Discernment in Music

DiM | “Even If” by MercyMe

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Presentation1CCM Edition.

March 30, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Even If” by MercyMe which currently sits at #2 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

This week’s song is refreshingly honest for what we see in CCM these days. Some real writing went into these lyrics, there is a lot being shared. The pain being shared is the exhaustion of American revivalism, though I doubt the artist would recognize that. Let’s give the song a listen and then work through the lyric.

Official Lyric Video

Lyrics (via K-LOVE)

They say sometimes you win some
Sometimes you lose some
And right now
Right now I’m losing bad

I’ve stood on this stage
Night after night
Reminding the broken
It’ll be alright
But right now
Oh right now I just can’t

It’s easy to sing
When there’s nothing to bring me down
But what will I say
When I’m held to the flame
Like I am right now

I know You’re able
And I know You can
Save through the fire
With Your mighty hand
But even if You don’t
My hope is You alone

They say it only takes a little faith
To move a mountain
Good thing
A little faith is all I have right now

But God when You choose
To leave mountains unmovable
Give me the strength
To be able to sing
It is well with my soul

I know the sorrow
I know the hurt
Would all go away
If You’d just say the word
But even if You don’t
My hope is You alone

You’ve been faithful
You’ve been good
All of my days
Jesus, I will cling to You
Come what may
‘Cause I know You’re able
I know You can

It is well with my soul

Discussion

Overall, this song fits in roughly the same vein as “Trust in You” by Lauren Daigle (DiM Post), but MercyMe has gone about it better by keeping it more of a confession of what’s going on in his head/heart with clear statements. There are some truly thankful confessions in this song, too, that really set it apart. We also see an artful outro bringing in “It is well with my soul” which reminds us of the Spafford Hymn. The one thing lacking is a comfort drawn directly from Scripture, instead we get more of a “renewed commitment” from the singer. This is part of American Revivalism, the part that strips the Gospel of its rest and comfort and leads Christians to continuously strive to muster up their will to do more, believe more, hope more, love more, etc.

Verse 1. “they say” here is a valid appeal to a colloquialism “you win some, you lose some”.  The artist is setting the stage. He feels like he’s won a lot in the past, has done a good job of encouraging others “it’ll be alright”. I’m assuming this is referring to encouraging believers. That is the majority of the MercyMe’s market, Christians who are looking for musical encouragement. This time, though, the singer is in need of encouragement himself. That’s honest. That’s real. Enthusiasm runs out of gas. Our flesh can only muster a finite amount of “umph”, our flesh is weak, sinful, and selfish.

First Pre-chorus. “It’s easy to sing, when there’s nothing to bring me down” this line gives me pause. It’s one of those statements that can only seem true on an emotional level, like, “It’s easy to sing when you’re not really feeling any emotional burdens”. Theologically speaking, this isn’t a truth statement. It smacks of triumphalism, or a theology of Glory, which focuses on the Christian being above the problems of this world by virtue of being a Christian. It undermines the truth of the simul, that in this life believers are simultaneously sinners and saints. Our flesh brings us down, our hearts defile us, we sin. The artist is describing the emotional roller-coaster of revivalism. We go to church or a tent-meeting, enjoy some music and heart-felt preaching about how “I gotta, I need to, if only I’d, Once I then do then He’ll do, etc.” and I dedicate myself to making that leap of faith, that re-commitment, that contract with God that I’ll do better from this point on… I feel great. I feel victorious. I’m a conquer. I have the faith to move mountains and slay giants and walk on water. But this isn’t increased faith, it’s an emotional high. And it will drop off. We’ll run out of gas. We will stumble and fall. And then what? Despair. All of the sudden, we realize we are in the fire. We realize the war is still raging within our members, the flesh craving sin, the Spirit warring against the flesh.

Romans 7:15-25 (ESV)

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Galatians 5:13-24 (ESV)

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

A major problem with Revivalism, is that the emotional high is a placebo that provides no real grounding in the believer. There is no building up of faith because the focus of Revivalism is the believer rather than the Savior. So, once the emotions run out, the believer is left drained and no better equipped to deal with the struggles of this life and the real trials and tribulations we  face in this fallen world.

Chorus. The chorus is a confession being sung by the singer that God is able to rescue the singer from this current struggle, but even if He doesn’t the singer is confessing that God is still his only Hope. This is pulling from the confession of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego:

Daniel 3:14-18 (ESV)

Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

This is a bold confession these men made, a confession that can only be made by Faith. These men weren’t merely facing an emotional slump, a bad day, a recession, illegal taxation without representation, religious discrimination in the work place… they were going to be thrown into a raging fiery inferno, burned to death. Revivalists often take these statements from the heroes of the faith (Hebrews 11 reference) and emotionalize them, diminishing them so that we can be heroes in our everyday lives. Goliath becomes something as petty and fleeting as a job interview, and the fiery furnace becomes that traffic ticket you got for speeding 20mph over the speed limit. When you trivialize the enemy, you also make little of our Savior.

