer “yes” to the first, and “no” to the second. Why is that?  

The dividing line between these two songs runs through the doctrine of the Trinity. When we begin to wrap our minds around the Trinity, we are admittedly swimming in deep waters. But as theologians in the Church have wrestled with and clarified the biblical teaching of the Trinity, they have consistently upheld this truth, that “as Father and Son and Holy Spirit are inseparable, so do they work inseparably.” (Augustine, De Trinitae, 1.7). Theologians have called this truth the “inseparable operations” of the Trinity.

Southern Baptist Theologian James Leo Garrett, Jr explains this helpfully:

“The oneness or unity in the Three-in-Oneness of God also pertains to the work of the triune God. The work of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit can be identified and even differentiated, but the work of each is not exclusive. The work of each is in a sense the work of the Godhead. God the Father may be called Creator, but the Son and the Spirit are not excluded from the work of creation. God the Son may be called Redeemer, but the Father and the Spirit are not excluded from the work of redemption. The Holy Spirit may be called Sanctifier, but the Father and the Son are not excluded from the work of sanctification.” (Systematic Theology, 328)

So, when we come to a song that individualizes the work of Jesus, we ought to be careful that the truths we declare about Jesus do not take away from truths about God as God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Considering again the two songs above, “In Christ Alone” carefully describes the work of God the Son during His life and ministry on earth, and the implications that flow from it. “Jesus, You Alone,” on the other hand, unhelpfully confuses the work of God as Triune God and ascribes it to Jesus alone.

In “Jesus, You Alone,” the problem is most clear when we get to Verse 2:

You set the stars in the heavens

You set the world into motion

Oh, Jesus, You alone

You breathed Your life in creation

You walked among Your created

Oh, Jesus, You alone

We sing that Jesus alone set the stars in heaven, and set the world into motion, and breathed His life into creation. But can we really say that Jesus alone created all of this? I believe the biblical answer is no, we cannot. Why is this? Because when God created the world, He created the world as the Triune God. For this reason, we ought to speak of the work of creation as an act of God, or as an act of God as Trinity, but not as an act of Jesus alone.

Does Scripture support the idea that Jesus was active in creation? Certainly it does. Colossians 1:16 tells us:

For everything was created by him [Jesus],
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him.

The problem lies not in attributing the work of creation to Jesus, but in attributing the work of creation to Jesus alone. This is a problem because the Bible also shows us that God the Father was active in creation, as well as God the Spirit.

In Genesis 1:1-2, we read:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

We see here God the Father present at Creation, as well as God the Spirit, hovering over the surface of the waters. Theologians have not hesitated to place Jesus here also, since God begins to create in verse 3 by the Word of His power. In light of Colossians 1:16, we can associate God’s Word with God the Son (See also, John 1).

Let us also consider Hebrews 1:2:

In these last days, he [God the Father] has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.

This verse gives us the appropriate way to speak of God’s action in creation. God the Father creates through God the Son.

I could say more, but this is the core problem with the song “Jesus, You Alone.” You might then ask, how does “In Christ Alone” avoid confusing the work of God as Triune God with the work of Jesus? Why does “In Christ Alone” pass the test of biblical truth when “Jesus, You Alone” falls short?

A close look at the lyrics of “In Christ Alone” shows us that the authors stick very closely to the earthly ministry of Christ. And this is the difference. Because as we understand (or try to understand) the doctrine of the Trinity, we do say with Augustine that the three persons in God work inseparably. But only Jesus takes on flesh (John 1:14). Only Jesus bears our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). Only Jesus rose from the dead bodily (1 Corinthians 15). Yet God the Father was inseparably at work, planning this redemption (Acts 4:28). And God the Spirit was inseparably at work, even in the life of Jesus (Acts 10:38).  

Now, I have had theological discussions about worship songs before, and a frequent piece of pushback is to say “give the song a break,” “you’re overthinking this,” or “let’s allow for some artistic license.” But Jesus insists that God seeks worshippers who are careful to worship in Spirit and in truth. As we sing, the words we sing become the doctrines we believe. For that reason, we should carefully consider every song we sing, and whether it is training us in what is true.

2023 In Review: Top Songs

Every week at Emmanuel Baptist Church is a new opportunity to glory in the goodness of our God. It is a privilege to guide our church family as we sing songs that teach our minds the truths of God and thrill our hearts with His faithfulness. I think about many different considerations each week, and it is interesting to see what emerges at the end of a year of Sundays.

Here are just a few of the considerations that inform each week’s service:

• What is the theme of the sermon text?

• Are these songs biblical?

• Are these songs pastoral for our specific congregation?

• Are these songs missional in our specific context?

• How are we praising God for His character?

• How do these songs teach us the Gospel?

• How do these songs lead us away from sin, and towards Christ?

• What new songs do I want our congregation to learn?

Prayerfully considering questions like these helps me arrange 4-5 songs each week for our church to sing together. At the end of the year, here are the songs we sang the most:

EBC Top 10:

1. Christ Be Magnified – Cody Carnes

2. His Mercy is More – Matt Boswell

3. Build My Life – Housefires

4. Come Thou Fount – Robert Robinson

5. 10,000 Reasons – Matt Redman

6. Firm Foundation – Cody Carnes

7. Jesus Paid It All – Elvina Hall

8. King of Kings – Hillsong

9. Lord, I Need You – Matt Maher

10. Oh But God – Worship Initiative

Top Hymns

1. Come Thou Fount

2. Jesus Paid It All

3. Glorious Day (One Day)

4. How Firm a Foundation

5. How Great Thou Art

At EBC, we sang 112 songs total over the course of the year. Of these, 62 are recent contributions, and 10 are what I would call “modern hymns.” Fifty were taken from the rich tradition of Christian hymns. I never want us to lose sight of the songs that our church has been singing for generations. Our top song in 2023 was Christ Be Magnified. What an appropriate song to top the list! I pray that Jesus was magnified at Emmanuel Baptist Church in 2023, and that we continue to magnify him for decades ahead.