Contemporary Worship and the Sola Scriptura Critique: A Semiotic Analysis
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16 ESV)
When we talk about worship today, a lot of people think about Hillsong, Bethel, Elevation, Gaither, or Maranatha!. Big stage, lights, fog machine, band jamming, eyes rolled, hands raised — hoowah, like a concert. But from a sola scriptura angle, plus thinking about semiotics (how signs and symbols communicate), we must ask: is this really the way the Bible teaches us to worship?
Let’s explore three directions of communication that worship is supposed to cover: to ourselves, to our fellow believers, and to God. Along the way, we’ll pause with some Singapore reflections — kopitiam chats, auntie and uncle talk — because sometimes theology sounds too cheem, but actually the issues are very down-to-earth.
1. Communication to Oneself
The Bible says worship forms our inner life. Psalm 1 contrasts how what you meditate upon determines your success. If you delight in God’s law and God’s word, you will come out a strong and fruitful tree. If you hang out with the counsel of the ungodly, the way of sinners, or the seat of the scornful, you’ll not have that blessing. The idea is simple: what and how you soak your soul in, you slowly believe and become. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16–17 that Scripture corrects our theology and equips us for every good work. So church music is not just background noise — they shape your theology.
This brings into question today’s popular worship. Take Hillsong’s What a Beautiful Name: “You didn’t want heaven without us, so Jesus You brought heaven down” (Worship Together, n.d.-a). Sounds nice, right? So romantic! But think carefully. It makes it sound like God feels lonely in heaven without us, so He must quickly rescue us. But Isaiah 42:8 and Ephesians 1:5–6 remind us that God acts for His glory first. If we keep singing that line, slowly our mindset becomes “God saved me because He needs me” (which is a special kind of false teaching called a heresy), instead of “God saved me to show His glory.”
— Mini Dialogue —
Kopitiam uncle: “Wah, that Hillsong song very nice leh. God bring heaven down just for me!”
Me: “Ya lah, sounds sweet. But careful ah, Bible says God’s main goal is His glory, not our comfort. If we keep singing wrongly, our heart also start thinking wrongly.”
Another (in)famous one: Bethel’s Reckless Love (Bethel Music, n.d.). The song says God’s love is “reckless.” But Romans 11:33–36 shows God’s wisdom and sovereignty. If God’s love is reckless, how can He be the all-wise God? Imagine you sit down with kopi and your friend says, “My father’s love is reckless leh.” That makes that father sound nonthreatening. But does he sound very farsighted and safe?
Or Elevation Worship’s Do It Again, where they sing: “You’ve never failed me yet” (Worship Together, n.d.-b). That little word “yet” is dangerous. It’s like saying, “So far so good… but who knows tomorrow?” Hebrews 13:5–6 says God will never leave or forsake us, no “yet” attached.
As James K. A. Smith (2009) puts it, liturgy forms our loves and longings. So if the songs we sing are theologically sloppy, they will disciple us wrongly. Paul’s main point in 1 Corinthians 14 is clarity and edification. But many contemporary songs are vague, with lines repeated over and over (on a musical “bridge”) until the mind is numb, and the meaning gets blurred. Instead of building up, it leaves you lost in emotion without substance.
— Mini Dialogue —
Church auntie: “Eh boy, this ‘reckless love’ means what ah? Sound a bit funny.”
Me: “Auntie, you sharp! Bible says God is wise, not reckless. So if the lyric doesn’t match the Word, we must be careful lah.”
But even more important because it’s so subtle, the unspoken message determines what is communicated. A famous Canadian (Marshall McLuhan) once said, “The medium is the message.” Innocent-looking Winnie the Pooh bears, cheap umbrellas, and yellow rubber duckies could have serious political implications in China. Likewise, coloured dots, pink or red, signify positive or negative things among Singaporeans. In the church, the aural and visual change also signals something. Going from hymns to choruses to contemporary Christian music (CCM) and contemporary worship styles communicated a significant theological and pragmatic shift in the evangelical movement over the last century.
