Is it really worship?

By Paul Granger
March 3, 2025

This blog was inspired by Johnathan of “The Truth of the Matter is” Podcast, and supplemented by this episode of “Where did you see God”, where Coach Jon explores what true worship is.

The other week, my friend Johnathan heard a song that sounded like gospel worship, but it wasn’t Christian.

The artist, a Syrian Muslim, wrote the song with hopes that it could be used by individuals of any religion. For the most part, the lyrics would not be out of place in the average Christian Church, which made Johnathan wonder, “Is it really worship if it’s not written for the God of the Bible?”

Years ago my friends and I would jokingly name secular love songs that could work just as well as worship songs for God. It wasn’t hard: many shared sentiments like, “You are everything to me,” and “I’ll love you forever.” While we had no plans of integrating said songs into the worship set, it was intriguing to consider the meaningfulness of words. I explored this idea 7 years ago with Daniel and Phil of “The Lamp-post Listener“, noting that many have sensed God speaking through text that was not the Bible, like “The Chronicles of Narnia.” We were drawn to a statement of Jesus in Luke 19:39-40:

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

While the disciples would be a primary way Jesus planned to spread the Gospel, this indicates they weren’t the only. God’s Truth is so powerful and pervasive it can be made known even through inanimate objects!

The Apostle Paul was also not deterred by Truth spreading in unconventional ways. Like Johnathan, Christ-followers had raised questions about things positioned as God-honoring that came from sources that seemed less so:

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
Philippians 1:15-17

This is far more egregious than if a non-Christian song can be used for worship; these selfish individuals were using the gospel to stir up trouble! Surely this would disqualify their message from having spiritual value!

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. (v18)

When I first began processing Johnathan’s prompt, my initial theory was that the motives of the one crafting the words would determine their Kingdom value; Paul seems to imply that God can use even false motives.

It could be, then, that the impact of non-Christian content — whether a worship song from another religion or preaching from a trouble-maker — is shaped less by the creator and more by our pursuit of the Creator.

Mark 6:33 tells us “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” within a context that acknowledges that God-followers will be in the midst of pagan things:

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (v32)

While it might seem this is referring simply to God providing food and clothes, it is not; as Jesus puts it, “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (v25) The provision is not the point; the Provider is. Food and clothing become another way He makes Himself known, and and affords us opportunity to seek to know Him. Even David understood God’s ability to be present in all things:

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 139:8-10

So, does this mean than non-Christian songs can be worship? Scripture presents an openness… with a caveat. These verses are not saying “words and context don’t matter”, as though any song is permissible; they imply that God’s role in the midst — and our pursuit of Him — is paramount. Without this, words can indeed have a detrimental impact:

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)

Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:12)

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:30)

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. (2 Peter 2:1)

Scripture makes it clear that there will be words disguised as godly that actually turn us from Him. 1 John 4:1 says this: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” It is important that we are not careless with what words enter our ears, and that our seeking of God goes beyond what we hear to how we process it.

It’s worth noting — and this could be a blog in itself — that these verses indicate the biggest threat is not from the secular or pagan spaces, but from within. Jesus’s harshest rebukes were not against those that did not know him, but those that claimed to know and speak for God, while only speaking for themselves. It could be that a worship song written with good intentions by a Muslim is safer than a one written by a Worship Leader promoting dangerous doctrine.

In the end, Scripture is clear that God can speak in a myriad of ways, and we must be mindful what we do with what we hear. If God wants to speak biblical truth through a worship song written by a non-Christian, He could; someone seeking God could find Him in lyrics that do not know that God. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20, said of “godless and wicked” people who were likely not streaming worship albums) As well, someone ambivalent to God could slip subtly off track by words that do not point to Him, or led astray by ones of nefarious intent; someone seeking things other than God may very well find those things instead, even in the best worship song.

“Whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached,” which means no matter what we hear, it is on us to respond with wisdom to what is said.