Calling God to вЂshine on meвЂ™ plays to the idea that he is principally concerned with personal prosperity and an individual relationship that benefits us (which many would argue is true). The trouble is, it provides us with a perfect example of the curse of вЂme-centricвЂ™ worship. It feels very wrong to pick on the father of modern British worship music, and on the song that was named among the nationвЂ™s favourite hymns by the BBC in 2005, despite having only been written in 1987. Problem line: вЂShine on me, shine on meвЂ¦вЂ™ Either way, this song is definitely primed to confuse any visitors among us. While this end-times picture is technically found in the Bible (1 Thessalonians 4:17), there are questions over whether it is meant to be understood in a literal sense. The trouble is, it seems to suggest that, any day, a trumpet will sound and those of us who are true Christians will start ascending into the sky. ItвЂ™s a beautiful song, laced with biblical metaphor, and itвЂ™s a rare attempt in a modern worship lyric to focus on the reality of JesusвЂ™ return. Problem line: вЂWe will meet Him in theВ airвЂ¦вЂ™ Perhaps 2 Corinthians 5:19 вЂ“ вЂGod was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not countingВ peopleвЂ™s sins against themвЂ™ вЂ“ can help us.

This is a problem because some suggest there must be a division in the Trinity, so that Jesus is a victim of another party (GodвЂ™s) anger. Of course, those offended by the lyricistsвЂ™ conservative theology are so busy avoiding the вЂwrath of GodвЂ™ that they often fail to spot the full-on Calvinism of the subsequentВ line вЂFrom lifeвЂ™s first cry to final breath, Jesus commandsВ my destinyвЂ™.ДЄndy says: The вЂproblem lineвЂ™ is a classic understanding of the penal-substitution theory of atonement - that GodвЂ™s holy anger against sin has been appeased by the sacrifice of his Son. IвЂ™ve often watched in services as my fellow worshippers have chosen not to sing certain words, while the Presbyterian Church in America dropped the song from its hymnal after Townend and Getty denied its request to change the lyric to вЂThe love of God was magnifiedвЂ™. Much like TownendвЂ™s вЂHow Deep the FatherвЂ™s Love for UsвЂ™, which includes the line вЂThe Father turns His face awayвЂ™, this hymn splits Christians on their view of the atonement. This is arguably the most controversial lyric in modern worship. Problem line: вЂTill on that cross, as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfiedвЂ¦вЂ™ To add a little theological gravitas to my own reflections, IвЂ™ve asked my friend Andy Peck вЂ“ CWR tutor and theologian вЂ“ to assist me. What follows then is my rundown of some of the most problematic theology evident in the modern Christian worship canon. Every year we force nominal believers to sing вЂChristian children all must be, mild, obedient, good as heвЂ™, thus reminding them why they only come to church once a year. If a non-Christian, with no prior knowledge of the faith or its traditions, walks into your church, what might (s)he make of singing вЂThese are the days of ElijahвЂ™? It gets worse at Christmas. The other reason we should carefully consider our song lyrics is a missional one. So the accuracy of their theology really matters. We pick up memorable bits of scripture (often a bit mangled to fit the verse structure), and larger principles about God through the lyrics of our Sunday anthems. For others it is the most dynamic tool in terms of connecting with God. In a Church culture in which personal engagement with the Bible is sometimes patchy, worship songs and hymns become a primary source of theology for some. But is this really the nature of the biblical God? The trouble is, itвЂ™s such a good song.

Matt RedmanвЂ™s magnum opus вЂBlessed Be Your NameвЂ™ contains theВ questionable line вЂYou give and take awayвЂ™, which seems to suggest that God actively causes, rather than allows, suffering. Many of us have sung things we donвЂ™t actually believe. Despite the fact that I donвЂ™t know what this refers to вЂ“ and it sounds strangely like the title of an episode of Dr Who вЂ“ I gamely sing it every time. A favourite at my own church is the hymn вЂI Will Sing the Wondrous StoryвЂ™, which includes the repeated line, вЂSing it with the saints in glory, Gathered by the crystal seaвЂ™. We could have been singing anything.ДЄnd weвЂ™ve all sung lyrics to worship songs we didnвЂ™t fully understand. WeвЂ™ve all stood in a Sunday morning service, bleary-eyed from a late night, and submissively warbled our way through an entire worship set without engaging our brains.

How Jesus rescued me from a life in porn.

Aled Jones: вЂIвЂ™m not a perfect Christian, but I donвЂ™t know what one of those isвЂ™.

I get on my knees christian song