The confession itself is true. God is Able and He is Just, Merciful, and Holy even if He doesn’t intervene in time and space for this present circumstance. What the weary believer needs isn’t a renewed hope in temporal rescue with an eternal lifeboat “just in case”, the weary believer needs to be reminded that he is already on the Ark and is being carried to Eternity with Christ.

1 Peter 3:13-22 (ESV)

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

This is how Peter encouraged those who were going through intense persecution. The Promise of Salvation isn’t so petty a thing to be shaken by temporal hardships, or emotional downturns, and it cannot be strengthened by a mere rousing of the will or personal resolve… the Promise is in what Christ as done for you, and for me, for all of eternity. The waves smashing against the ark, lighting strikes and thunderclaps do not prevail against the Ark, that is Christ Jesus, in whom we are Saved by Grace through Faith and that not of ourselves. There is comfort in that. Let’s look at the passage.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Verse 2. I’m not happy with this use of “they say”. Don’t appeal to a colloquialism when we have Scripture.

Matthew 17:20 (ESV) He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Better to appeal to “Jesus said”, and then actually look at what He said. This is not an appeal to “growing your faith” as if it is fuel in your spiritual tank. Let’s look at a cross-reference in Luke

Luke 17:1-10 (ESV)

And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Faith isn’t something you muster up, it is something God gives you. To grow in faith is to grow in that faith that has been given to you by God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. We don’t need more than was given us, we simply need to trust in what Christ has already done. The Apostle Peter points to this in the opening chapter of his first Epistle:

1 Peter 1:6-9 (ESV) In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

That “little bit of faith is all I have” is all you need, because it isn’t the amount of faith you can muster, it is in Whom the faith you’ve been given rests.

Conclusion

I do love this song for its honesty and clarity of confession. The influence of Revivalism is so deeply ingrained in American Christianity that most probably won’t even see the major role it is playing in these lyrics. Without the clear proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for you for eternity, we are left with the revivalistic roller coaster.

If you’ve made it this far and would like to know more about my reference to Revivalism and American Christianity, I’d like to recommend a book by Bryan Wolfmueller called, “Has American Christianity Failed?”.

We’re leaving this song in the middle-category as there isn’t a clear Gospel in the song, though we do really like the song, personally. Please remember that the point of these reviews is the exercise of reviewing songs and the theology therein.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

 

DiM | “Trust in Jesus” by Third Day

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ApprovedCCM Edition.

March 13, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Trust in Jesus” by Third Day. This was requested by a reader via the Contact Us page a couple of weeks ago.

This song is one of the better songs that has been introduced in CCM. It proclaims the Name of Jesus. There is a little too much focus on “me” without clearly distinguishing Law and Gospel. As a result, both the problem of sin and the solution to that problem get mingled synergistically into both being something “I need to do”. The key to rescuing this song is to go back in to separate the doctrines of Law and Gospel so that we can clearly identify our wicked sinfulness deserving of death and Christ’s Grace and Mercy in rescuing us from our own sin by Grace Alone through Faith in Christ alone. The song seems to present a cliff’s notes version of Ray Comfort style of street evangelism that begins with, “If you were to die today and God asked you why you should get into Heaven, what will you say?” The song doesn’t actually bring us back from “in that day” to “today”. Still, I think the song merits an “Approved” rating, particularly for those with a right understanding of their sinfulness.

Video

I prefer to use videos posted by the artist whenever possible. As this is a reader request, I’m posting a video from a third-party channel for the sake of hearing the lyric.

Lyric (via KLove)

One of these days we all will stand in judgment for
Every single word
That we have spoken
One of these days we all will stand before the Lord
Give a reason for
Everything we’ve done
And what I’ve done is

(Chorus)
Trust in Jesus
My great Deliverer
My strong Defender
The Son of God
I trust in Jesus
Blessed Redeemer
My Lord forever
The Holy One, the Holy One

What are you gonna do when your time has come
And your life is done
And there’s nothing you can stand on
What will you have to say at the judgment throne
Well, I already know
The only thing that I can say I

Chorus

There’s nothing I can do on my own to find forgiveness
It’s by His grace alone
I trust in Jesus, trust in Jesus

Chorus X2

Discussion

The reader who reader who requested this review received the following email:

The song is better than most in CCM. I do think there is a little bit of confusion in the depiction of the Judgement hinging on “what we will do or say in that last Day”. I understand he’s going for artistic appeal in this song, but there is Matthew 7:21-23 to consider here. Our place in eternity is sealed up in Christ, those who are of the household of Faith will be granted eternal life in the Last Day. We will still be judged by our works and rewarded accordingly (1 Corinthians 3:10-15), but that is of the household of faith, not the dividing of the sheep and goats. There is an inherent syngergism at play in the song that I’m uncomfortable with. A suggestion that our works and our answers before the Judgement Seat are key to salvation. The bridge works to mitigate that, so as I said before, this song is better than most in CCM.