So lyrics aside, the very sound of the music surrounding the words (and even without any words!) evokes ideas and feelings that are alien to the Bible-centred mindset. How?
Hostility to tradition, intellectual standards, and good taste; mantra-like repetition; songs from the 1970s, the decade of disco, leisure suits, and long hair; inability to make distinctions between good and bad poetry and music…what stands out about [Praise and Worship] is the aura of teenage piety; one searches in vain through the praise songs, the liturgical dramas for an adequate expression of the historic truths of the faith; as long as people are lifting up and swaying their arms, tilting back their heads and closing their eyes, then the Spirit must be present and the worship genuine. (Hart, 1998)
So how did churches turn from hymn singing to this kosong but catchy worship style? This is commonly traced to well-intentioned attempts by the 1960s Vietnam War generation to normalize their society’s hippy, cool, Woodstock pop music and feelings within the church. The “Jesus People” sought to make the church as acceptable to the world as the world to the church, which sounded very evangelistic on surface but is actually foreign to the gospel (Ng, 2022). From dressing casually to adding a guitar and then a drum set to changing the disciplined full-chested congregational voice to a husky throaty sexy rock soloist’s rasp and wail, they thought that this was the key to converting the world. As churches threw out their good hymnals, many Christians followed and threw good money at the new CCM albums.
But is this who and what we want to choose to make disciples of us? Is this what God wants? That new CCM movement carried with it a dissonant sound and thinking foreign to a biblical faith. That content-poor, pop-sounding tune would play over and over in the new addict’s head as “Christian music.” But it was no longer having the “word of Christ dwell in you richly … in all wisdom”: that old hymn-singing tradition was now sitting in the church’s dumpster. The new musical addiction eventually gets to its consumer. There are consequences. Those who participated in CCM self-grooming and self-radicalization would find their thinking, attitudes, and even body gestures reflecting those from the secular music world.
2. Communication to Fellow Believers
Worship is not just me and God. Paul says in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 that when we sing, we are also “addressing one another.” 1 Corinthians 14:26 says everything must build up the body.
But what do you see in many churches today? Lights dim, spotlight on the band, huge screen projecting the worship leader, everyone else half hidden in darkness. Mind-blowing impressive! Semiotics (the study of signs) helps us see why. Peirce’s theory says icons, indices, and symbols shape meaning (Atkin, 2023; Ransdell, 2023).
The stage becomes an icon of performance. The lights and smoke point to (or, “index”) entertainment. The raised hands and jumping crowd become a symbol of carefree, willful emotional hype rather than reverent corporate confession.
— Mini Vignette —
Auntie once attended a contemporary service. She whispered: “Eh boy, why like rock concert ah? Church or Zouk ah?” That’s semiotics at work. The cues made her interpret worship as show, not fellowship.
Even in Maranatha! or Gaither concerts, which sport more folk or southern gospel, the focus is still platform-centered. When Gaither sings “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow” (Gaither Vocal Band, 1971), it’s true and powerful, but the setup is still one singer up there with an overwhelming musical background, everyone else watching. Less “one another,” more spectacle. Ratchet this up with a worship team, performers all clutching microphones and exhibiting various stages of ecstasy, and you can forget about “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). And top that off with lighting, smoke machines, and drumset, and voila! What do you get? Nobody does the mutual ministry of biblical admonition at a rock or classical concert, and nobody does that at a concert-themed church either.
God wants edification in the church, for the whole church. In 1 Corinthians 12 – 14, Paul lists the giftings of the Spirit and pushes them through the funnel of selfless love, resulting in outcomes that directly aim to build up others and not the self. If people are confused by the medium and the message, if only the performers understand themselves, and if the sheep are starved of the full counsel of God’s word, edification has been lost. Jesus told Peter to give food to and nurture His sheep and lambs, in plural, collectively. Doing otherwise, edifying the individual or nobody in particular, is dereliction of duty on the part of the church.
