Why Your Favorite Christian Worship Songs Are Theological Garbage by Jeff Callaway

Why Your Favorite Christian Worship Songs Are Theological Garbage

By Jeff Callaway

Texas Outlaw Poet

The lights go down. The fog machine kicks in. The bass drum thumps like a heartbeat on steroids. And there you stand, swaying to music that sounds like it was ripped straight from a Taylor Swift concert, except someone swapped out boyfriend lyrics for vague references to a nameless deity who apparently needs your trust without borders.

Welcome to modern worship, where theology went to die and feelings reign supreme.

I am about to step on every toe in your church building. I am about to tell you that the songs you weep to, the songs you lift your hands to, the songs you claim bring you closer to God are theological train wrecks dressed up in three-part harmony and professional lighting design. And I am not sorry about it. Because when we sing lies about God, when we reduce the infinite majesty of the Holy Trinity to boyfriend-Jesus sentimentality, when we turn the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass into a feel-good social club meeting set to music, we commit a form of idolatry that would make the Israelites dancing around the golden calf look like amateur hour.

The Church has something to say about worship music. The problem is nobody is listening.

The Bedrock of Worship vs. The Haunted House of Feelings

Saint Augustine said that he who sings prays twice. That is not some throwaway line from a guy who liked a good tune. That is profound theological truth. Music in worship is not incidental, it is not background noise, it is not there to make us feel warm and fuzzy while we wait for the real worship to begin. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. Why? Because as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of solemn liturgy.

You want to know what that means in plain English? It means when you sing, you are not just singing. You are praying. You are teaching. You are forming belief. You are shaping souls. Every lyric you belt out becomes theology that sinks into your bones. Every chorus you repeat becomes doctrine you will remember long after the sermon fades from memory.

The Catechism goes on to say that song and music fulfill their function as signs according to three principal criteria: beauty expressive of prayer, the unanimous participation of the assembly at designated moments, and the solemn character of the celebration. Not performance. Not entertainment. Not emotional manipulation dressed up as the movement of the Holy Spirit.

The Second Vatican Council, in Sacrosanctum Concilium, declared that sacred song must accompany the liturgical actions, not just provide a soundtrack while we do church stuff. Musicam Sacram, the Instruction on Music in the Liturgy, explicitly states that music must correspond to the liturgical action and not simply be popular style for the sake of being relevant.

But here is the problem. Somewhere between Gregorian chant and the electric guitar, between transcendence and accessibility, between worshiping God and making sure the youth group stays engaged, the Church forgot that worship music has rules. It forgot that there is a difference between sacred music and Christian entertainment. It forgot that just because something makes you cry does not mean it is true.

Pope Francis himself said that the liturgy is the first teacher of catechism. If that is true, and I assure you it is, then what does it say about what we believe when our liturgical music teaches us that God is reckless, that heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss, that we are building the Church ourselves through our welcoming attitudes, and that the Eucharist is just bread and wine where we gather for a nice meal?

It says we are catechizing people into heresy one worship song at a time.

What Happens When Feelings Replace Truth

Modern worship music has fallen into a trap that the Church has warned about for two thousand years: the elevation of personal experience over revealed truth. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in their 2020 document "Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church," put it plainly: hymns and songs are among the most significant forces in shaping or misshaping the religious and theological sensibility of the faithful.

Read that again. Misshaping. Your favorite worship song might be actively deforming your understanding of God.

The bishops warn that Catholics nurtured on a steady diet of certain hymns will learn that at Mass we come together to share bread and wine, which remain bread and wine, a common meal. A steady diet of these hymns would erode Catholic sensibility regarding the fullness of Eucharistic teaching, on the Mass as sacrifice, and eventually on the Church as formed by that sacrifice.

This is not abstract theology. This is spiritual life and death.

When you sing songs that treat the Eucharist like a potluck dinner, you start believing the Eucharist is a potluck dinner. When you sing songs that make God sound like your needy boyfriend who is chasing you down because he cannot live without you, you start believing in a God who is not sovereign, who is not transcendent, who is not the ground of all being but rather some cosmic stalker who needs your validation.

The problem is not that modern worship music uses guitars instead of organs. The problem is not that it is new. The problem is that it trades truth for feeling, doctrine for sentiment, the glory of God for the emotional satisfaction of the worshiper.

The Ten Commandments Modern Worship Music Violates

The USCCB laid out clear criteria for evaluating hymns. They must conform to Catholic doctrine. They must use images and vocabulary that appropriately reflect the usage of Scripture and the liturgical prayer of the Church. They must avoid language that could be easily misconstrued in a way contrary to Catholic doctrine.

