A Question for Pastors

Actually, there are a few questions here. And they are not just for pastors, they are for anyone in the church. However, since pastors have the most influence within the local church body, it makes the most sense to ask these questions of pastors and worship leaders.

I am going to pose the questions first. I want you to think about your answer to these questions before you continue reading. After you consider your answers, then read on and see what else I have to say.

Questions

1.      Would you allow someone to minister in your church who has, for decades, covered up perverse sexual sins, not only going on within the college that his church founded but also the sexual perversion with children committed by his own father? Would you allow this person to minister in your church if you found out he also was caught in a scandal pertaining to illegal drugs and his own sexual sins?

2.      Would you allow someone to minister in your church who teaches that Jesus was a mere man and did all of His miracles through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, thus denying the deity of Jesus? Would you allow this same person to minister in your church if you found out that the school at his church teaches such bizarre and occultic practices as astral projection and grave soaking?

3.      Would you allow someone to minister in your church who openly teaches the heresy of modalism, that God sometimes acts as the Father, sometimes as the Son, and sometimes as the Holy Spirit? Would you allow this same person to minister in your church if you know that his church does not teach discipleship, blatantly defying the command of Jesus Christ to go and make disciples of all nations?

4.      Would you allow someone to minister in your church, but after they minister, they invite some of their friends into the fellowship hall of your church to have a few alcoholic beverages and sit around having a party while they post pictures on Instagram?

5.      Would you allow someone to minister in your church who openly denies that Jesus is the only way to the Father?

6.      Would you allow someone to minister in your church who is confused over whether or not the LGBTQIA+ lifestyle is sinful?

Take a moment and think about your answers.

Now, any shepherd who is worth his salt is going to unequivocally say, “No!” to any of these “ministers” because they want to protect the flock.

What would you say or do if I told you that you are allowing these people into your churches on a regular basis without even knowing it?

These are the kinds of people who are either leading the churches, performing, or writing today’s top Christian music hits. These are the kinds of people who are influencing our congregations, especially our youth and young adults, because they are the ones who listen to this music the most.

The first person I described is Brian Houston, the former pastor of Hillsong Church in Australia. Yes, that Hillsong. The one that writes and produces music for everything under the sun. He doesn’t sound like someone we need preaching in our churches, yet we let the people he had leadership over for decades into our churches through the music they produce all the time.

The second person I described is Bill Johnson, the lead pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California. Bethel is one of the leading producers of praise and worship music in the world. Not only do they write and produce their own music, but they also allow other artists to produce under their leadership.

The third person I described is Steven Furtick, the lead pastor and one of the songwriters for Elevation. Elevation not only writes and produces music to sell to churches around the world, but they also hold expensive “worship experiences” with tickets ranging from $30.00 to over $1000.00 depending on how close you want to sit to the stage.

The others described in the questions above are Maverick City Music (who, after performing at the Grammy’s decided to party with the other acts at the music awards show and post pictures of themselves on their own Instagram accounts enjoying copious amounts of alcohol) and the last two questions can be answered by any number of contemporary Christian artists from Christian rapper Lecrae to long-time favorite Amy Grant.

The real question that we have to answer is: why do we allow these people who have outright heretical theology, dangerous lives, and who are biblically unqualified for ministry into our churches through the music that is produced by their churches?

This is what we must answer. It is our responsibility to ensure the safety and right teaching of the flock that is put under our protection. If we are not protecting them from every wolf of the world, we are allowing them to stay vulnerable to attacks that are designed to destroy them.

It is no longer sufficient to dismiss the music as something that does not lead to anything else. In today’s world when someone listens to music, they also want to know about the artist who performs the song. With the Internet at our fingertips, it takes seconds to search for, and find, the false doctrines of these abhorrent teachers.

I especially look at our younger generations, those to whom this kind of music is often geared, and I fear that they may reject the truths of the Bible in favor of the falsehoods promoted by these false teachers. Surveying the landscape of churches, youth and young adults are staying away from those who are faithful to the Word of God and are being pulled into those who are entertaining them with loud music and slightly “Christian” motivational speeches.

We must do something to reach these younger generations before they are completely lost to the world. One thing we can do is promote music that is theologically sound yet still fun. We must also preach the Word of God with faithfulness and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pastors and worship leaders, I want to encourage you to come together and determine what kind of music you need to get rid of out of your church. You need to do this for the sake of the people whose souls are in your hands. It is up to you to draw the line on theological soundness in the worship service.

***As an addendum to this, I want us to consider one more question: At what point do we make a decision to cut off a songwriter or singer?

There have been, throughout history, many songwriters and singers who have given us great songs of faith and then, later in life, apostatized, turning away from the truth of the Word of God and into various sins. This needs to be a matter of wisdom within the body. If people in the church are going to stumble singing a song like “It is Well, With My Soul” because Horatio Spafford walked away from the truth later in life, then we need to exclude that song from our singing. However, if everyone understands that this song conveys the truth of God’s mercy, no matter what we are going through, then we would be safe to still include it in our worship services.

Either way, there needs to be wisdom expressed in these decisions. Just because a song is on every Christian radio station does not mean it is right for the church. Likewise, just because a song has been in every church hymnal since it was written does not mean everyone is able to accept it today. If we are wise and follow the Holy Spirit that is given to us, we will make the right decisions in this matter. However, if we just follow what everyone else is doing because it is trendy, we could end up losing an entire generation of people to the working of Satan and his minions, including the human ones.