Jesus Culture - One Thing Remains
Anyways, even though I really like Jesus Culture and Hillsong and I tolerate most of the little theological/worldview differences in the music, some of the stuff in the music is absolutely too ridiculous that I find it difficult to worship to. The following are some of the idiotic lyrics that I really object to.
Come Away - Show Me Your Glory
Interestingly, this is the song right before my favorite song of One Thing Remains. Here are the lyrics-
"I see the cloud, I step inI find it either incredibly arrogant or incredibly naive for someone to think that they can "handle" the fullness of the glory of God. What makes you think that you are more holy or righteous than Moses or Isaiah? Even John got all confused when an angel of the Lord appeared and he bowed down and worshiped it. John, one of the fathers of the Church, who walked with God on earth for three years, couldn't even handle the glory of an angel. Do you really want God to reveal the fullness of his glory to you? I think it would really benefit whoever wrote this song to read RC Sproul's Holiness of God and rethink those lyrics.
I want to see Your glory as Moses did
Flashes of light and rolls of thunder,
I'm not afraid
I'm not afraid
Show me Your glory, show me Your glory, my God
Show me Your glory, show me Your glory"
Jesus Culture - Fill Me Up
I absolutely hate this song. It really doesn't give me anything lyrically (well I guess Jesus Culture songs don't normally anyways), but I don't really like the melody either. Also in the few lyrics there are, there's borderline heresy.
"You provide the fire"I'll provide the sacrifice." Really?! Really?! Have you read the Bible? Don't you know the narrative of scripture that God and God alone provides the sacrifice?! Old Testament. Abraham and Isaac. It was God. New Testament. Jesus. He is God. This isn't some Reformed vs. Arminian difference (like in the third and fourth lines). This is Bible 101. This is the gospel. I can see how they might mean giving yourself as a sacrifice, with "fire" referring to the Spirit. But come on. I can't help but get angry every time I hear this song.
I'll provide the sacrifice
You provide the Spirit
And I will open up inside"
Hillsong - I Heart Revolution Video Snippet
In this little video snippet, the people from Hillsong Church are talking about how important it is to love people, including those near us. Their approach is a little moralistic, but it's okay and I don't really disagree. Then this guy, comes up.
"As long as we are preaching the gospel with our actions, I think we're fulfilling the Great Commission, which is to go out and make disciples."This is absolutely wrong on so many levels. "Preaching the gospel with our actions" alone would give some pastors fits, but it's a common mistake, and somewhat forgivable. But then he throws in the Great Commission. Do you really think that being nice to people and feeding the poor is fulfilling the Great Commission? If I may ask, how are you going to baptize people by your actions? Is being nice to people really "making disciples"? You've got to be kidding me. You may not hold to the whole unreached people's group thing with the Great Commission, but as a full-time minister, you can't possibly really think that the Great Commission amounts to nothing more than just being a good person by "preaching the gospel with your actions." My goodness.
I know this has been a really negative post, but in reality, I really like Hillsong and Jesus Culture and God has used their music in my life, even if they are kind of wacky sometimes. I guess I just felt the need to rant a little bit about the bad songs that I really dislike.
No surprises that you have more problems with the music at Jesus Culture; Bethel church is a very controversial church, one that is a part of the charismatic movement. It's sad to think of all the people that the music affects and how many people sing their hearts out to those lyrics. But then again, not every other worship team is perfect with their lyrics and the theology in their lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna use those videos now too :)
declaration+demonstration! can't have one without the other!
ReplyDeleteWow how idiotic. Not afraid to see God's glory?? They should be. God in all His glory and they're "not afraid" - how sacrilegious and theologically bankrupt. I guess they're too busy being all touchy feely about God's love that the songwriter didn't read about the guy in Samuel reaching out and merely grabbing the Ark and then dropping dead. And no, I don't think spreading the gospel by actions alone is forgivable, because it directly contradicts the Great Commission that we're all bound to. It's a cop-out. I already have enough trouble evangelizing as it is, I don't need someone telling me that it's good enough just to be nice.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah not every songwriter is perfect with lyrics/theology, but dang they need some kind of filter guy/editor who actually knows the Bible. These songs have the church's name attached to them...
For the record, I do love some Hillsong stuff lol. Jesus Culture not so much (they're even more repetitive than Hillsong and it gets so boring haha)
ReplyDeleteMark - Yeah Jesus Culture and Hillsong both have their fair share of controversy (much of the criticism is warranted), but that doesn't necessarily mean their music is bad. I think the main thing is that people need to think about the words they are singing, be they old hymns, or newer contemporary Christian. My main concern is that people don't care at all about truth/doctrine and say something like "It's only the heart that matters." Attractive, but dangerous.
ReplyDeleteCory - I agree with you man. To be fair, we are in a different era/state than the people touching the ark, as we DO have Christ's righteousness imputed to us. It's amazing enough to think that we will one day see God face to face, but to ask of that now is still foolish. I just try to keep in mind their worldview and the underlying theology behind their songs when listening to them. Helps me give them a little more grace haha.
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ReplyDeletePeople really shouldn't be relying on Christian entertainers to get the "meat" of God's word anyway. There is nothing wrong with not agreeing with something, but to post negative comments on a blog about brothers in Christ that are trying to share Him is just plain wrong.
ReplyDeleteWrite your own lyrics if you don't care for someone else's. Better yet, get out the Baptist Hymnal and you'll find hundreds of confusing and often misunderstood lyrics.
