Christian Music is Hiding Something...

If someone says, wow, those people can worship, wow, these people really can worship.

When our miracles start breaking.

That was powerful. That was awesome. Well, did you recognize that it was heretical? You know,

I wanted to take all five, but you know, the nerves are off, I guess. I'm excited to see the performers tonight, so yeah.

Who are you looking forward to seeing perform? Lil Nas X. Lil Nas X performing tonight? Yeah, you know it.

I'm looking forward to seeing that. That's going to be cool, probably. Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm.

Didn't want heaven when Jesus, you brought heaven.

God needs us. This is standard word faith theology, the belief that God needs us.

And if you have a superficial view of God and an elevated view of yourself, you're set up to worship yourself and not

God. That is what's wrong with all man -centered preaching. If someone says, wow, those people can worship, what comes to your mind?

What do you immediately think of about those people who were just identified as wow, those people can worship?

Usually we talk about the volume of their singing. The emotion that they exhibit.

Passion that we see from them. Or the style that we see from them.

Usually we're referring to these externals. Or when we say, wow, that really was spirit -filled worship.

Again, volume, emotion, external experiences, external appearances.

But is that what worship is? The answer that you've already heard is a resounding no. For many

Christians, music has become essentially synonymous with worship. So much so that the presence of the

Holy Spirit is associated more with the time of singing than when the word of God is preached.

Of course, singing is certainly important and powerful, but many popular Christian music artists have far more influence and popularity within the

Christian church than they really should. Countless Christians absolutely love Lauren Daigle and her

Christian music. Yet Daigle chooses to compromise concerning what the Bible clearly teaches to be accepted by the mainstream culture.

Do you feel that homosexuality is a sin? You know, I can't honestly answer on that.

I have too many people that I love that they are homosexual. I don't know. I can't say one way or the other.

I'm not God. So when people ask questions like that, that's what my go -to is.

I just say, read the Bible and find out for yourself. And when you find out, let me know, because I'm learning. Daigle's refusal to offend mainstream culture is precisely why she is fully accepted by someone like Ellen DeGeneres.

Our next guest has been compared to everyone from Adele to Amy Winehouse. Her new CD just debuted at number one.

She's amazing. Here to perform, Still Rolling Stones. Please welcome Lauren Daigle. I used to like Lecrae's music, but now it seems

Lecrae has compromised and diluted his message to be accepted by mainstream culture.

Here's Lecrae and Andy Mineo being excited that Kim Kardashian used their song called

Coming In Hot on Instagram. Even though Kim Kardashian is one of the most sexually immoral women in the country.

Yeah, I was like, hey, Kim Kardashian just posted my song. She's like, what? Am I gonna get free skus?

Told grandma, I said, hey, you know who Kim Kardashian is? No clue. No clue. She's like, yes, yeah.

Yes, yes. Yo, shout out everybody who's used Coming In Hot on their IG Reels, on TikTok, on Triller.

You guys are helping make the song go. And here's Lecrae, just like Lauren Daigle, refusing to state what the

Bible clearly teaches. I don't condemn him. You know what I'm saying? Like, if anything, we'll dialogue so that I can have a better understanding.

Cause I don't profess to be like, I got this all figured out and I know the way this should be. Dante Bowe, whom we heard praise

Lil Nas X, one of the most blatantly satanic music artists today, also posted a video to Instagram of him singing along with, and dancing to, a song by Bad Bunny, who also promotes radical sexual immorality.

But take a listen to the actual lyrics that they're actually singing. Because I saw, you know, the video, it's in Spanish.

So obviously I don't know Spanish. But listen to the lyrics that they're actually singing. So the song, it says, after the beach, let me know where we're going.

If we dry off, I'll bring the towel. And again, we will get wet, but in my bed. After the beach,

I don't know where we going. If we dry off, I'm gonna bring a towel. And if we get wet again, it's gonna be in my bed.

What are we even talking about here, bro? It's extremely disturbing that someone like Dante Bowe, who has been a member of Bethel Music, as well as Maverick City Music, is one of the primary faces of Christian music today, despite the fact that it's abundantly clear he lacks spiritual maturity.

Another extremely popular music artist associated with Christian music is Kirk Franklin, whose songs on YouTube have millions upon millions of views.

However, like Dante Bowe, it seems pretty clear that Franklin has serious character issues.

Listen to the kind of language Franklin uses with his son here. Okay, I did it.

Franklin has rightly apologized for how he behaved in this clip, but we still have to ask, why are

Christians elevating these kinds of people simply because they are talented at producing music?

Shouldn't we as Christians be elevating people and music that reflect the kind of holiness

God requires of his people? There's also the lead singer from the popular Christian band,

REND Collected, who posted this message on Instagram. However you feel, well, yeah, okay,

Chris, yeah. Not Chris Vallotton, the Chris from REND. However you feel about the implications for sports, a wider conversation for sure, calling a trans woman a man is hateful, unkind.

Don't participate in this kind of speech. History won't be kind to you. History won't be kind to you.