I’ll keep this song in the queue for whenever there isn’t a new song on the top 20 charts. Thank you for this submission.

Since I wasn’t writing a full DiM post, I went straight to the problem I saw in the lyric, the focus on “what we will do” on the last day. While there is a sense where we can speak of this moment accurately in a sermon or lecture, it has to be done with Law and Gospel kept distinct, without mixing/confusing the two. Let us first look to the passage in Matthew with context.

Matthew 7:12-29 (ESV)

The Golden Rule
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

A Tree and Its Fruit
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

I Never Knew You
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Build Your House on the Rock
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

The Authority of Jesus
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

I’ve underlined the verses I referenced in my email response. Our LORD, Jesus Christ, is preaching the Law here. Jesus taught with Authority, for He indeed is the Author, the Word made flesh. I bring up this passage to make one point abundantly clear: No matter what you’ve done, or claim to have done, when standing before the Throne of Judgement your arguments/accomplishments will not gain you entrance into the Kingdom of God. What does it mean to build your house on the rock as opposed to the sand? Notice in that picture Jesus isn’t pointing to the trappings of the house or its ornaments; for only if its foundation is firm will it stand.

Pointing to the listener for what he/she will say “in that day” is not entirely helpful without clearly distinguishing Law (that we are wicked sinners) and Gospel (Christ has atoned for the sin of mankind through His finished work on the cross). Now, there is a way that this approach might be helpful. Ray Comfort’s approach to street evangelism often begins with posing the question, “If you were to die today and God asked you why you should get into Heaven, what will you say?” in order to draw out the common fleshly belief that we are all basically good people. This is actually an introduction to the preaching of the Law (though Ray may not describe it as such). What follows is a run-down through the 10 commandments demonstrating that the hearer is in-fact a sinner in need of salvation. This song doesn’t run that part down, it assumes it, then jumps to presenting the Gospel. The song also doesn’t bring the hearer back from considering the Last Day of Judgment to “today” when we are presented with Law and Gospel. For we are only given “today” to repent and believe in the Son of God. I’d like to take a look at what the Apostle John recorded in chapter 6 after the feeding of the 5,000 and Christ walking on the water.

John 6:22-40 (ESV) | I Am the Bread of Life

On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

This is where we must rightly anchor the song’s refrain, “I trust in Jesus”. Having been made acutely aware of our wicked sinfulness, our complete inability to merit any favor before God, we rely fully on what Christ has done FOR US. Notice, Christ says here, “I will raise him up on the last day”. It is Christ who gives us life, for without Him we are dead already. When we consider what it means to trust in Jesus, those whose eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit to the Truth of God’s Word, that we are indeed wretched sinners in need of salvation, and who by the same Holy Spirit have been granted saving faith to repent of sin and believe in the Son of God, for such a person to continue walking in faith is to continue walking in repentance trusting in Christ alone for forgiveness and eternal life. For our entry into the Kingdom of Heaven begins and ends in our being baptized into Christ, wrapped in the Righteousness of Christ that is bestowed upon us by Christ, who bore our sin and transgression on the cross.

The bridge of the song bears witness to this Truth, that we are wholly incapable of earning forgiveness of sin, that salvation is by grace alone, trusting in Christ alone. The chorus of the song lists many wonderful, Gospel Names for God.

Conclusion

With regards to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I think the song is quite good. The problem I have is with the mingling a bit of Law and Gospel, at the expense of the law, really. There’s no call to repentance, and the presentation of the Gospel as something that hinges on “what you say”, presents the problem of sin as simply not having the right words to say. The audience is assumed to have already rightly been made aware of their sin and are terrified by the Law of God unto repentance. But for the listener who hasn’t already been made aware of his sin—even the professing believer who has lost sight of his sin—the song offers no correction, no call to repentance, and the sweetness of the Gospel is emptied for such a one who has no concept of his own sin.

As far as CCM is concerned, it belongs in the category of the “Approved” CCM songs. It is one of the better CCM for it does clearly proclaim the Good News of Salvation in Jesus’ Name.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

DiM | “Fearless” by Jasmine Murray

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disapproveCCM Edition.

