A Meditation on Self-Worth, the Worship Landslide, the Loss of Doctrine, and the Call Back to Christ.
There’s a quiet but devastating shift happening across our culture and, heartbreakingly, across much of the Church. It’s not sudden. It’s not explosive. It’s a gradual landslide, a slow erosion of foundations that once held firm, leaving us with worship that feels deep but is often doctrinally hollow, emotionally charged but theologically starved.
And it all begins with a question that has discipled the modern world:
• “Do I like myself?”
• “Do I feel good about myself?”
These have became the dominant questions of a culture that no longer knows where true worth comes from.
How We Lost the Anchor of Self-Worth.
Back in the 1960s and for decades after, people found their identity in two places:
• Their relationship with God, the One who names, calls, and defines.
• Their contribution to society, what they built, worked at, created, and stewarded in the marketplace of life.
Worth was rooted in truth and responsibility. But today’s culture has embraced something much more fragile: “therapeutic culturalism , the belief that my feelings define my value.”
Meaning: If I feel good, I’m valuable. If I don’t feel good, I’m failing.
So instead of being driven upward toward God or outward toward purpose, we are driven inward, deep into the maze of our own emotional landscape.
And inward-focus always leads to one place: self-worship disguised as spirituality.
How This Inward Drift Became the Soundtrack of the Church.
This therapeutic inwardness didn’t stop at the world; it seeped directly into the Church’s worship.
Worship once magnified:
• God’s glory
• God’s holiness
• God’s sovereignty
• Christ’s cross and resurrection
• The power of the Gospel
But as therapeutic culture rose, worship bent toward:
• My breakthrough.
• My season.
• My feelings.
• My experience.
• My inner healing.
Emotion replaced doctrine.
Atmosphere replaced Scripture.
Self-expression replaced surrender.
And tragically, many of the largest worship movements in the world followed the drift, not always intentionally, but undeniably.
A Little Leaven.
How Drift Begins at the Nucleus of Leadership Scripture gives us a razor-sharp warning:
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” – Galatians 5:9; 1 Corinthians 5:6
Leaven starts small, subtle, and nearly invisible. But once inside the dough, it changes everything.
This is exactly how doctrinal drift begins , not in the pews, but in the nucleus of leadership.
• A little theological compromise.
• A little softening of doctrine so no one feels uncomfortable.
• A little emotional manipulation in worship.
• A little shift from God-centred lyrics to self-centred affirmations.
• A little icon-worship of celebrity pastors and worship leaders.
• And that little leaven eventually becomes a full movement-wide infection.
Suddenly churches are shaped more by:
• Charismatic personalities than biblical preaching.
• Market trends than the Holy Spirit.
• Crowd appeal than Christ’s command to make disciples.
• Emotional uplift than theological clarity.
This is why Paul warned so urgently that a little leaven does not stay little , and why today’s Church desperately needs to wake up to how much leaven now sits in leadership circles.
The Death of Weekly Doctrinal Study.
The Birth of the Drift Perhaps the most devastating shift of all has been the near-total loss of weekly doctrinal Bible study in local churches. Midweek Bible study used to shape the spine of Christian maturity. Believers gathered with open Bibles, hungry minds, and expectant hearts. I grew up with “strong, foundational and doctrinal” teaching every week and it put maturity, strength and vigour into the bones of my faith.
But in many churches today:
• Weekly Bible study is gone.
• Doctrinal teaching is rare.
• Theology is considered “too heavy.”
• Scripture is summarised, not studied.
• Depth is replaced by brevity.
And in its place?
A single 30-minute Sunday TED Talk , light, inspirational, emotionally warm, and theologically anaemic.
This shift has produced:
• Shallow roots.
• Fragile believers.
• Doctrinal illiteracy.
• Emotional dependency.
and an ever-increasing susceptibility to heresy and hype.
WHEN THE CHURCH STOPS TEACHING DOCTRINE, THE DRIFT BECOMES INEVITABLE.
WHEN THE SAINTS STOP STUDYING SCRIPTURE, THE CULTURE BECOMES THEIR TEACHER.
And once again , a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
The Rise of Worship as Brand, Not Ministry.
The worship giants did not begin corrupting. Many began sincerely. But sincerity without Scripture always opens the door for drift. Here’s some examples:
Hillsong Originally: “Hills Christian Life Centre” (1977) – Renamed: Hillsong Church in 1999, when the music brand overshadowed the congregation.