Again, here is a popular Christian worship leader, one of the most visible people within Christianity in general, calling it hateful for Christians to communicate what the

Bible clearly teaches. There seems to be a pattern that generally speaking, the more successful Christian music artists become, the more likely they are to adopt the ideologies of the world in order to be more accepted by the world.

They seem to be fully willing to compromise on what scripture clearly teaches in order to maintain and grow their success in the world.

Similarly, the lead singer from Jars of Clay, Dan Hazelty, posted this on Twitter.

Not meaning to stir things up, but is there a non -speculative or non -slippery slope reason why gays shouldn't marry?

I don't hear one. I'm trying to make sense of the conservative argument, but it doesn't hold up to basic scrutiny, feels akin to women's suffering.

I just don't see a negative effect to allowing gay marriage. No societal breakdown? No war on traditional marriage?

Anyone? Hazelton's tweets are very problematic in at least two ways. First, it seems clear that he supports the concept of this kind of marriage, but the

Bible teaches something very different. We cannot redefine marriage. And I know what you're saying here, right?

You say we can't redefine marriage, but haven't we redefined marriage? No, no, no, we haven't redefined marriage.

We've blasphemed the God who created marriage, but we haven't redefined it.

And second, Hazelton is simply wrong that there's no harm to allowing this kind of marriage. Secondly, homosexuality is harmful because it harms the gospel.

Marriage is a living, breathing picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ and his bride, the church.

Marriage says something about the gospel. Marriage paints a picture of the gospel. And when we turn our idea of marriage into something that is directly opposed to what

God says about us and about himself, then we are doing harm. We're doing harm to the message of the gospel.

We're doing harm to the name of Christ. So again, it's a false premise, the idea that you can have sinful practices that don't harm anyone.

They harm the people who engage in them, and they harm the message of the gospel. I also generally like Chris Tomlin and his music, but Tomlin has also exhibited a very serious lack of discernment in endorsing prosperity and word -of -faith preacher,

Joyce Meyer, by leading worship at her conference not once, but two times. You know, it's really disappointing that someone like Chris Tomlin, the most influential

Christian singer in the world, would be a part of this, and then on his Instagram over here, goes and points such a beautiful word towards Joyce Meyer, where he says things like, "'Wonderful night at the 40th anniversary "'of

Joyce Meyer Conference. "'Grateful to be a part of the celebration.'" And check this out.

Look at the comments here. People aren't falling for this. Look, Joyce Meyer? No! Joyce Meyer, seriously?

Why are you partnering with false teachers like Joyce? She is a false teacher. Louis Giglio, who founded

Passion City Church, invited Carrie Underwood to perform at Passion 2017, even though Underwood has also explicitly supported

LGBTQ. We rarely talk about conservatives that use religion in order to defend same -sex marriage, but country singer

Carrie Underwood has done so recently. In fact, she spoke to Britain's The Independent, and she said the following, "'As a married person myself, "'I don't know what it's like to be told "'I can't marry somebody

I love and want to marry. "'I can't imagine how that must feel. "'I definitely think we should all have the right to love "'and love publicly the people that we want to love.'"

It's an enormous problem when musical talent is elevated above spiritual maturity.

But since musical talent is what draws crowds and audiences, this is what the majority of Christians in America and across the world focus on.

They would rather create an emotional experience with musical talent than make sure that both the worship leaders and worship experience reflect the holiness, righteousness, and reverence that God requires.

Certainly, the music that music artists like these produce is not all bad. But as Christians, we need to be extremely careful about what exactly we emphasize regarding worship.

But I do think it's important not to get sucked into those movements. Hillsong is an aberrant movement with really aberrant theology.

Bethel is the same or worse. But it doesn't mean that there isn't now and then something they produce that is true and you can sing it as true.

So just be discerning. But they are powerful movements, both of them. Bethel because of the

Jesus Culture music group, Hillsong because of Hillsong music. If they didn't have that music, they wouldn't have a movement, either of them, probably.

But the theology of both, particularly Bethel, is taking the Holy Spirit's name in vain constantly, constantly.

So you don't wanna be a part of that movement. But again, the clock that doesn't run is right twice a day.

So every once in a while, people will come across the truth. We've covered some Christian music artists with questionable character and questionable theology.

Probably the majority of the songs they produce are generic enough that they don't contain any problems theologically.

But there are also numerous songs with bad theology that Christians should definitely avoid.

We heard a little from Bethel music song, Champion, earlier, which explicitly promotes the heretical word of faith theology.

It says here, when I open my mouth, miracles start breaking out. You see, this is the problem with some of the music today.

It is promoting a man -centered gospel. It is slowly trying to slide in there this little

God's theology, this word faith theology that says that, you know what? Because God created the world in seven days and he created it using his words.

And we are created in the image of God. And therefore we also have the power to create things with our words.

We're also able to speak things into existence. And so because God is able to open his mouth and he is able to perform miracles, then therefore we have the same authority because Jesus gave us the authority.

