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.