Go on a mission trip. Then you will see what I mean. It isn't the words man uses, it's God's spirit that convicts, and draws people to Him.
Jesus Culture is not a "movement", it's a band from a church. They just played at Passion, where 60,000 people loved them and their message. 999 out of 1000 comments online are positive about their work and ministry. Yours was the 1 out of a thousand that was not positive.
Red,
ReplyDeleteJesus Culture IS a movement, specifically it is the teaching export arm of Bethel Church. It produces its own youth conferences, with teachers such as Patricia King, Bill Johnson, and Todd Bentley; it produces a youth ministry book series; it funds teaching series that are available in every media that I know of. My critique was not of their lyrics, per se, though those are addressed by other brethren here, and are dealt with in depth by people who did and did not attend the Passion 2013 Youth Conference (see JesusCultureAwakening.blogspot.com) and paid attention to what was said and sung My concern and that of many who have known and studied the Jesus Culture teachings for sometime, is a dangerous false doctrine that is espoused--particularly the nature and being of Jesus--occultic practices including necromancy, the absence of sound Biblical instruction, replaced by extra Biblical revelations and experientialism, and a persistent emphais on signs and wonders over and replacing the preaching of the gospel of salvation.
Becuase I love you in Christ, I encourage you to do more research and decide for yourself. A good place to start is a blog: JesusCultureAwakening.blogspot.com (includes a fair series on the teachings and music presented at Passion), as well as several excellent discernment videos on YouTube, one by a teacher whose screen name is Bzel333, another that is simply titled "Jesus Culture Discernment."
God bless you!
Why are you listening to Jesus Culture then if you have so many faults with them. Jesus Culture is not a false Doctrine you simply just dont understand. therefore whatever comes out. Ask God about them, thats the only way you can know the truth. you do not want to criticise a movement of God. I pray that God will really open your eyes to see his movement through this group. I can see if you dont understand something, but dont criticise what you dont understand. Like I said ask God he will show you His movement through this group
ReplyDeleteWhy do you persecute Jesus Culture,each song was a conviction by the Holy Spirit unto them.You hate Fill me up?You hate God's work?God bless your Soul with Wisdom not human intelligence
ReplyDeleteChristians can have wrong doctrine. We can criticize teachings when they're wrong. I'm not sure they are as wrong as the author thinks, (I think he's misinterpreting a lot of these lyrics) but I see nothing wrong with speaking his mind. If your faith is so weak it can't take criticism, you may need to test it a bit.
ReplyDeleteI think you are misinterpreting things. The first lyric does not claim to be better than Moses at all. They are only asking to see what he saw. If God is no respecter of persons, then that is a valid request.
ReplyDeleteThe second lyric is talking about the concept of offering your bodies as a living sacrifice. Yes, in that scenario, you are providing a sacrifice. Not a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, but there are many other sacrifices mentioned in the Bible. Sacrifice was used as a form of worship.
As for the Hillsong teaching you disagree with, both concepts are one and the same. The entire concept of preaching the gospel with your actions is that, by doing so, you are fulfilling the Great Commission. And, yes, I do believe that doing all those things in the Name of the Lord preaches a lot better than most sermons. This leads people to you, who you then can lead to the Lord. Our audience is often jaded against the direct approach, as we are a very skeptical people, and most people already have a passing familiarity with Christianity. They need to see us doing good before they will be open to hearing what we have to say.
As I'm reading this I'm listening to a Jesus Culture song. "We will not forget who you are, or what you've done for us! You are MY God, you are My God!" that's pretty clear to me. I will agree that some modern worship songs are too inner focussed, too emotional, not exactly worship. But I don't feel like that is a Jesus Culture or Hillsong issue.
ReplyDeleteWorship is a "Heart Issue". no one has the right to tell someone how to worship or what song to sing or how to sing it. Worship is between you and God alone. I dont believe that God cares how you do it, as long as your doing it to glorify him. Do you really think he cares how loud you play the drums or how many guitars are on stage? As for the lyrics, quit being so rash and harsh. the words are not meant for you, how do you know what they really mean to the Lord when He hears someone sing them to him? If your heart is seeing these songs to God then they are beautiful to Him. I believe the word says "Touch not my anointed".
ReplyDeleteFill Me Up was taken from 1 Kings 18:20 to 40 that's where you provide the fire I'll provide the Sacrifice comes from.
ReplyDeleteAs for seeing God in his glory, I'll cut them some slack. Remember the veil has been torn! Read Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
ReplyDeleteThe theme is repeated in Hebrews 10:19.
Unfortunately Jesus Culture comes out of Bethel church, which has a number of controversial practices, including Word of Faith, Prosperity gospel, dominionism and a heavy emphasis on experience over doctrine, or so we are told. So don't expect any deep doctrinal insights in their lyrics.
I do really like them though. Kim Walker Smith is a great vocalist. Given the material we have to work with, and the general sorry state of popular music, they are better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
I acknowledge the amount of controversy that Hillsong and Bethel spark amongst the church. However I find it appalling that you "so called Christians" have the audacity to bash something that God has been using for good for the past 25 years. Yes there are always things that are not spot on, but we are all on a journey discovering who God is. Do you honestly believe that you have everything figured out? Stop criticizing something that God is actually using. (Ps Moses asked God to reveal His glory, and NO where in the Bible does it say that we cannot become as righteous as Moses or Isaiah. Moses committed murder people. The grace of God is unfathomable.)
ReplyDelete