Sunday Essay: The Masculinity the Church Forgot
What happened to the war songs?
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by Virgil Walker
July 27, 2025
It’s not the lights. But it is the fog machines. It’s not even the style of music.
It’s the posture. The lyrics. The tone.
We’ve turned the worship of a holy, sovereign King into the emotional soundtrack of a middle school breakup.
When grown men are on stage whispering into a mic, eyes glazed over, singing about being "held" and "embraced" while swaying like they’re in a trance—we have a problem. Not because emotion is wrong. But because effeminacy in the name of worship is not reverence. It’s confusion.
Somehow we’ve forgotten that worship is war.
Psalm 144:1 says, "Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle." That’s worship. That’s masculine. That’s David.
But today?
We’ve got men singing like lovers to someone they barely know. Lyrics that don’t exalt the greatness of God — they exalt the emotions of the singer. Songs where Christ isn’t the conquering Lion — He’s a cosmic life coach who makes you feel seen.
We Sing What We Believe — and Become What We Sing
Worship is formative. It doesn’t just reflect our theology — it shapes it.
When our songs are soaked in sentiment but empty of sovereignty, don’t be surprised when our churches produce men who are tender but timid. Present but passive. Polite but powerless.
The problem isn’t just the lyrics. It’s the leaders.
Male worship leaders used to sound like prophets. Now many look like poets trying to cry on cue. The stage presence is soaked in soft emotion, but stripped of holy gravity. They perform as if God is their girlfriend, not their King.
The result? A generation of men in the pew who don’t know whether to raise their hands or fold them in embarrassment.
David Was a Worship Leader Too
This is the masculinity the Church forgot.
David played the harp, but he also killed lions. And men.
He didn’t sing to feel seen. He sang to magnify the God who delivered him from Goliath.
Read the Psalms. They’re raw, honest, emotional — but never effeminate. David weeps and rejoices, trembles and triumphs, but he never worships like a man who forgot his strength.
He cries, yes — but he also declares, "The Lord is a warrior." He says, "By my God I can leap over a wall." He writes, "You train my hands for war." (Psalm 18:34, Psalm 144:1)
Worship in Scripture is not a therapy session. It’s a battlefield.
Where Are the Battle Songs?
Where are the songs that declare the holiness of God, the wrath of the Lamb, the blood that satisfies divine justice, and the crown rights of King Jesus?
Where are the songs that teach men how to stand firm, fight sin, love truth, and die well?
Where are the songs that speak to men at all?
We don’t need music that helps us feel better.
We need music that helps us remember who God is—and who we are in Him.
He is not your boyfriend. He is not your vibe. He is not your motivational speaker. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
He’s coming with a sword, not a scented candle.
Masculine Worship Isn’t Loud — It’s Loyal
We’re not calling for angry vocals or electric guitars. We’re calling for worship that reminds men they were made for battle, not for boyish emotionalism.
Masculine worship exalts Christ’s glory, not the singer’s feelings.
It produces courage, not co-dependence.
It teaches sacrifice, not self-expression.
When worship loses its roar, the men stop showing up.
And when the men stop showing up, the Church forgets how to fight.
Final Word: Bring Back the Battle Cry
This isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about allegiance.
The Church is not a spa. It’s a barracks. Worship is not a performance. It’s a proclamation.
Our God is a consuming fire. Our King wears a crown stained in blood. And our mission is war until He returns.
Let’s sing like it.
Let’s lead like it.
Let’s live like it.
Because the next generation is watching — and the dragon hasn’t gone to sleep.
— This essay originally appeared at my friend Virgil Walker’s Substack. Check it out and subscribe!
Where are the battle songs? To some extent, in the older hymnals.
I’m looking at one with copyright 1957, printed in 1981, which has “How Great Thou Art” pasted onto the opening fly leaf, and “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” as hymn 1. It contains “Onward Christian Soldiers” but also has “God Will Take Care of You.”
In other words a balanced mix of hymns. Subheds on the contents page include God the Father, Jesus Christ the Saviour, The Holy Spirit, Worship and Praise, The Holy Scriptures, The Church, The Gospel, The Christian Way of Life, The Eternal Life, and Special Subjects and Occasions.
I’m old enough to remember singing many of the songs in this book. A few have survived to date but many have been replaced by contemporary music, some of which is good but some of which is questionable at best.
I don’t think it’s the songs today as much as the attitude of song leaders. Of course I prefer the traditional hymns, especially in worship services, but I do listen to CCM on an iPod while driving. The church I currently attend has a mix of traditional songs with one or two newer songs included.
I personally avoid churches the size of a convention center that require a potentially ear-splitting sound system, but I have attended a service or two in such facilities. I suppose that could be included in “being all things to all people in order to save some” but it’s not something I would want to do regularly.
And finally, it’s ultimately the attitude of the worshipper that matters, which comes through in David’s psalms as the author notes.