Is Our Worship Unoriginal?

Our songs have purpose, our creativity has power and our originality can bring heaven to earth, but we must have faith that the Holy Spirit is not lacking in vocabulary to help us express our worship. Which brings me to my next point: Why do we think we are limited in our vocabulary to ministry-friendly words? Yes, God is holy, faithful, full of grace and He is all we want and all we need; it’s time we start showing that in new, exciting and relevant ways. Last service, we broke the box and I led a song about how God is “better than all the drugs put together,” and ultimately that “His heart makes my heart move to the rhythm of an ′80s love song” (thank you Benjamin Dunn for writing this song and Paul Lee for introducing it to me). The words were real and raw … people were awakened in their worship and were so much more engaged than if they had just been singing the same Christian lyrics that are part of every worship song.

If we as worship leaders and songwriters aren’t crafting fresh, unique material that accurately portrays the Gospel and God’s character, then we are saying someone else’s revelation is good enough for us. We are saying the words and music birthed from another person’s testimony are more powerful than any well we can dig for ouselves. The last time I checked, I was under the impression the facets of who God is were limitless. If songwriters outside of the church who have limited worldly resources to pull from have continued to present original ideas, then why have we, as Christians who operate in heaven’s unlimited kingdom, settled and stopped searching? We have a lot of songs about how “we want more of you, God,” but first we need to start using fully what He has already given us.

I challenge you to carefully look into the worship songs you choose for your set. Let’s set a higher standard for what we give to God and how we use the creativity He has blessed us with. Don’t settle on old revelation, and if you can’t find songs that are suitable, then go write one.

Author’s note: If your church is ready to start diving in to these concepts of stronger, more purposeful original worship songs, please go to our Bookings page and contact Songsmith Creative about hosting a workshop at your church.