“Some of the most popular worship songs that you’re probably listening to right now more than likely need to be removed from your worship playlist,” said author, speaker and ministry leader Allen Parr on his podcast, “THE BEAT by Allen Parr.”
In his 16-minute video, Parr used Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well in John 4 to explain four principles for godly worship. He specifically cautioned his viewers against consuming music from Bethel, Hillsong and Elevation, although he did not say that people should avoid those groups entirely.
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Allen Parr: Worship Should Be Focused on God
Allen Parr spent a few minutes setting up the scenario for Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4, but he spent most of his time looking at verses 21-24, which say:
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The first principle that Parr drew from the text is that “worship is not about a place. It’s about a person.”
“If you want to have spirit-filled worship with God, it’s more about how much you know about God that’s going to affect how you worship him,” Parr said. Worship is not about being in church on Sunday but is “a way of life.” It is about knowing God and his character; the more we know him, the deeper our worship of him will be.
Second, “worship must be rooted in truth.”
“It is impossible for you and I to worship God when the music that we are listening to is untrue,” said Parr, “because basically what we’re saying is, we’re singing lies to God. We’re singing lies about God to God, hoping that God will receive that message when what we are saying to him is not even consistent with who he is.”