Expanded into multiple brands:
Hillsong Worship
Hillsong United (1998)
Hillsong Young & Free (2012)
Bethel Music Original Roots: Bethel Church (1952) – Music arm launched: 2001.
Shift: Became a global media brand shaping doctrine through songs rather than Scripture.
Elevation Worship Original roots: Elevation Church (2006) – Worship expression launched: 2007.
Shift: Quickly became a stand-alone global identity driven by production and brand position.
WHEN WORSHIP BECOMES AN INDUSTRY, THEOLOGY BECOMES NEGOTIABLE.
WHEN MINISTRY BECOMES BRANDING, TRUTH BECOMES OPTIONAL.
It only took a little leaven.
The Fruit of This Drift.
Doctrinally Thin, Emotionally Heavy Worship.
What we now hear across much of modern worship is:
• Atmospheric music.
• Emotionally evocative lines.
• Repetitive crescendos.
• Vague spirituality.
But very little:
• Gospel
• Scripture
• Christ
• Repentance
• Holiness
• Biblical doctrine
Worse still, many lyrics echo New Age thought and what makes this so subtle , and so dangerous, is that the language sounds spiritual enough to pass as Christian, but the underlying beliefs are completely foreign to Scripture.
For example:
“Call your season forth.”
“Speak your reality.”
“Manifest your breakthrough.”
These phrases reflect New Age metaphysics, not Christian discipleship.
“Call your season forth” Echoes New Age timeline shifting , the belief you can summon a new reality through intention.
But Scripture teaches God alone appoints seasons: “He changes times and seasons.” – Daniel 2:21
We discern seasons; we do not declare them.
“Speak your reality” Mirrors New Age quantum manifestation, the idea that words independently create reality. Biblically, only God creates reality; our speech aligns with truth, it doesn’t fabricate it.
“Manifest your breakthrough” Rooted in law of attraction and manifestation ritualism. Breakthrough is given by God, not summoned by emotional energy.
Breakthrough is received, not generated. It is grace, not technique. It flows from Christ, not the self.
Why This Matters When worship adopts New Age phrasing:
• Christ becomes the assistant to my desires.
• Faith becomes a technique.
• The Holy Spirit becomes a force.
• Worship becomes motivational psychology.
• Lyrics become self-centred rather than Christ-centred.
• Feeling right replaces being true.
And once again…
A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
The Scriptural Warning – God Removes What No Longer Reflects Him.
Jesus said: “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.” -Matthew 15:13
This is divine pruning.
And we’ve watched it in real time:
• Hillsong: scandals, collapse, implosions, shrinking influence.
• Bethel: controversies, theological backlash, declining credibility.
• Elevation: brand fatigue, doctrinal scrutiny, decreasing influence.
God removes what becomes hollow. God uproots what exalts man. God dismantles what replaces Christ.
The Holy Spirit’s Call.
Become Christ-Absorbed, Not Self-Absorbed The Spirit is calling the Church to recover Christ’s supremacy.
To be:
• Christ-absorbed, not self-absorbed.
• Christ-obsessed, not feeling-obsessed.
• Christ-rooted, not culture-shaped.
BECAUSE WORSHIP BUILT ON FEELINGS COLLAPSES IN SUFFERING. WORSHIP BUILT ON ATMOSPHERE EVAPORATES IN SILENCE. WORSHIP BUILT ON SELF CRUMBLES UNDER PRESSURE.
But worship built on Christ?
That stands. That lasts. That transforms.
Thomas Brooks once said:
Who Was Thomas Brooks? (A Personal Note) In my early days of faith I found the writings of Thomas Brooks (1608–1680) deeply inspirational , a Puritan pastor whose devotional works shaped my own spiritual hunger.
Brooks was:
• A master of devotional theology.
• Deeply Christ-centred.
• Author of Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices.
• A voice calling believers to holiness and humility.
His words confront our age:
“Here is a wonder: God is on high, and yet the higher a man lifts himself, the farther he is from God, and the lower he humbles himself, the nearer he is to God.”
Exactly the opposite of today’s self-exalting worship culture.
A Closing Reflection.
If our churches abandon doctrinal teaching, the drift accelerates – If our worship becomes self-referential, the drift deepens. If our leaders carry leaven, and some, tragically, have become the very leaven themselves, the whole movement becomes infected.
But if Christ is once again:
• Central.
• Supreme.
• Sovereign.
• Treasured.
• Proclaimed.
• Adored.
• Exalted.
then the landslide stops and here, in repentance, truth, humility, and Gospel clarity , worship becomes worship again.