Michael W. Smith warns worship must not become ‘celebrity driven’

After more than four decades of standing on stages, with crowds singing his songs by heart, Michael W. Smith is convinced that one of the greatest dangers for a worship leader can be the very thing that signals success: attention and celebrity. 

The 68-year-old Christian music veteran has sold more than 15 million albums, written or recorded more than 36 No. 1 songs and collected four Grammy Awards and more than 45 Dove Awards over a career that helped define contemporary Christian music. His songs, from the crossover hit “Place in This World” to “Friends” and worship anthem “Agnus Dei,” are beloved by generations of Christians.

But these days, Smith said, he’s concerned about what happens when the person leading worship becomes more visible than the God being worshiped.

“I just think we have to be careful that this thing is not celebrity-driven,” Smith told The Christian Post. “We can all say, ‘Well, oh, we’re doing it all for Him.’ But you watch social media, and it’s just a little me-focused.”

Perhaps, he added, modern worship has also “lost the reverence.”

Emphasizing he’s not “throwing anyone in particular under the bus,” Smith clarified his warnings come from someone who knows firsthand how easily accolades can distort even the most sincere of intentions.

“The Lord doesn’t share His glory with anybody,” Smith recalled his friend and fellow worship leader Michael Olson telling him several years ago. “Those words sort of took my breath away.”

“It was convicting, honestly, and he was right,” Smith said. “As we’re leading worship, we’re not supposed to be a celebrity. We’re supposed to kind of disappear, honestly, and our goal is to change the atmosphere and allow God to meet people. That’s our job.”

Smith approached “House of Worship,” a new cinematic event arriving in more than 400 theaters nationwide beginning Aug. 23, with that same mindset. Presented by The Fuel Music and Ori Music in association with K-LOVE and Air1, the film gathers 25 prominent Christian artists and songwriters to revisit the songs that helped shape modern Evangelical worship.

Smith and Australian worship pioneer Darlene Zschech serve as executive producers, with a roster that includes CeCe Winans, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Naomi Raine, Matt Redman, Israel Houghton, Paul Baloche, Brian and Jenn Johnson, Charity Gayle, Hillary Scott and others.

Recorded in the round at World Wide Stages in Spring Hill, Tennessee, the project pairs artists across generations. Winans joins Zschech for “Shout to the Lord,” Redman and Scott perform “The Heart of Worship,” Tim Hughes and Carnes revisit “Here I Am to Worship,” while Smith and Elevation Worship’s Chris Brown perform “Agnus Dei.”

“There was just such a unity in the room for two days,” Smith said of the atmosphere as the artists worshipped together. “All the songs, they never really stuck to the template of what we were doing. They all kind of took on a life of their own.”

“Nobody kind of came and sang and left,” he said. “Everybody just stayed. … It was just an emotional two days for me. I’m glad I was a part of it. … It was all I could do to fight the tears.”

Songs like “The Heart of Worship,” “Shout to the Lord,” “Come Now Is the Time to Worship” and others featured in the film have endured for decades because they have “stood the test of time,” he said.

“I think a lot of these young worship leaders and people who worship today, they don’t know a lot of those songs,” Smith said. “And I think they need to.”

Smith still sings “The Heart of Worship,” one of his favorite worship songs, and said he expects to sing “Breathe” for the rest of his life.

“I just hope this next generation can find themselves sort of going back and listening to some of those songs,” he said, “because they probably need to be back in the set list, at least from time to time, in churches around the world.”

Since beginning his recording career in the early 1980s, Smith’s catalog now includes more than three dozen No. 1 songs, and his albums A Million Lights and Surrounded became his 30th and 31st Top 10 entries on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart, more than any other solo artist at the time. 

He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and a 2019 tribute at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena brought together artists including Amy Grant, Vince Gill, CeCe Winans, Wynonna, Randy Travis and others to celebrate his career.

His influence has also extended beyond Christian radio. Smith performed “Friends” at the funeral services of evangelist Billy Graham and former President George H.W. Bush, and founded Rocketown, a Nashville-based youth organization.

But despite his success, the artist said time, and a deeper walk with the Lord, have given him a different relationship with acclaim over the years.

“I really don’t care what people think of me,” he said. “You just want to lead with humility. You’ve got to have a great spirit.”

“My intent was always right,” Smith said, reflecting on his early years in the music industry. “But you get distracted. You get distracted by the attention, and everybody’s applauding, and you sometimes just kind of lose your way.”

Smith traces a turning point to the recording of Worship, the landmark live album released Sept. 11, 2001. The project, which included “Agnus Dei,” “Above All,” “Breathe” and Rich Mullins’ “Awesome God,” became the bestselling album of Smith’s career. He recalled leaving the stage after the recording in Lakeland, Florida, and finding the artists backstage overwhelmed by what had occurred.

“We all just wept,” Smith recalled. “We were just weeping backstage because we felt like something shifted in the atmosphere.”

The artist said he wondered then whether what they had experienced in the room could translate to a recording, “and it did.”

Today, before Smith steps onto a stage to lead worship, he prays three prayers: that God would be pleased with what he says, does and sings, that he would be “clothed in humility,” and that his motivations would remain pure.

Despite his warnings, Smith said he sees much to celebrate in contemporary worship; young songwriters, he said, are giving their generation language with which to express faith.

“There’s this real move of God, and I love that,” he said. “You’re watching young kids worship and cry. It’s overwhelming. It’s beautiful to watch.”

Smith said the spiritual hunger he’s seeing among young people reminds him of another period that changed his life: the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which impacted even his hometown of Kenova, West Virginia.

“I probably have not seen anything like this since the ’70s,” he said. “I was there for the Jesus Movement. It swept into my little town of Kenova, West Virginia, when I was a teenager, and it changed my life. … I’m having this interview with you because of the Jesus Movement.”

Smith recently attended a concert by Forrest Frank, whose hits like “Lemonade” and “Your Way’s Better” have attracted a large Gen Z following. Smith said he was struck by watching young fans sing every word while Frank openly proclaimed his Christian faith.

“To see Forrest up there sharing the Gospel, and he’s not ashamed, it just was awesome,” Smith said, adding that artists like Frank are “young Joshuas” who are “stirring it up.”

“I believe we are at least seeing the beginnings of it,” he said of revival. “We might be in the middle of it, but I think it’s going to get much bigger.”

For Smith, House of Worship offered another glimpse of what can happen when generations of Christians unite and see themselves as a family. During filming, Smith said younger worship leaders repeatedly thanked veteran artists for paving the way, while older artists responded by encouraging them to continue what they were doing.

“It was a family,” Smith said. “There was just a lot of love in the room. You see these artists who are … deep into it on every song. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”

With “House of Worship,” Smith said he hopes audiences leave with hope — from Christians who are exhausted or grieving to those who have never heard the Gospel.

“I hope somebody sees it who doesn’t know the Lord and that they’re just convicted and they give their hearts to Jesus,” Smith said. “That would just be amazing.”

“Just turn on the film, turn on the record, and just sing the songs,” he added. “Regardless of how you feel, just sing the songs. … These songs are full of hope. I think these songs will provide that opportunity and get people through hard times.”

And after more than four decades of recording, touring and watching Christian music transform around him, Smith said he’s “grateful for the journey,” adding: “It’s been awesome.”

“I think my best days are ahead.”

“House of Worship” hits theaters Aug. 23.