And therefore, whenever I open my mouth, miracles can happen. And when I heard these lyrics, I stopped in my tracks.

We also heard a clip from Hillsong's popular song, What a Beautiful Name, which contains the lyrics, you didn't want heaven without us.

Songs like this are very emotional to sing. And it's extremely easy to feel like you are close to God while singing a song like this because of the environment and the instrumentals, not realizing that what you are singing about God is absolutely unbiblical.

If I'm just here for the experience, I can sing songs that completely contradict the truth of God's word and I'm okay.

I mean, if the beat is right and the band is hot, I can sing all kinds of lies and feel like I've met with God.

But if I understand worship within this context and I rooted and grounded within these theological truth, then there's certain things that I just can't say.

Admittedly, the vast majority of the songs produced by groups such as Elevation Worship, Hillsong Music and Bethel Music are relatively harmless in the theology they communicate.

But the problem is that music is designed to draw people into the churches that produce this music.

And these churches are extremely problematic. But a lot of their music, it's gonna pass a basic doctrinal smell test.

And that's intentional because they know if it doesn't, that most churches aren't gonna put it in their services.

And here's what happens on Sunday morning when churches put these lyrics up on the screen and the unsuspecting person sitting out there in the pew, reading the lyrics, singing the lyrics, and then they see in the fine print at the bottom, copyright, copyright,

Bethel Music, copyright Hillsong. And let's throw in Elevation Music with that as well, Stephen Furtick.

So when they see the fine print, they think, oh, Bethel, oh, Hillsong, I think I'll check them out.

They must be okay. We're singing their music. And so they use their music as a hook to pull unsuspecting people into their false theological system.

And so the local church singing those songs give the local church's stamp of approval.

The pastor is saying, it's okay, congregation. These songs are fine and you can follow the people who produce them.

Or they hear them on the radio. Then they see that we're singing them in church and they go, they're fine. Another concerning thing we are seeing is mega church pastors such as Joel Osteen and T .D.

Jakes happily associating their churches with popular secular music artists who are not at all

Christian, such as Joel Osteen with Mariah Carey. Hi, Lakewood community. I'm Mariah Carey, and I'm so glad I could join you this

Easter. We find ourselves in a unique time in history where we can't celebrate together in person. And I'm grateful that so many of us are staying home and staying safe.

And T .D. Jakes with P. Diddy. But there is another problem regarding modern

Christian music that goes deeper than questionable music artists and questionable lyrics. The way the modern

Christian music is performed today and the way it is responded to today reflects a theology that is itself problematic.

Listen very carefully to what Scott Anuel says here. Charismatic theologians argue that the

Holy Spirit's primary work in worship is that of making God's presence known in observable, tangible ways such that worshipers can truly encounter

God. This theology places a high emphasis and expectation in worship upon physical expressiveness and intensity, resulting in what is sometimes called a praise and worship theology of worship.

The goal in this theology is to experience the presence of God in worship, but praise is considered the means through which

Christians do so. Praise and worship. Praise and worship theology seeks to provide a blueprint for a worship service that ensures worshipers will truly enter the presence of God.

The point of all of this is that how we sing Christian music is a reflection of our theology of worship itself, what worship means and how

Christians encounter the presence of God. And oftentimes, the way Christians sing Christian songs communicates the idea that it's primarily through music that Christians encounter the presence of God rather than through hearing the preaching of the word of God.

And by allowing Christian music to overshadow the preaching of the word of God, which is what we often see at megachurches that have a heavy emphasis upon music, such as Stephen Furtick and Elevation Church, Hillsong Church and Bethel Church, Christians are demonstrating that they have a lower view of preaching and the word of God than they really should.

A very wise man told me, he goes, look at that relationship that the spirit is mentioned in Ephesians and in Colossians, the word is mentioned and that there is a direct relationship.

And it's a sad thing to me that oftentimes the people who put the most emphasis on so -called spirit -filled or spirit -empowered worship put the least amount of emphasis upon the word of God.

And both of those things are absolutely necessary because the spirit of God is the author of the word of God.

The spirit of God has communicated his will through the infallible word of God. And in order to avoid quenching, grieving the spirit, we must be under his authority and we can only be under his authority to the degree that we understand the word of God.

Because now we have adopted what I like to call the affective principle of worship. And the affective principle of worship goes like this.

If somebody likes it and it makes them feel close to God, it's good, that's all that's required. People are blessed by it.

If it's meaningful to them and if it facilitates an encounter, if it facilitates an experience with God, then it is acceptable.

And anyone who says otherwise is judgmental and legalistic and mean.

And we know the 11th commandment is, thou shalt be nice and we don't believe the other 10.

Amen, somebody, the affective principle. And it's because we're no longer arguing the regulative principle or understanding the regulative principle that the affective principle rules.

And so we argue about preference. Thank you so much for watching. If you like these videos and wanna help support this channel, the best way to do it is to just watch these videos until the end and click the subscribe button.