Author and preacher Tony Campolo recently sat down for an interview with the UK’s Premier magazine, and had an interesting take on modern worship music. In case you are wondering, he’s not a fan.
He explained that from a theological perspective, he believes too many of the songs focus on the present—not the future. He said, “I have problems with a lot of the new worship music. I think it’s wonderful that it’s captured the music that young people can relate to and they get into it with great love and emotion. But compare ‘My God reigns’ with the old hymns which say: ‘Jesus shall reign’—it’s future tense, not present tense.”
He gave the example of the famous “Hallelujah Chorus”: “[It] never says: ‘God is in control’. It says: ‘The kingdoms of this world will (when the second coming occurs) become the kingdoms of our God and he shall reign forever and ever hallelujah’.”
Along with being a renowned speaker and writer, Dr. Campolo is also a sociologist, a profession that has informed his view on the topic: “I’m a sociologist by trade. A basic sociological principle is you can’t express love and power at the same time. Whenever you love, you lose power. Love makes you vulnerable … We have a God who loves us so much he was willing to become vulnerable.”
You can hear more of the interview here.