March 01, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Fearless” by Jasmine Murray which currently sits at #17 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

Great, another anthemic narcissistic pep-talk set to a catchy beat. But through the partial statements and sentence fragments, is there a message of Law and Gospel in there anywhere? Well, let’s give it a listen and then work through the lyric. In closing, we’ll look at how to properly understand what it means to be overcomers in the Name of Jesus.

Official Lyric Video

Lyrics (via K-Love)

I wake up
I feel it
Those fears are back again
Can’t shake them
Can’t make them
Ever fade
Ever end
Am I good enough
Do I measure up
Feels like a war I can’t win

But I wasn’t given the spirit of fear
I was given the power of love
Everything I’ve been fighting against
I’m gonna lift it up

I wanna be fearless
No holding back
No backing down
Fearless
Because I believe You’re with me now
Bring on the unknown
Lead me and I’ll go
Come set me free
God, I want to be
Fearless (I want to be)
Fearless (I want to be)

These mountains
These giants
Will fall at a single word
In Your name
In Your strength
I’m more than a conqueror

I won’t be afraid
I won’t be afraid
I’ll call on Your name
I’ll walk out in faith

Publishing: Fair Trade Global Songs/Jasmine Murray Publishing/Be Inspiring (BMI) (admin. by Music Services, Inc.); Meaux Jeaux Music/Da Bears Da Bears Da Bears Music (SESAC) (admin. by CapitolCMGPublishing.com); Wordspring Music/Tony Wood Songs (SESAC) (admin. by Warner Chappell)
Writers: Jasmine Murray; Jeff Pardo; Tony Wood

Discussion

Okay, so what is the stated problem in the lyric of this song? What is the enemy here? The feeling of fear of not measuring up, of not being good enough. This notion will undoubtedly resonate with a lot of folks at an emotional level, but is this biblically sound? Since the pre-chorus jumps straight to a paraphrase of a verse found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Let’s look at the section in its immediate context and I’ll highlight the portion being paraphrased in this song.

2 Timothy 1:3-14 (ESV) | Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You

I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

The Apostle Paul isn’t merely talking about self-doubt here. He’s talking about real suffering for the Gospel, true imprisonment and persecution for the sake of the Gospel. The primary problem with these sugar-pop anthems comes in their attempt to bolster “self-esteem” by inflating our accomplishments over the mundane. To push a theology of glory, we have to be told we are champions by simply existing, which necessitates a diminishing of struggle, persecution, and suffering to merely negative self-talk. A major part of all of this is ignoring the real and present problem of our sin. Before we move on, I think it’s also important to acknowledge that “fear” isn’t a universal evil per se; rather, Scripture gives clear instruction regarding fear.

Matthew 10:24-33 (ESV) | Have No Fear

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

We can also look to Proverbs 1 for a positive role of “fear”

Proverbs 1:1-7 (ESV) | The Beginning of Knowledge

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

This song is all pep-talk, no instruction or even coaching. It’s the theological equivalent of having the cheer-leading squad do cheers during half-time to build the player’s self-esteem without ever addressing how they are actually playing the game. It’s empty talk of “be aggressive”, “D-fence”, and other general themes, but it doesn’t provide any real instruction nor correction.

This very narrow view of the emotion of fear as an enemy leads us into the chorus where the singer is proclaiming she wants to be free of fear. She wants to be fearless. It’s the negative emotion she wants to be rid of. I get that. We can all resonate with that at some level. That’s why the song is on the top 20 chart. But the song is seeking an internal change of emotion without pointing to the clear, external Word of God. The closest we get to a confession of faith leans a bit in the direction of fedaism (faith in the strength of one’s faith) and the ability of the believer to walk out her own declaration of fearlessness.

The second verse engages in narcigesis that is typical in evangelical circles. Negative self-talk and self-doubt suddenly becomes a Mountain that needs to be moved, or Goliath that needs to be killed *sigh*. So they’re going to fall at a single word? Which word is that? There is room to assume that Word is “Jesus”, but we only get in Your Name in the lyric. It’s tough to find clarity here when the song title and the hook of the song is just one word… “fearless” and it’s being applied to us throughout the song. Christians are baptized into the Name of the Father, and of the Son (Jesus), and of the Holy Spirit. For all we know the line about “a single word” might not even be about the Name of Jesus. I could just be a reflection of Word of Faith (WoF) false teaching that our words carry divine power and that all we have to do to over come the obstacles in our path is declare a Word of the Lord ala Kenneth Copeland or Chuck Pierce or some other WoF heretic. I’m not accusing this singer of being a heretic, I’m saying the lack of clarity in the lyric leaves too much room for confusion and false teaching.

