Brandon Lake’s criticism of jargon in worship songs doesn’t stack up

Is singing about the holiness of God too hard for new believers to understand? Acclaimed worship artist Brandon Lake thinks so. Nick Page agrees, but maybe not for the reasons you think

Shock news everyone: someone on the internet has said that maybe worship songs have too much Christian language in them. This bombshell comes from Brandon Lake who, despite having a name which sounds like a caravan park, is, I am reliably informed, “an award-winning Christian music artist and worship pastor”.

I have thoughts. First, I’m not sure anyone who calls themselves a “worship pastor” has any right to be lecturing others about Christian jargon. But my main thought is: You’ve only just noticed this?

Christianese in worship music is not a new problem. I don’t want to sound bitter, but I was writing about this years ago. In 2003, I wrote an article for this very magazine, which I later expanded into a book with the not-at-all provocative title of And Now Let’s Move Into a Time of Nonsense: Why worship songs are failing the church (Authentic Media)