3. Communication to God
At the end of the day, worship must be directed to God properly. And we can only please God as we worship Him in His way, not our way. The Reformers called this the “regulative principle of worship.” The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646/2024) says worship is acceptable only when it’s what God Himself commands.
Think about Leviticus 10:1–3 — Nadab and Abihu offer strange fire, and they get struck down. Or 2 Samuel 6:6–7 — Uzzah touches the ark, and he is also struck down. Matthew 15:9 says worship based on human commands is vain. Hebrews 12:28–29 warns: “Offer God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Serious business.
So when churches turn worship into a concert, it’s not neutral. To God, it’s like offering something He never asked for.
— Mini Dialogue —
Youth: “Worship is worship lah, as long as my heart sincere can already.”
Me: “Eh, but look at Uzzah — he sincere also, still kena struck down. God cares about reverent obedience, not just sincerity.”
The early church knew this. Justin Martyr (ca. 155/2024) described worship as Scripture reading, preaching, prayer, and Lord’s Supper — simple, reverent, no gimmick. Calvin (1543/2009) also argued in The Necessity of Reforming the Church that worship must be pure and in line with God’s will. Compare that to today’s smoke machines and hype choruses… totally different semiotics.
God doesn’t want entertainment in worship; neither should you. He wants worship “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24, ESV); so should you. So, thematically, what does God want us to cover? Through online tracking of its songs, the CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International) list tracks the most sung and widely performed Christian worship songs across churches worldwide. At the time of this writing, the CCLI Top 100 includes the likes of “Way Maker,” “What a Beautiful Name,” “Build My Life,” “Goodness of God,” and “Living Hope.” Many of these songs emphasize God’s faithfulness, the power of the cross, and the identity we have in Christ. Worship songs from Hillsong Worship, Bethel Music, and Elevation Worship have dominated the scene in the last decade, showing the widespread influence of contemporary worship. Songs like “Reckless Love” and “Way Maker” have transcended church settings and have become global anthems of hope and encouragement.
And that’s the key, when we choose to highlight only the parts of the gospel that we like, that sell well (CCLI licensing is a billion-dollar concern), that are popular to today’s religious scene, whose gospel is it that we are promoting? Just because something is selected from the Bible does not make it “biblical.” Clearly, there is a positivism and praise theme in the thematic diet. But the lambs are starved of the ingredients of their milk, the four prohibitions (Acts 15) and six elementary doctrines (Hebrews 6:1-2). Nor do mature sheep get strengthened with how Jesus fulfills in the New Testament the many foreshadowings of the Old Testament (Hebrews 5; Ng, 2022). Instead, we are supposed to believe that God is impressed with our Top 100 list songs and spectacular stage equipment and bombast.
Positive Alternative: Scripture-Saturated Worship
Of course, we cannot just complain. We must also point to a better way. And the Bible itself gives us songs: the Psalms. This is God’s own songbook, with every emotion — lament, praise, thanksgiving, confession. Historically, the Reformed church sang psalms straight from Scripture.
Then you also got hymns like Luther’s A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (1529/2005) or Heber’s Holy, Holy, Holy (1826). These are Scripture-rich, doctrinally precise, and singable by whole congregations, actually memorized and sung for life. Not performer-driven, but community-driven.
As Smith (2009) says, Christian practices are cultural liturgies shaping our loves. If worship is Scripture-saturated, it shapes us into people of the Word. The Rechabites (Jeremiah 35) lived a life of protest against the rotten culture in Israel in their day, doing it as a family and keeping to a stricter standard than the law required. While it did not make them more holy or nearer to heaven by any means, it helped them focus on what was really important. Perhaps it’s not wrong to boycott the worship industry that has infected so many churches today worldwide.
If God is sovereign, He does not need human help to obtain His glory. Some traditional cathedrals try to display His glory with gold iconography, ornate statues, vestments, and ceremony, pointing to the priesthood and tabernacle of the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the place of worship is not simply equivalent to the Old Testament temple; the people are said to be God’s Holy of Holies indwelt by God Himself, the Holy Spirit, no need for big impressive displays. Many of the contemporary worship leaders trace their heritage to a charismatic lineage all the way back to Agnes Ozman and the fake Holy Spirit outbreak in January 1, 1901, which evolved into pure quackery and spectacular manifestations unhinged from the Bible. On a very basic level, it is advisable to publicly dissociate your Christian worship from that bad delusion.