The bridge of the song is completely turned inwardly, looking at what “I” will feel, declare, and do. This could just as easily come from a Tony Robbins seminar or some other life coach celebrity making a sales pitch to an evangelical audience. There’s no meat in this lyric. It’s all sugar.

Notice how sin, death, and the devil aren’t mentioned in this song? That’s because those real enemies don’t fit into a theology of glory, for they were defeated by Jesus on the Cross, not our positive self-talk. Christ is the One who is victorious over sin, death, and the devil, and it is Christ who reigns Supreme over all Creation, and only in Christ are do we have Salvation and eternal life. By Faith, the Righteousness of Christ is credited to us and we are reconciled to God, but that’s not to say that we are now going to conquer everything we set our minds to doing while in the flesh in this life.

In closing, I’d like to examine what how Christ defined Himself as the Overcomer of the World. Also, I want to read through His prayer for His Church, including us, who would live on in the world, though not being of the world.

John 16:25-17:26 (ESV) | I Have Overcome the World

“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

The High Priestly Prayer

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Amen.

Jesus Christ has over come sin, death, and the devil in our place, by His Grace, Love, and Mercy on us. He paid the price on our behalf and has atoned for our sin. We are baptized into His death and resurrection to eternal life by Grace through Faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus is on His throne, interceding for us, and He will return once more in Glory to judge both the living and the dead. Amen. Come, LORD Jesus.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

DiM | “King of My Heart” by Kutless

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disapproveCCM / COWO Edition.

February 23, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “King of My Heart” by Kutless which currently sits at #20 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

This week’s song seems to be an attempt at an evangelical “worship” song. It’s a love song of sorts aimed at wooing ourselves toward God in some respects and affirming the goodness of God. Well, we have to assume it’s aimed at God. Let’s listen to the song and then read through the lyric.

Video

Lyric (via KSBJ)

Let the King of my heart
Be the mountain where I run
The fountain I drink from
Oh He is my Song

Let the King of my heart
Be the shadow where I hide
The ransom for my life
Oh He is my Song

You are good, good, oh

Let the King of my heart
Be the wind inside my sails
The anchor in the waves
Oh He is my Song

Let the King of my heart
The fire inside my veins
The echo of my days
Oh He is my Song

You are good, good, oh

You’re never gonna let me down
When the night is holding on to me
You are holding on

Discussion

Okay, so let’s begin with the title phrase of this song, “King of my heart”. If you’ve been reading these DiM for a while, you’ll likely anticipate that I have a couple of concerns with this phrase. Firstly, are we aiming at perfection here or are we confessing what is? If we are confessing the condition of our hearts, then we must confess that our hearts are sinful, and that Christ isn’t the King of our hearts at all times. This is part of the paradox of the Christian life, where by faith we are saints yet by the flesh we are sinners. In our flesh we break the greatest commandment daily.

Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV) “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

The verses of this song begin with the word “let”, so I’m thinking the writer’s intent is to sing this as an encouragement of the Law without asserting that our hearts no longer break the Greatest commandment. That would be a foolish assertion. Our hearts are wicked. The best way to consider the line in a Biblical light would be to consider the closing verse in Psalm 19, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (Ps19:14 ESV)” This one verse speaks with far more clarity than what we’ll see in today’s song, but in the interest of giving the song its best construction, I think this is the form the writers where shooting for in the verses of the song.

The referent of the song has to be assumed by the listener. The “King of my heart” has to be assumed to be God, though He isn’t really described as such in Scripture. Christ is not clearly proclaimed in this song. This depiction of God as the “King of my heart” I think comes more from Finneyism than Scripture, the idea that “if we ask Jesus into our hearts and place Him on the Throne of our hearts” then we’ll be saved. I think I remember this illustrated by Bill Bright’s “4 spiritual Laws” pamphlets that get passed around in CRU (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ) in the picture of the “Christ-directed life” (ref). The confusion of Law and Gospel comes to the foreground when we talk about “making Christ the King on the throne of our hearts”. The Law of God says that this is Holy and Righteous, that Christ is our LORD and Savior. Christ is LORD regardless of how we feel about it, and even despite our wicked hearts. So, when the proclamation of “Christ as King of our Hearts” is presented as Gospel, we run into cognitive dissonance… we know that Scripture commands us to Love the LORD our God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds, yet that Law convicts us of our sin, the fact that we do not Love the LORD as we ought. When this Law is presented as a Gospel charge (do this and you’ll be saved) what Gospel can we turn to in order to save us from falling short of the Gospel that is being presented? That’s the problem with works-based righteousness… even when the works being cited are indeed biblical good works. The Gospel isn’t “make Jesus King of your heart”, nor is it “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind”… the Gospel is:

Romans 5:6-11 (ESV) For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

I do believe the writer(s) of this song are aiming at modeling Psalm 19:14, an encouragement to good works through faith in Christ Jesus; however, the lack of clarity in the message and some infusion of extra-biblical phrasing leaves the song too open for interpretation for my taste. It falls to the hearer to keep the overall meaning of this song Biblically sound. We see this a lot in CCM. I pray the industry gets back to clarity in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s work through the stanzas of the song briefly.

