There’s a lot of chatter in our culture now about many things. From the pandemic to the handling of the pandemic, from which worship songs churches should sing to whether Simone Biles was courageous or cowardly by dropping out of her scheduled Olympic events. The point is that everyone feels the need to weigh in on everything, and sometimes that’s the greater problem.

Should we speak or should we stay silent? I think the first 3 verses of Proverbs 16 can shed some light on the struggle.

To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue. All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:1-3‬ ‭NIV, emphasis mine

The writer was right in his observation that we all feel like we have something to say, and yet the only source of the best thing to say — “the proper answer” — is the Lord. We want to weigh in with our words, but He is weighing the motives behind the words. That truth alone should cause us to pause before saying anything, but it shouldn’t cause us to stop speaking. It should cause us to commit our opinions, our words, our posts, and our pride to the Lord so that He can establish the plan for how to address things.

We don’t need to be afraid of our motives, but we do need to be aware of them because until we are, we’re being led by them and not by the Father. Today, let Him weigh your heart before you weigh in on something with your words.

There are some things you can count on. Death, taxes, and a post every year or so about how we should all stop singing worship songs that come from Bethel, Hillsong, and Elevation. If the person posting is really upset about it, they’ll probably throw in Jesus Culture, too.

I don’t typically respond to stuff like that for a few reasons, but the biggest is that I live in an area where I actually know people who post stuff like that, and I don’t have any desire to ever appear that I’m fighting those people. Quite the opposite, actually. I love them, respect their love for Jesus, and learn from them. But as a leader of a church in a small town, I also get asked to respond to stuff like this, and so here’s why our church is wholeheartedly singing songs from the churches mentioned earlier.

If you could take all the arguments about not singing songs from Bethel and the like and boil them down to one reason, it would be that we shouldn’t sing anything that comes from a source of bad theology. So people who don’t agree with everything that is taught in these churches refuse to sing anything that comes from these churches.

It all sounds so spiritual and pure, doesn’t it? And as I said earlier, many of the people I know who take that stance take it from a place of wanting to please God. But the Pharisees also wanted to please God, and that led them to a place of pride that looked down on anybody who didn’t meet their standards. Don’t believe me? Check out Luke 18:9-14 for the proof.

Am I saying everyone who refuses to sing songs from these churches is a Pharisee? Absolutely not. But I am saying that we run the risk of becoming like the Pharisees, who often focused on the wrong things as they searched for the right things. Matthew 23 is a harsh rebuke about how that misguided focus often painted them — and us — into corners of practical hypocrisy.

Let me give you a few examples. One knock on Hillsong is that their songs are too repetitive, as if more words makes something deeper. So much for saying, “I love you,” over and over to your spouse as you embrace. That must be shallow love if you can’t think of something else to say. What about the four living creatures who only say one phrase all day, every day, forever? Is their worship bad because they only say thing (Revelation 4:8)?

You get the point. When we make a judgement against another with what sounds like a high standard, we need to be willing to use that same standard across the board. This also means singing the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” would be out because of its overuse of the word holy (a whopping 15 times!).

Speaking of hymns, if we aren’t singing songs from places we deem bad sources, then we probably should stop singing hymns, too, since most of them are just bar and pub songs with rewritten lyrics. And don’t quote C. S. Lewis anymore because he held some almost universalist beliefs or even Martin Luther, who many say was anti-Semitic.

While we’re purging the church of any song with lyrical error, we should also stop singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” since the Bible never says they sang to the shepherds and “We Three Kings” since we don’t actually know if there were three kings, or five, or ten.

I recognize what could be perceived as a growing “smarminess” in my tone, but I assure you these are offered in humility for consideration. If we’re simply ditching entire collections of worship songs from churches because there have been errors taught from those churches, then every church and every song and every pastor will eventually need to be silenced. Why? Because we grow in what we know. Redemption happens over time. There are things that I’ve said in messages that I wish I’d never said, but does that discount the value of almost 30 years of preaching? Of course not.

We aren’t infallible. We are fallen creatures, growing in our love for and understanding of our Redeemer. Should we sing every song from Bethel, Hillsong, or Elevation? Probably not. But neither should we sing every song from any other house of worship.

Jesus made an interesting statement in Matthew 13 about what to do if weeds and wheat were growing together. Instead of pulling out the weeds and possibly hurting the wheat, He said to let them grow together and that He would take care of them. I think we can do the same here. What matters most is the object of our worship, not the objections to our worship. Those will always come, like weeds among the wheat, but as we focus our worship on Jesus, He will sort it out.

I’m thankful for people who want to worship purely, and I know that God is honored by that motivation. My fear is that we will become the ones who set the standard of purity instead of the One we’re worshipping. After all, Who we worship is far more important than how we worship.

On a scale of one to ten, how empathetic are you? When you see another person in pain, how willing are you to sit in their pain with them?

I’d say that most of us (myself included) would rather talk people out of their pain than sit with them in it. And yet, Paul wrote something clearly opposite:

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. (Romans‬ ‭12:15‬ ‭NASB)

Yes, there’s a tune for healing, but there’s also a time for holding. A time for looking someone in the eye and being present with them in their emotions. Followers of Jesus should lead the way in this area, and yet many do not.

What about on the good side? Do we truly rejoice with others who are rejoicing? Can I wholeheartedly celebrate your blessing without secretly wishing it was mine? Again, we’re followers of One who could, and so we must.

Consider your empathy score and ask God to give you opportunities to improve it. Take advantage of them when they come and lead the way in being with others wholeheartedly and empathetically.