“Christians don’t tell lies – they just go to church and sing them”

I think that people make a bigger deal out of this than necessary. It detracts from God being able to minister to people because now upon reading this, they decide that they are going to analyze the song on the screen- when before, they would sing every word and mean it.

I would be very careful, if I were you, bashing words to a song that came out of a pure heart of worship to God and that has helped alot of people. Just because you don’t like a particular sentence doesn’t mean it’s automatically discredited, or should be torn down, unless it isn’t scriptural or blatantly goes against the Bible. That very sentence could mean alot to someone else. It’s never wise to speak against anything the Lord is doing… even if it’s not our style. “Let everything you say be only helpful for building others up, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear” -Ephesians 4:29

Many many churches have had great theological discussions about this song. For me personally, I love the imagery of being “a tree, bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.” The power of God, who with just a breath created the entire universe … we are asking that powerful being to LOVE us … do we even know what we are saying? Surely the Love of God is at times gentle and at times like a hurricane and we are like a tree, bending beneath the weight … Is it accessible enough for the congregation to grasp? If you have to explain a song is it worth it? Is there a place for songs that not everyone gets the full meaning of right away? Are we talking about a sloppy wet kiss like a dog or a child that is leaning to kiss? Are we talking about the “generous messiness” of God’s love where it rains on both the godly and the ungodly … “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:45 … again the wet hurricane analogy … I think on the one hand we need to closely examine the theology that we are singing … on the other hand we can leave room for some mystery and poetic liberty, can’t we? It probably depends on the congregation. Pray, engage your brain, discuss with the community of faith around you… don’t judge others in other communities who might make some different decisions and choose to be more liberal or conservative than you … Great discussion though. You can take this song especially, line by line and dig for deep treasures and ask all those hard questions … and may we do the same for all the songs!

If we view worship songs as poetry, we can take lines that are metaphorical and use them to worship… but poetry conveys images and the images ought to be accurate to what we believe… or more specifically to what scripture teaches us about God. I have not gotten my head around the idea of bending under the weight of God’s mercy – though it sounds nice. The same artist wrote ”

Dress us up in the blood of
a son

Who opened up his veins so
that we would overcome

Hell and the grave in the
power of his love

After three dark days he
showed us how it’s done

And he still does

…and the imagery is in my reading very disturbing because opening veins is more akin to suicide than death on a cross… and what did the son show us in this verse in regards to how it’s done? Is it how to open our veins or how to rise from the grave? Neither are biblical concepts. The same writer starts another song by saying ”

On
Friday a thief, On Sunday a King”

but my savior was never a thief.

“It is of exceedingly great importance that
we should have right notions and conceptions of the nature, attributes, and
perfections of God. It is the very foundations of all religion, both doctrinal
and practical; it is to no purpose to worship God, except we know what we
worship. . . . It is impossible we should love, fear, and obey God as we ought,
except we know what He is, and have right ideas of His perfections, that render
Him lovely and worthy to be feared and obeyed.” ~Jonathan Edwards

I really wonder how any song could stand this scrutiny unless we literally sing unedited passages of the bible (but then we could debate which version is most true). I don’t think there’s anything wrong in getting caught up in the emotion of a song, if it is leading you to focus on our Saviour. We need songs that help us express our emotions, as well as give us good theology. Worship is love poured out to God first and a biblical education second. In fact, I find the songs with the laziest lyrics are the ones that are very biblical- with phrases like “you are holy, you are worthy, I give glory”. Direct from scripture and all very true and right about God, but overused as a crutch in copycat song writing. So much so, I fear they have lost their meaning and impact when we sing.

I think we all need to engage more with our minds when we worship, but I think this needs telling to congregations, not song writers. They are the one who are encountering God the most in the process (or should be)! Yes, call us to be true to God and his word and use that as our primary and essential tool. The bible is full of wonderful insight about God that should direct our song writing, but please let us give our best poetic creativity to God too by trying to find new ways of expressing just how wonderful he is, with the bible as a guide. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with “written in the moment” or “written for a specific situation” songs, but maybe they just aren’t suitable for a Sunday morning where not everyone can connect with them.

I am a tree? absolutely, according to Psalm 1