Hath God Said?

"[In the song's lyrics, the] biblical emphasis that 'the glory of the Lord shall be revealed' had been changed to how 'we shall see' his glory. This is not nitpicking, for the same inversion characterized all the worship choruses that day. The focus was on us, instead of on God and what he reveals. Such worship fosters the basic perspective that faith depends on how well we notice God's glory, rather than on the gift of God's revelation that God's grace enables us to receive."

— Marva Dawn, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down

Subtle Scripture inversion, as described above by Marva Dawn, is all over today's Christian music, and it is particularly well masked in the modern hymns movement. It is one of the reasons why I have not embraced even the "good hymns" of crossover songwriters, such as Keith and Kristyn Getty. Their songs seem to me to miss the mark of rightly proclaiming God's truth.

I once used the word shallow to describe the "biblically based" and "Cross-centered" lyrics in this movement; I stand by that description, despite some raised eyebrows. While the lyrics allude to a broad range of biblical/gospel texts and themes, the wording still presents a superficially self-focused theology/doctrine. Broad is not the same as deep, hence, shallow.

It is shallow because it has a one-track view of God's:

• Character ("God loves ME!"),
• Works ("He did this for ME!"), and
• Honor ("He exalts ME!").

It is shallow because it praises God's gifts and grace but avoids mentioning:

• Repenting toward God,
• Turning from sin,
• Walking in holiness,
• Sacrificing our lives for God, or
• Serving others in Jesus' name.

Man-centered worship, though based on biblical themes, is an inversion of true biblical worship. Biblical worship is not about ME being redeemed and glorified through God. Biblical worship is a reverent celebration of GOD, in Christ Jesus, reconciling the world to HIMSELF.

Studying the biblical Psalms can help develop our sensitivity, awareness, and responses to God's:

• Holiness ("Let them praise Thy great and awesome name"),
• Creation and Redemption ("Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker"), and
• Sovereignty ("Let men say among the nations, The LORD reigns").

If it were easy to spot Scripture inversion, it wouldn't deceive us. But it is difficult to see, and it is even more difficult to explain the danger to someone who's convinced there isn't any deception (and doubly convinced if a song appears to quote Scripture).

This, however, is preservation of biblical truth at a very basic level—how we receive and understand God’s Word. Twisting the truth was Satan’s first tactic in tempting Eve to sin: Did God really say what you think He said?

May the Holy Spirit teach us to say with Jesus, "It is written."

Related Articles

It appears that I’m still exploring the question: How MUCH can we rearrange God’s truth before it becomes untruth? See Discerning Poetic Truth.