Most modern worship music fails these tests spectacularly. Let me show you how.

1. Reckless Love by Cory Asbury (Bethel Music)

This song is theological garbage wrapped in an emotional melody. The word reckless means marked by lack of proper caution, careless of consequences, irresponsible. Now tell me, with a straight face, that God is reckless. Tell me that the One who holds the universe together by the word of His power, the One who numbers the hairs on your head, the One who knows the end from the beginning acts without thinking about consequences.

You cannot. Because it is heresy.

Asbury defends himself by saying he means God's love seems reckless by worldly standards, that it is wild and insane and crazy. But that is not what reckless means, and you do not get to redefine words because they make for catchy lyrics. Words matter. Theology matters. God is not reckless. God is deliberate, sovereign, ordered, purposeful. His love is extravagant, yes. Unmerited, absolutely. But reckless? That is not the God of Scripture. That is not the God of the Catholic Church. That is a god made in the image of our feelings-driven, chaos-loving, consequences-be-damned culture.

The parable of the lost sheep, which this song references, is not about a reckless shepherd. As New Testament scholars point out, shepherds in first-century Palestine worked together. When one went to find a lost sheep, the others watched his flock. There was nothing careless about it. God does not put the ninety-nine at risk to chase the one. God acts with perfect knowledge, perfect wisdom, perfect love. Not reckless abandon.

2. All Are Welcome by Marty Haugen

The USCCB specifically flagged this song as doctrinally problematic, and the Diocese of Jefferson City banned it outright. Why? Because it makes the Church sound like a social club we are building instead of the Mystical Body of Christ that He built.

Listen to the lyrics: "Let us build a house where love can dwell." We do not build the house. Christ builds the Church. We do not create a place where love can dwell. Love dwells in us because Christ first loved us. The song puts the emphasis on human effort, human inclusivity, human works, as if we somehow create the Church through our welcoming attitudes.

But it gets worse. When it talks about the Eucharist, it says "Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine and wheat." The USCCB says someone who sings this song frequently would have a hard time imagining that the Eucharist can be and is worshiped or is in any sense a sacrifice. The song treats the Eucharist as bread and wine, not as the Body and Blood of Christ. It makes the Mass sound like a potluck where we gather for a nice meal before going out to do social justice work.

That is not Catholic teaching. That is Protestant theology at best, outright denial of transubstantiation at worst. And we sing it in Catholic churches as if it were worship.

3. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United

This song is the poster child for everything wrong with modern worship music. It is emotionally manipulative, lyrically vague, theologically shallow, and completely self-referential.

The most glaring problem is that the song is all about the singer. Count the pronouns. "You call me," "I will call," "my soul," "I am Yours," "my trust," "my feet," "my faith." The song is not about God. It is about the worshiper's feelings, the worshiper's experience, the worshiper's faith journey. God is reduced to a supporting character in the drama of my spiritual adventure.

The bridge is repeated ad nauseam: "Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters, wherever You would call me, take me deeper than my feet could ever wander." Wait a minute. If I am walking on water, why do I want to go deeper? If I go deeper while walking on water, I drown. The imagery makes no sense. It is poetic gibberish designed to sound spiritual while communicating nothing.

And who is this "You" we are singing to? The song never identifies the object of worship. It could be God. It could be Jesus. It could be a spirit guide. It could be the universe. The theological vagueness is not a feature, it is a bug. It makes the song usable in any religious context, which means it is not distinctly Christian, much less distinctly Catholic.

4. How He Loves by John Mark McMillan

"Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss."

Do I even need to explain what is wrong with this? The line is either sexually suggestive, theologically confused, or both. McMillan claims he did not intend sexual connotations, but intent does not matter when the words communicate something else. Worship music is not poetry slam night at the coffee house. It is not the place for shock-value lyrics that make people uncomfortable for the sake of being edgy.

David Crowder changed it to "unforeseen kiss," which is slightly better but still problematic. An unforeseen kiss sounds like something that happens without consent. Is that really the imagery we want for the Incarnation?

The deeper issue is that the song confuses types of love. God's love is agape, unconditional love, sacrificial love, love that acts for the good of the beloved regardless of feeling. A sloppy wet kiss is eros, passionate attraction, romantic feeling. Mixing these categories does not make worship profound. It makes worship confusing and potentially blasphemous.

