The Wise Fool(s) of Worship

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Here’s a slightly embarrassing fun fact about me:

Worship music is not my go-to for listening, for fun at least.

But I still do A LOT of listening. It’s important to me to keep abreast of current trends, new releases, etc.

There’s a lot of great music out there…

But defining “great” depends on your perspective and values.

And every so often, there’s a new artist or collective that comes onto the scene that really gets people hyped up; they’re usually young, full of energy, and deliver powerfully dynamic performances. To many audiences, these artists and their music “scratch the itch” and are regarded as insightful, relatable, and compelling.

But when look under the hood (i.e., lyrical content), how much wisdom is actually there?

The Sophomore Class

Let’s lay some groundwork here. What do you think of when you hear the word “sophomore?” For me, it’s:

• 2nd-year high school or college student.

• The 2nd record release from a musical artist.

You might think that, based on these examples, “sophomore” means “second.” And in a way, that’s correct. But here’s what it really means:

“Wise fool.” 

Someone who is a sophomore has accumulated experience and knowledge, but there’s not been enough meaningful experience to apply that knowledge and become refined unto wisdom. It’s not that they are total fools, as in completely devoid of intelligence, but there’s a lot of head knowledge that has yet to be thoroughly tested.

To borrow from pop culture, think of Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars franchise.

• A New Hope: total beginner. Pulls off amazing heroics (but is helped significantly by others).

• The Empire Strikes Back: Some more knowledge and experience—but still naive enough to walk into a trap.

• The Return of the Jedi: Total master. Wins the day.

It’s the second entry that truly makes Luke sophomoric—he thinks he has it all together and doesn’t really need complete training from Yoda to face Darth Vader. Except, instead of prevailing, he loses his hand and almost dies in the final climactic duel of the film.

With this in mind, I want to take a look at one of the more popular songs to emerge in the last couple of years: “What A God” by SEU Worship. They’e a group from Florida that has quickly become popular in the worship/CCM scene, and for good reason. The production and performances are top-notch, and they’re able to resonate with younger audiences that are grappling with faith and looming changes in their respective life journeys.

Here’s the extended version of “What A God”:

At face value, it seems like a great song. The vocal deliveries are powerfully dynamic, instrumental textures heighten and accentuate the emotional intensity, and the congregation responds with enthusiasm and animated expression.

But what if we set the aural elements aside and solely looked at the words? We find that the bulk of the song has 5 distinct sections, but much of that gets repeated—several times over.

This is where we have to draw a distinction between deepening something versus amplifying it.

Here, we have relatively wide-known truths communicated in the text:

• Verse 1: Individual calling and election, plus the exceeding satisfaction that only God can bring.

• Chorus: Exclamation that intensifies the character of God; His abounding goodness, grace, and love are summed up in a superlative sort of way.

• Verse 2: Corrects the narrator’s works-based view of righteousness and reorients it to what grace/gift of faith truly means.

• Bridges 1 & 2: Even the smallest tangible experience of God is more than enough to satisfy our longings and heal our spiritual/emotional wounds.

These themes are integral for spiritual formation, but they really only scratch the surface of what we confess as Christians. There’s an implied understanding of the gospel, but there’s little to no mention of:

• Jesus Christ in name (happens one time as a single, spontaneous exhortation between vocal phrases).

• Atoning work of the Son.

• Clear picture of the Cross.

• The need for justice in light of sin.

When these crucial doctrinal points are left out, the work of God becomes less of satisfying the demands of justice with the ultimate act of grace so that God’s people are truly and irrevocably secured unto Him, and instead, becomes more of:

“I’m in a state of misery. God is the solution to my problem.”

It’s not that this is BAD; it’s just not the end of the gospel! We are not the end of the glorious journey of the gospel. God’s purpose in providing a propitiating sacrifice is not for the sole purpose of our eternal security—it’s for HIS GLORY! Our salvation plays a part in this plan, but it is not the ending point.

In this song, the writers choose to intensify the broad themes of acceptance, grace, and God’s majesty/unending-ness by repeating just a couple of key sections of the song. To some listeners, they might describe this as “deep,” but here’s what’s really happening:

Amplification.

We have to be careful to not conflate depth with amplification. Not that amplification is a bad thing, either, but too often, we keep “chewing” on the repeated sections of songs that offer a monochromatic diet, spiritually speaking. We don’t explore the depths of essential truths of the gospel through clear scenes, keywords, and imagery in the text. Elsewhere in the song, to some extent, we flatten the faith experience and lifetimes of spiritual formation by reducing complex journeys to only their destination (“If the highest place I’ve reached is at Your feet, then I’ve done it all.”).

This is where a sophomoric level of spiritual formation is shown most clearly:

• Lots of head knowledge with the “right” words and phrases.

• Adept musical and “worship leader” aptitude.

• Yet, lacking in nuance as it relates to life experience (doubt, unresolved hurts) and critical (and dividing) essences of the gospel.

Dude—Chill Out!

I know—much of what I’ve written could be taken as a kind of “get-off-my-lawn” rant.

But here’s where I stand:

Songs like “What A God” have a place in our worship; it is good to sing of these truths and resonate them all the more loudly through amplified repetition.

But we must be careful to not stop after worshipping through one of these tunes. It is critical to bring home the message of the gospel, rightly bringing into clarity the sobering truth of sin, the assuring work of Christ’s sacrifice, and the inspiring motivation to bring this good news to others. Otherwise, we just wallow in something akin to deistic/moralistic therapy.

So, use a song like “What A God” to give expression to that visceral aspect of what it means to a flawed person being accepted by a perfect God. But, be sure to drive the gospel home to the person(s) whom you are leading with other songs and exhortations that clearly communicate the essential truths that define the Christian faith.

Be blessed 👊✌️