It’s hard to think of an institution that has sold out its foundational principles more brazenly than the Dove Awards. What began as an earnest celebration of Christian and Gospel music has morphed into an extravagant pageant of secular values, donning a Christian façade. This is no accident—it’s a willful degradation of what was once a high-standard platform.

Take a good look at the recent winners of the 2023 Dove Awards. It’s glaringly evident that good theology has been utterly sidelined. You’d think an award ceremony for Christian music would prioritize, you know, actually being a Christian grounded in sound doctrine. But don’t be fooled. Names like Brandon Lake, associated with Bethel and Elevation Worship, have managed to make their way to the top, winning in categories such as “Song of the Year” and “Worship Album of the Year.”

Now, if you’re not familiar with Bethel Church and Elevation Church, allow me to lift the veil. These are institutions that have been embroiled in controversy for their false teachings and rank heresies. From promoting the prosperity gospel to engaging in grave soaking, false manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and pretending to be prophets and apostles, their theology is far from being even fundamentally Christian. And yet, their artists and their music—essentially their theology set to melody—are lauded and awarded, as if theological integrity is merely an old-fashioned relic, as irrelevant as a rotary phone.

Brandon Lake is a Bethel artist whose music is laden with theological undertones that should have any discerning Christian raising an eyebrow. Despite this, he bagged not just one but several awards, including “Songwriter of the Year – Artist” and “Artist of the Year.” Then we have Elevation Worship, coming from a church known for its emotionalism and sensationalism rather than grounded, biblical doctrine. Yet, they’ve managed to snag the “Worship Album of the Year” for their album “LION: Live From The Loft.”

And then there’s Lecrae, the Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year winner. Lecrae—where do we begin? This is a man who has fully embraced the divisive rhetoric of woke culture, preaching more from the pulpit of social justice than from the Bible. Lecrae’s message often involves stirring the pot of identity politics, an enterprise that not only has no basis in Scripture but actively sows discord among believers. How can we celebrate and reward a message so blatantly at odds with the unity that Christ prayed for in the Garden of Gethsemane?

If you need further proof that the Dove Awards are a worldly endeavor disguised in Christian wrapping paper, consider this—true, conservative Bible-believing Christians, theologians, pastors, or worship leaders are conspicuously missing from the winner’s circle. The reason is simple, they don’t appeal to the masses or fit the Dove Awards’ real motive, which is not to promote Christian music but to secularize it while retaining a Christian label for marketing purposes.

It’s not just what they’re doing—it’s what they’re not doing that’s equally infuriating. The absence of conservative, Bible-believing winners is a silence that speaks volumes. It’s a tacit admission that the Dove Awards have little interest in musicians whose message is deeply rooted in Scripture, who aim to lead people to a greater understanding of God’s sovereignty, holiness, and grace—musicians who are more concerned with saving souls than selling records.

So, as we digest the roster of this year’s winners, we ought to recognize the Dove Awards for what they’ve become—a showcase for secular values and compromised musicians. The hard truth is this. The Dove Awards is not an event gone astray—they are a worldly endeavor that was never meant to glorify God, but rather men. As the apostle Paul warns us, they are “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” The Dove Awards does not deserve the Christian community’s respect or attention. They’ve shown their true colors, and they’re anything but righteous.