Verse 1. Getting beyond the “King of my heart” phrase, we still have a problem of looking inwardly for God. It’s a problem of mysticism. If we are trying to make this a call to the Law of God (encouraging our hearts to Love God) then this verse presents unclear advise. What if I acknowledge that my heart is sinning and seeking its own pleasure/desire rather than the Law of God? This verse doesn’t have an answer for that. Where am I looking for shelter? The mountain. What mountain? Well, the King of my heart. How do I run there? Mystically or metaphorically. The right answer is to look for Christ where He has promised to be found, not in our own emotions but in the Written Word of God, the gathering of the Saints around the Preached Word of God. How do we drink from the fountain of the King of our Hearts? Mystically. Also remember that in the world of “contemporary worship (COWO)” the emotional high of singing these trance like songs repeatedly as the band swells and the lights pulse is connected to such mystical themes of “running to God” or “drinking from the fountain of God”. We see it in the closing line “He is my song”. Granted, if you work hard enough with word-searches in various English translations/paraphrases one can draw connections to proof texts for each independent phrase of the song. That’s not how sound doctrine is to be conveyed, though. It’s not how we read emails or letters, either. This verse, and those that follow it, are aimed at conveying an emotional metaphor for drawing close to God, for loving Him.

Chorus. Well, there’s not really much of a chorus, is there? God is good. That is True. In fact, He is the Only One who is Good. The Goodness of God isn’t something we, sinners, understand intuitively. We need to be taught about His Goodness from Scriptures.

Verse 2. We see the same basic form from the first verse. Let Him be King of my heart, be my shelter, be my salvation, be my song. While these things are good things, the way they are being presented isn’t instructive in any way. This is purely emotive and subjective. Mysticism is dangerous.

Verse 3. I don’t like the line ‘wind inside my sails’. The image is wrong. God isn’t merely the wind pushing your boat, He IS the boat, He IS the ARK. If we’re going to wax eloquent with the imagery, think of Noah and his family inside the Ark during the global flood. There’s too much room for taking credit for things in your life, there’s a sense of synergism that so prevails in evangelicalism where God is presented as a divine being who wants to give us all sorts of great things IF we just align ourselves correctly with Him… like learning how to adjust the sails to the wind. See that mysticism? Yeah, that’s bad theology.

Verse 4. ‘Fire inside my veins’ is almost always a reference to Jeremiah 20. New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) types love this turn of phrase. Those who claim to prophesy or excuse their outbursts as moves of the spirit. In its best form, it can be an artistic reference to emotional zeal. The mystical form of this song, however, leads me to think this is a hat tip to Word of Faith (WoF) types or those in the NAR (whether they realize it or not) because that’s the stuff that makes the most money (Hillsong, Bethel, etc).

Bridge. While it is true that God will never fail us and His promises are True, I’m not comfortable with the phrase “God will never let me down”. The reason is because of how this brand of popular evangelicalism treats prayer, as though they can simply decree and declare whatever they want “in Jesus’ Name” and expect God to perform what they want. Doubly frustrating is that if the people who pushed that sort of nonsense were honest, they’d have to confess that their decree/declare prayers don’t get answered, and they aren’t prayers. God is not a genie who has to grant your wishes because you invoked the right promises like some sort of spell casting. There is also no call to repentance or acknowledgement of the LAW as law anywhere in this song. I mean, we aren’t even confessing that we fail Him. So this bridge bothers me a great deal.

Conclusion

I’m torn a bit on where to assign this song’s final disposition as either on the far end of “listen with discernment” or a soft “disapprove”. I think what is prevailing here is that this song is performed in such a way that it is intended to be used in COWO, and I find the mysticism particularly troubling. Therefore, this song will be filed under “disapprove”. I’m sure there will be several who disagree with that overall assessment, though that is not the point of these DiM posts. The point is to get into the practice of evaluating the lyrics of these songs we hear on the radio, to see if they square with Scripture. This song is borderline, which is unacceptable for corporate worship.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

DiM | “What a Beautiful Name” by Hillsong Worship

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disapproveCCM/Evangelical Worship Edition.