5. Mary, Did You Know? by Mark Lowry

This song drives me up the wall. The answer to "Mary, did you know?" is sometimes yes, sometimes no, and the song never bothers to clarify which is which.

Did Mary know that her baby boy would one day walk on water? Probably not. Did Mary know that her baby boy would save our sons and daughters? Absolutely yes. The angel Gabriel told her, "He will save His people from their sins." Did Mary know that her baby boy has come to make her new, that this child she delivered will soon deliver her? That line implies Mary was a sinner in need of salvation like everyone else, which contradicts the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Hymns are not the place to ponder theological mysteries. Hymns are the place to proclaim theological truths. This song creates confusion where there should be clarity. It asks questions that Scripture has already answered. And in doing so, it fails the basic test of sacred music: teaching sound doctrine.

6. God Is Here! As We His People by Fred Pratt Green

The USCCB flagged this one too. The problem is the vague language about the Eucharist. The song talks about God being present but never specifies how. It never mentions that in the Eucharist, Christ is substantially present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Instead, it uses generic language that could apply to any religious gathering.

Catholic worship music must be distinctly Eucharistic. It must proclaim the Real Presence. It must teach that the Mass is a sacrifice, not just a memorial meal. This song does none of that. It could be sung at a Methodist service, a Presbyterian service, a non-denominational service. It has no specifically Catholic content. And that makes it unfit for Catholic liturgy.

7. Gather Us In by Marty Haugen

"We are the young, our lives are a mystery, we are the old who yearn for your face." The whole song is about us. We are this, we are that, we have been called to do this thing. Where is God in all of this? He is the one we are asking to gather us, but the emphasis is entirely on us and our importance.

The song also pushes the same ecclesiological error as "All Are Welcome." It makes it sound like we create the Church, like we are the important actors in salvation history. But we are not. Christ is the center. The Church exists to glorify God and sanctify the faithful, not to celebrate how wonderful and diverse and important we all are.

8. Table of Plenty by Dan Schutte

Another one on the Jefferson City Diocese banned list. Like "All Are Welcome," this song has a deficient Eucharistic theology. It emphasizes the meal aspect of the Eucharist while ignoring the sacrificial aspect. It makes the Mass sound like Thanksgiving dinner instead of Calvary made present.

The problem with emphasizing only the meal is that you lose the scandal of Christianity. The Eucharist is not just a nice gathering where we share food and fellowship. The Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice offered once for all on the cross and made present in every Mass. When we reduce that to "Come to the table of plenty," we gut the mystery of faith.

9. Shout to the Lord by Darlene Zschech (Hillsong)

Early Hillsong, but it has the same problems as later Hillsong. The song is emotionally powerful, musically compelling, and theologically vague. There is nothing distinctly Christian about it. You could sing it in a Jewish synagogue, an Islamic mosque, or a New Age gathering and nobody would notice the difference.

"My Jesus, my Savior, Lord there is none like You" could refer to any religious figure. The song never mentions the cross, the resurrection, the Incarnation, the Trinity, the Church, the sacraments. It is generic praise that feels spiritual but teaches nothing. And worship music must teach. The liturgy is the first teacher of catechism. What does this song teach? That God is awesome and we should shout. That is not enough.

10. Good Good Father by Chris Tomlin

"You're a good, good Father, it's who You are." Repeat that about fifty times and you have the song.

The problem is the infantilization of worship. God is not just a good Father. He is the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. He is the Ancient of Days. He is the One before whom the seraphim cover their faces and cry out "Holy, holy, holy." Yes, God is Father, and yes, His Fatherhood is good. But reducing God to "good, good Father" as if He were a sitcom dad who gives good hugs and tells us everything will be okay misses the glory, the majesty, the transcendence, the holiness of God.

Modern worship music has a habit of taking one aspect of God's character and turning it into the whole of who God is. God is love, so we sing about love and ignore His justice. God is Father, so we sing about Father and ignore His sovereignty. God is merciful, so we sing about mercy and ignore His holiness. But God is not one-dimensional. And our worship should not be either.

What Real Worship Music Looks Like

The Church has two thousand years of sacred music to draw from. We have Gregorian chant, which elevates language and removes ego and centers everything on the Eucharistic worship of God. We have polyphony, where multiple voices weave together in such intricate beauty that the music itself becomes a prayer. We have classic hymns like "Holy, Holy, Holy," "O Sacred Head Now Wounded," "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," hymns with rich theology and profound doctrine.

These hymns focus on God, not on us. They proclaim the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atonement, the Resurrection. They teach the faith. They form souls. They lift hearts and minds to the glory of God.

