By PAUL CLAYDON ’27
Updated 11:50 a.m. EDT, 25 Sept 2026
I first want to start by saying I grew up around contemporary Christian music, so I understand why some people are attracted to it. But I’m not arguing based on what I personally prefer for worship; I’m arguing that traditional hymns are what best helps the gathered church obey Scripture’s command to sing. I’m not saying every hymn is perfect and every contemporary worship song is bad or that older automatically means better. When it comes to worship, we should be asking ourselves what kind of music best glorifies God and serves the flock, not what kind of music makes us feel good.
That is the main difference between hymns and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM); CCM appeals to emotion to mimic the presence of God while hymns generally appeal to doctrinal truth. In Colossians 3:16, Paul commands believers to “teach and admonish one another” through singing. Hymns do this best. A good example of this would be Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”. It is a bold confession of faith drawn primarily from Psalm 46 that weaves together Reformation theology of God’s sovereign protection, the reality of spiritual warfare against the devil, the insufficiency of human strength, Christ’s victory, the power of God’s Word and the assurance of the Kingdom despite earthly losses. It emphasizes Sola Gratia, Solus Christus and Sola Scriptura in poetic form.
On the other hand, most CCM songs are doctrinally dry or, worse, have very theologically questionable lyrics that are often repetitive. An example of this would be Cory Asbury’s “Reckless Love”. Reckless is a theologically bad way of describing God’s love. Scripture portrays God as all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent), wise, intentional and sovereign. If “reckless” were tied to open theism (the view that God does not exhaustively know the future and thus takes real risks), it would be heretical. The way the song interprets the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18, Luke 15) makes God look irresponsible and foolish. In Jesus’ day, shepherds could leave flocks under mutual care. The point of the parable is the value of the lost one and God’s deliberate pursuit, not careless risk-taking that endangers others. Traditional interpretations do not support the idea that God might forfeit the “ninety-nine”.
Now you might be thinking to yourself, that’s just one song. Well, there are a lot of CCM songs that have problems like this, especially the ones produced by Hillsong, Bethel Music and Elevation Worship. Tell me your favorite worship song, and I can probably ruin it for you. The theological errors in the songs are not necessarily an accident. These mega churches (Hillsong, Bethel and Elevation) have very questionable teachings. Steven Furtick, the lead pastor of Elevation Worship, teaches modalism, an ancient heresy that states that God appears in three different modes instead of being three persons in one. Bill Johnson, the leader of Bethel, has stated that Jesus did his miracles not as God but as a man in right relationship with God, which confuses the two natures of Christ. I could go on and on. The fact is, the three churches that I mentioned are all connected to the New Apostolic Reformation, a heretical movement that claims new revelation from living apostles. The fact is, these megachurches infuse their heretical beliefs into their songs, and the more you sing their songs, the more you will confess what they believe (See https://bereanresearch.org/bethel-hillsong-elevation-worship-music/). That is why no church should be singing their songs. Not all their songs have bad theology in them, but by singing them at your church and on this campus, you’re promoting their brand and leading people to their false teachings.
Now you may be asking: Why does it matter what songs we sing or how we worship? Well, God cares about how we worship him. In the Old Testament, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were struck down for offering improper worship. Now, we may not be struck dead for singing bad worship songs, but this passage shows that God cares about how he is worshiped, and we should care about how we worship him. This brings me to my final reason of why hymns are better than CCM. Hymns are slower and easier to follow, and they are better designed for congregational singing, whereas worship songs are faster, harder to follow, and are designed to be sung by people with high-pitched vocals. Not everyone has high-pitched vocals, which is why CCM often makes people passive observers during worship instead of active participants. Worship shouldn’t be only for the worship leader. Everybody should participate. Hymns encourage participation for everyone, while CCM turns worship into a performance that people watch rather than participate in. Contemporary worship songs are designed to be performed, not sung.
It is for these reasons that I advocate that all worship songs in Chapel be replaced by traditional hymns. I know that some people like worship songs, and those in the praise bands enjoy being a spectacle. But we should all set aside our personal preferences in favor of what most honors God. I challenge Scott Hallman, Dean of Spiritual Life and Campus Pastor, to go two weeks without using any worship music in Chapel or Around the Table and see what people think. I will even help pick out the hymns.
Paul Claydon is Senior Bible and Theology Major. He is a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and he loves to call out the theologically bad practices of American Evangelicalism. He is also preaching at St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Basswood hill on October 11th if you want to come see him. ★
