Building on our earlier examination of the self-centred nature of modern worship, this article discusses five main ways gospel music has evolved over the years—based not on opinion, but on analysis of hundreds of hymns and worship songs.

To carry out this study, I selected several hymn writers and worship leaders for comparison. These include Isaac Watts, John Newton, Stuart Townend, Hillsong Worship, Bethel Music, and Elevation Worship. After collecting 50 songs from each artist, I began to count the total occurrences of various keywords and phrases. This offered me insights into the general direction we are heading.

5 Ways Christian Music Has Changed Over Time:

The findings of my analysis show the following 5 ways that worship music has changed through the years:

1. It is more individualistic

The first and perhaps most significant shift that has taken place from old hymns to modern worship music is the rise of individualism. Traditional hymns were much more collectivistic. How do we know this? A straightforward comparison of the number of singular and plural first-person pronouns reveals a significant increase in the use of singular pronouns (such as 'me', 'myself', and 'I') compared to plural ones (like 'we', 'our', and 'us').

The data reveals a clear contrast: Isaac Watts uses plural pronouns over 30% more frequently than Elevation Worship, indicating a shift from collective worship to personal expression.

Note the whopping increase of individualism between Isaac Watts (with 66.8% references to the singular self) and Elevation Worship (with 93.2% references to the singular self). This represents over a one-third increase in individualistic self-references compared to references to the collective church. One could argue that this shift is more related to cultural changes than to alterations within the church itself. However, another current Christian artist not included in the above chart appears to suggest otherwise. When Stewart Townend's songs were put to the same test, only 70.8% of his first-person references were singular. Townend's result aligns more closely with Isaac Watts and John Newton than with Hillsong, Bethel, and Elevation Worship. 

Finally, it’s important to notice that in each case, Hillsong shows the least change, Bethel the second most, and Elevation Worship the greatest change compared to Isaac Watts and John Newton. This isn’t necessarily as simple as one era versus another. Within our era, there remains a remnant who refuses to welcome the world into their lyrics.

2. There is less emphasis on sin

This one is a real eye-opener. For this study, I analysed the use of the word 'sin' in worship lyrics from various artists (50 songs from each). Naturally, I included every variation I could think of (such as sins, sinner, sinned). The results are clear: there are fewer than a quarter the number of mentions of 'sin' in Elevation Worship's lyrics compared to those of Isaac Watts and John Newton.

There has been an 81% decline in the use of the word 'sin' in hymns from Isaac Watts (18th century) to Elevation Worship (21st century). It could be argued that modern worship groups are therefore less gospel-centred than earlier hymn writers. An obvious objection to this claim, however, is that the word 'sin' is generally used less often. This is true. Ironically, according to Google's data, there has been an overall 81% decrease in the use of the word 'sin' across these centuries. Surely, then, the church is simply going along with the trends of the world.

Let's put this theory to the test. Perhaps modern songs mention failure, faults, flaws, wrongs, crimes, mistakes, stumbling or falling among other similar phrases. I therefore repeated the test using sin's synonyms. Having done this, there was a little more balance. Yet the trend remains clear. Here are the results:

3. There is more emphasis on wanting than needing God

Over time, as the fear of God has diminished, God has increasingly been seen as a means to an end. Evangelists are less focused on warning and more focused on uplifting the lost into the Kingdom. We tell them that God loves them and has a plan for their lives, leaving out His plan to judge those who do not accept His Gift of eternal life. The new gospel message is: "Try Jesus, He won't let you down!" This is not the message of Scripture. We need Jesus.

Sadly, Christian music increasingly emphasises our desire for God rather than our need for Him. In the chart below, we compare how often God or His salvation is described as a want versus a need in 50 songs by each Christian artist.

Represent Jesus with Christian Clothing!

4. There is less emphasis on God's word

The significance of God's word in our lives has been increasingly neglected by songwriters. The following chart displays the number of references to God's word (including synonyms) in 50 worship songs created by each Christian songwriter or group.

Between Isaac Watts and Elevation Worship, there is an 84% decrease in the number of references to the Bible in worship lyrics. This is significant. Elevation Worship mentions God's Word only 3 times in 50 worship songs. Considering that King David mentioned it over 170 times in one Psalm (119), 3 times in 50 songs is not sufficient. God’s Word is our foundation and primary offensive weapon in our battle against Satan (Ephesians 6:17). It should feature more prominently in our praise!

Why are we losing sight of God's word? Stay tuned until the end to discover my theory.

5. There is a greater emphasis on 'feelings' of God's presence than the Holy Spirit

Last but not least, when comparing the number of times the Holy Spirit and our ‘feelings’ of God’s presence are mentioned, we observe another upward trend. Notice how many times each of the following artists mentions our feelings of Him (in 50 of their songs):

To wrap things up...

We've observed clear trends towards focusing more on me, my desires, the Holy Spirit, and my experience of Him, and less on sin, my need for God, and God's word. We will now analyse our findings to understand what is driving this shift. Firstly, it is evident that 'me', my 'wants', and my 'feelings' of God’s presence are all comforting topics that enhance self-worth and dignity. Conversely, my sin and my need for God are humbling and tend to diminish the ego.

This leaves us with two trends to explain: an increased interest in the Holy Spirit and a decline in references to Scripture. I’d like to suggest that this is the root of the problem. With the sharp rise in charismatic churches, many have valued spiritual experience over knowledge. Encountering God is often seen as the height of spirituality, whilst head-knowledge is almost looked down upon. As a result, we’ve placed more importance on our senses than on God’s revelation.

Our individualistic worldview coupled with our feelings-based spirituality has led us to a place where we uphold what feels right to us as individuals. This is not a good direction. If anything, we should be more unified and assured of God's word now than ever. We need to heed the words of Jesus: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24)