The Psalms are the gold standard. They were good enough for Jesus to sing, they are good enough for us. They focus on God's holiness, justice, mercy, kingship. They are not man-centered. They are God-centered. And that is what all worship music should be.

The Church also has modern hymns that get it right. "In Christ Alone" by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, despite some controversy, articulates deep doctrine about the atonement. "How Great Thou Art" proclaims the majesty of God in creation and redemption. "I Am the Bread of Life" by Suzanne Toolan is explicitly Eucharistic, teaching the Real Presence and the promise of eternal life.

These are the songs we should be singing. Songs that teach truth, not songs that manipulate feelings. Songs that glorify God, not songs that make us feel good about ourselves. Songs that shape souls in the image of Christ, not songs that reinforce our cultural preferences.

The Spiritual Danger of Bad Theology in Worship

Here is what most people do not understand: what you sing shapes what you believe more than what you hear in sermons. Music bypasses the critical thinking part of your brain and goes straight to the memory and emotion centers. You will remember the lyrics of a song you sang twenty years ago long after you have forgotten the sermon you heard last week.

That is why bad theology in worship music is so dangerous. It forms people in error. It teaches them to think about God in ways that are not true. It creates emotional attachments to ideas that Scripture and Tradition reject. And because the songs are tied to powerful feelings, people defend them even when you show them the theological problems.

This is how heresy spreads. Not through intellectual arguments but through songs that sound beautiful and feel spiritual but teach lies about God.

The bishops understand this. That is why they wrote "Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church." That is why the Diocese of Jefferson City banned certain hymns. That is why the Church has always been careful about what is sung in the liturgy. Because music shapes belief. And if the music is wrong, the belief will be wrong.

What Must Change

First, we must return to God-centered theology in our music. Every song must proclaim the Trinity, redemption, grace, sacrifice, resurrection. Every song must teach something true about who God is and what He has done for us. Every song must lift our eyes beyond ourselves to the glory of God.

Second, we must recover sacred tradition. Gregorian chant, polyphony, doctrinal hymns. We must teach congregations why these matter, how they are spiritually formative, how they connect us to two thousand years of saints who worshiped before us. We must stop treating worship music as if it started in 1995 with the first Hillsong album.

Third, we must exercise discernment over popularity. Not every catchy song belongs in worship. Just because something is on Christian radio does not mean it should be sung at Mass. Just because the youth group likes it does not mean it teaches true doctrine. We must evaluate every song against Catholic theology and Scripture. And if a song fails that test, we must have the courage to say no.

Fourth, pastors and worship leaders must be trained in theology. You cannot evaluate the theological content of a song if you do not know theology. Most worship leaders are chosen because they can play guitar and sing, not because they know the Catechism. That must change. Worship leaders must be catechists first and musicians second.

Fifth, the laity must demand better. Stop accepting whatever the music director puts in front of you. Ask questions. Read the lyrics. Compare them to Scripture and the Catechism. If something sounds off, say something. Your voice matters. The spiritual formation of your children matters. The integrity of worship matters.

The High Cost of Singing Garbage

Here is the bottom line: worship music is not neutral. It forms souls. It teaches doctrine. It shapes what we believe about God, about ourselves, about the Church, about salvation.

When we sing garbage, we become garbage theologians. When we sing sentimentality, we believe in a sentimental god. When we sing man-centered lyrics, we worship man instead of God.

The stakes could not be higher. This is not about musical preferences. This is not about traditional versus contemporary. This is about truth versus error, about forming saints versus forming heretics, about worshiping the God who is versus worshiping a god we made up.

The Church has given us everything we need to worship rightly. Two thousand years of sacred music. The Catechism. Scripture. The wisdom of the saints. We have no excuse for singing theological garbage. None.

So the next time you stand in church and the opening chords of "Reckless Love" start playing, or the worship leader announces "Oceans" for the third time this month, or you see "All Are Welcome" in the program, I want you to remember what is at stake. I want you to remember that what you sing becomes what you believe. I want you to remember that worship music is catechesis, and bad worship music is bad catechesis.

And then I want you to have the courage to say no. To demand better. To insist that the music in your church teach the fullness of Catholic truth and not just make people feel good.

Because you are not at a concert. You are at worship. And worship demands truth.

Saint Augustine also said that the one who sings prays twice. If that is true, and it is, then singing garbage is praying garbage twice. And God deserves better than that.

So do you.

~by Jeff Callaway

Texas Outlaw Poet

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