February 14, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “What a Beautiful Name” by Hillsong Worship which currently sits at #17 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

Hillsong doesn’t write music for Biblical worship, they write mood music for mystical/emotional experiences sold with an empty promise of deepening your intimacy with God, not through reading and studying His word, but by directly experiencing God’s “Presence”. That is the theology they push, that is the aim of their marketing/money-making arm known as “Hillsong Worship”. They package an emotion and sell it as spirituality. This song earns a spot on our “Disapproved” list, but we will examine the theology behind the song by looking at what Hillsong says about it, and we’ll examine the clear scriptures. I don’t recommend including this song in your “contemporary worship” (COWO) service.

Video

Lyrics (via Hillsong)

Verse 1
You were the Word at the beginning
One with God the Lord Most High
Your hidden glory in creation
Now revealed in You our Christ

Chorus 1
What a beautiful Name it is
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a beautiful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

Verse 2
You didn’t want heaven without us
So Jesus You brought heaven down
My sin was great Your love was greater
What could separate us now

Chorus 2
What a wonderful Name it is
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a wonderful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

Bridge
Death could not hold You
The veil tore before You
You silence the boast of sin and grave
The heavens are roaring
The praise of Your glory
For You are raised to life again

You have no rival
You have no equal
Now and forever God You reign
Yours is the kingdom
Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name above all names

Chorus 3
What a powerful Name it is
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a powerful Name it is
Nothing can stand against
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

Tags
What a powerful Name it is The Name of Jesus
What a powerful Name it is The Name of Jesus

Words and Music by Ben Fielding & Brooke Ligertwood

Discussion

Hillsong teaches false doctrine. There is no getting around that and I’m definitely not inclined to side-step their false gospel. They push the Word of Faith (WoF) heresy. They don’t preach repentance. Brian Houston is a notorious bible-twister. Their doctrine of “worship” borrows heavily from New Age worship of “Presence” rather than a Biblical understanding of worship. They are the masters of emotional manipulation to create a feeling or, as they put it, an “atmosphere of worship” where they suggest that our act of worship, our sincerity in our singing/emotions actually invites the very presence of God into the room. Any music coming out of Hillsong is suspect due to the false teaching the pervades its halls. In the past, the better songs that Hillsong has put out have been edits or rewrites of older hymns, and they’ve always been less theologically sound than their original hymns. From what I can tell, this song seems to be a Hillsong original. To begin our discussion, let us look at how they describe the purpose and creation of this song in one of their blogs.

What A Beautiful Name Song Story
Hillsong Worship
13 October 2016

What hides in the name of Jesus?

The name of Jesus encompasses more than we can hope or imagine—more beauty, more wonder, more power.

Most of the song “What A Beautiful Name” was penned in a glorified cubicle in the suburbs of Sydney over a few days in December 2015. From there we spent months crafting the lyrics to riff on our core scriptures — Hebrews 1:1-4 and Colossians 1:15-20, 26-27 — yet be simple enough to make sense on a first reading. Hebrews 1:1-4 expresses with clarity and conciseness the supremacy of Jesus Christ — the radiance of God’s glory, the exact expression of His being, the creative conduit of His power. Jesus is God’s Word: powerful, authoritative and utterly supreme. He is the wonder of salvation, who reconciled us to God.

Let’s pause here for just a moment. What hides in the name of Jesus? Is a terrible way to start this discussion. Why are we starting with the notion of attempting to discover something about Jesus that He has not already revealed to us in His Word? The next statement is objectively true right up until the break in the sentence “—” . The writers of the song are focusing on the beauty, wonder, and power that is beyond our hope or imagining and is hidden in the name of Jesus. We’ll see where they go with this, but first let us examine their “core scriptures”, because I noticed something in their citation in the Colossians text. As for their Hebrews text, they’ve truncated the introduction to Hebrews to just the opening thought. I wish Hillsong would continue reading through Hebrews 2:4 to see where the opening argument is building. But notice the break in the verses in the Colossians citation. What is being skipped? Colossians 1:21-25. Let’s see what’s in there.