— Mini Vignette —
I once co-pastored with John Spearman Winter, who drove me nuts by dismissing my suggestions to “try some new songs lah.” He stuck to the 52 hymns that his deaf-blind nephew could sing, not only for Tim’s sake but also as a protest against the worship nonsense out there. What a lesson! Nothing wrong with that!
Conclusion
So here’s the thing: contemporary worship — Hillsong, Bethel, Elevation, Maranatha!, Gaither — has powerful vibes but problematic signs. To ourselves, the symbols often misform life and theology. To fellow believers, the concert culture weakens mutual edification. To God, entertainment-driven worship risks offering what He never commanded and omits entire dimensions of biblical worship.
But sola scriptura calls us back to worship that is soaked in the Word — psalms, hymns, Scripture readings, prayer, Holy Communion, baptism. No need for fancy sound systems and smoke machines. As Hebrews 12:28–29 reminds us, worship must be “with reverence and awe.” Every true church should prayerfully consider the manner of worship proper to its time and place, towards the individual believer, to the congregation, and to God above all. Changes can have severe and unintended consequences. Let their leaders ask the Lord for help, lay aside the pressures to conform, remember the legacy of worship from the apostles and the reformers, think how each aspect connects back to the big gospel curriculum, and carefully make necessary adjustments to the shepherding of the flock of Christ.
So next time someone say, “Bro, why you don’t like Hillsong songs? They very nice leh.” Maybe we can reply: “Ya lah, the melody nice. But worship is not about what’s nice. It’s about what God commands.” That kopitiam conversation might just be the start of true reform.
References
Atkin, A. (2023). Peirce’s theory of signs. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2023 Edition). Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce-semiotics/
Bethel Music. (n.d.). Reckless love (spontaneous). Bethel Music. https://bethelmusic.com/resources/moments-mighty-sound/reckless-love-spontaneous/
Calvin, J. (2019). The necessity of reforming the church. Monergism Books. https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/calvin/The%20Necessity%20of%20Refor%20-%20John%20Calvin.pdf
Gaither Vocal Band. (1971). Because He lives [Song]. Gaither Music Company.
Hart, D.G., as quoted in Harry Boonstra, “The Best of Times? The Worst of Times? Snapshots of Worship Styles,” Reformed Worship, March 1998, https://www.reformedworship.org/article/march-1998/best-times-worst-times-snapshots-worship-styles.
Heber, R. (1826). Holy, holy, holy [Hymn]. John Bacchus Dykes (Composer).
Justin Martyr. (ca. 155/2024). First apology (Chapter 67). New Advent. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm
Luther, M. (2005). A mighty fortress is our God [Hymn]. In J. Anderson (Ed.), Luther’s hymns: Their spiritual and musical significance (pp. 21–25). Concordia Publishing House. (Original work published 1529).
Ng, J. (2022). From Heathen to Heaven: Towards a Longitudinal Gospel Curriculum. 2nd ed. play.google.com/store/books/details/Joseph_Ng_From_Heathen_to_Heaven?id=16h_EAAAQBAJ
Ransdell, J. (2023). Charles Sanders Peirce. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2023 Edition). Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce/
Smith, J. K. A. (2009). Desiring the kingdom: Worship, worldview, and cultural formation. Baker Academic.
WCF. (1646/2024). Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 21. The Westminster Standards. https://thewestminsterstandards.com/wcf-chapter-21-of-religious-worship-and-the-sabbath-day-21-1-21-4/
Worship Together. (n.d.-a). What a beautiful name – Hillsong Worship. Worship Together. https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/what-a-beautiful-name-hillsong-worship/
Worship Together. (n.d.-b). Do it again – Elevation Worship. Worship Together. https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/do-it-again-elevation-worship/