CCP71: On Emotionally Manipulative Worship
In this week’s conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent article written by Kelsey Kramer McGinnis for Christianity Today titled, “Worship Music Is Emotionally Manipulative. Do You Trust the Leader Plucking the Strings?” To be sure, there is much here to consider, particularly whether the music is serving to connect you with God or simply to the songs themselves… or even the people singing them.
Episode Links
In general, people seem to have lost a sense of the true meaning of worship. For this reason, Dr. White delivered a series at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Worth-Ship” to explore what it means to truly give honor and worth to God.
Dr. White referenced the call to worship found in Scripture, specifically in Psalm 100 that says: “Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness” (vv. 1-2, NLT). In The Message translation of the Bible, verse two is written this way: “… sing yourselves into his presence.”
The potential for worship music to manipulate our hearts and minds has been considered for a while now. Here are two additional news stories mentioned in this episode that are worth the time to read:
Bob Smietana, “How Bethel and Hillsong Took Over Our Worship Sets,”
Christianity Today, April 12, 2023.
W. David O. Taylor, “Hymns and Neurons: How Worship Rewires Our Brains and Bonds Us Together,”
Christianity Today, August 29, 2022.
It is not only worship teams who can be susceptible to creating emotionally manipulative songs and experiences. It’s also necessary for teaching pastors to make sure they are delivering a message rather than a performance. This was touched on during previous podcast episodes such as “CCP51: On Prosperity Preaching” and “CCP31: On Celebrity Pastors.”
The discussion then shifted to online worship experiences, as a Pew Research Center study found that many adults still choose to attend church online and are very satisfied with the online worship experience. This was further explored by Dr. White in his book Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital World.
Finally, when churches such as Mars Hill and Hillsong began to be investigated for their failings, a lot of people were quick to lump all large churches into the same bucket. We suggest that you go back and listen to two previous podcast episodes, especially considering that when the church was birthed into existence it was a megachurch! Those episodes are: “CCP40: On Criticism of Mega Churches” and “CCP53: On Asbury and Revivals.”
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