Colossians 1:21-26 (ESV) And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

Here is what is missing from the Hillsong theology in general and specifically in the formulation of this song. Hillsong preaches a theology of glory, rather than the theology of the cross. Hillsong doesn’t preach Christ and Him crucified for our sin so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God saving us from wrath, Hillsong tries to move “beyond salvation” into us doing stuff to bring Him extra Glory. That’s how they teach worship, that’s how they teach prayer (WoF), and that’s how they teach intimacy with God (mysticism).  They skip over the verses that don’t fit their narrative. Paul is preaching the supremacy of Christ in our salvation, the hope of the gospel which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. This doesn’t leave a lot of room for “new revelations”, which is a big deal in Hillsong theology. The mystery hidden for ages and generations is now (the time of the Apostle Paul) revealed to his saints (the Church). Again, this cuts against the grain of Hillsong’s push for new knowledge, hidden secrets, and fresh revelation. So, they bounce back to the Hebrews 1:1-4 passage and camp out on the trailing thought that we now listen to Christ so that they can suggest there’s  more for us to know (reflecting back to the opening thought in this blog of “what’s hidden in the name of Jesus”).

To know God and to worship Him (“to enjoy Him forever”) is the most fundamental reason for our existence. As Jesus reveals the great mysteries of God, we come to know more of who God is, glimpsing new facets of His beauty, wonder and power.

“Beauty” evokes the tenderness of His love and the sweetness of His presence. “Wonder” speaks to our gratitude for salvation, awe at the lengths of His sacrifice. “Power” affirms His supremacy and Sovereignty—an exhortation to remember our access to the power of God in every situation, as we call upon and declare the Name of Jesus.

This section begins with a bit of a hat-tip to the first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism (ref), “What is the chief end of man?” Where Hillsong gets squirrelly is in how they formulate and define what it means to “worship” and “enjoy” Him. Hillsong will not be looking to Westminster for this definition, they have their own. What we see next is the emphasis on the hidden secrets, the hidden knowledge, special revelation of the new facets of His beauty, wonder, and power. There is a bit of gnostic mysticism in this focus, and it’s being processed sensually (focusing on sensual themes of enjoying His beauty, wonder, and power).

Jesus has the Name above all others. Anything that we can name – from our greatest triumphs to our greatest challenges—comes under the authority of His Name. This song confesses that no greater beauty or source of wonder exists outside of Jesus, “the radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3). The song is also a statement that Jesus has no rival or equal. His power is unmatched and absolute.

It is interesting they keep building their case from the Hebrews text. Rather than pull from clear teaching of scripture, they keep embellishing this “radiance of God’s glory” motif. Understand that I’m in no way undercutting the Hebrews text, but this is an odd reference point for understanding the Name that is above all names. A clearer text would be Phil 2:1-11, for example.

Philippians 2:1-11 (ESV) | Christ’s Example of Humility

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Theology of the cross. Christ humbled Himself, and God has highly exalted Him. To what end? That every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. But this end has already been secured by Christ in His finished work on the cross. We have no active role to play in this bringing glory to God. Ours is but to confess Christ.

The purpose of the song, as we’ll see in the close of the blog, isn’t to remind the listener of what Christ has already done; rather, it is to motivate the hearer to push for something more intimate, more fresh, more sensual.

Perhaps some of us understand God loves us through the death and resurrection of Jesus, but haven’t grasped His power, ability and will to move strongly in our present circumstances. Or perhaps, we understand God as the supreme, omnipotent Deity He is, but have never known Him close and tender, as a friend acquainted with the depths of our humanity, knowing our flaws cannot perturb His love. Our prayer for this song is that we can all enter into a deeper, more lateral, revelation of the person of Jesus Christ—the epitome of beauty.

Rather nonsensical, mystical, and oddly sensual goal for this song. Stop pointing believers to their own emotions for deeper understanding of God, and start pointing them to the how Christ has already revealed Himself to the Church, in His Written Word.

Song Lyrics

Verse 1. The first two lines remind me of John 1:1-14. The third line, though… doesn’t quite make sense. It flies in the face of Romans 1:18-23, particularly v20, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” That fourth line continues the nonsensical by suggesting Jesus’ hidden glory is now reveled in Himself. It’s intentionally obscured, because according to Hillsong theology, Christ’s glory must be pursued empirically, through their form of worship.

Chorus. The chorus in most Hillsong music generally serves as more of a mantra than a confession or teaching. This is especially true of today’s song.  It’s an emotional mantra meant to focus the congregant on imagining the hidden beauty of His Name. The intent is to create a sensation of “deep intimacy” with the Presence of God.

Verse 2. Just awful. This is a throw-away divine romance notion. God didn’t create Adam and Eve in heaven, He created them on Earth. The final destination for those who are of the household of Faith isn’t Heaven, it’s a New Heaven and a New Earth. We sinned. We rebelled against God. We deserve His eternal wrath and destruction.

Ephesians 2:4-9 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Bridge. Its mystical form makes clarity hard to grasp here. It’s just a random collection of some of the attributes of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection without granting a unified proclamation of the Gospel. The focus here isn’t clarity of doctrine; rather, it is an emotional experience of the “beauty, wonder, and power of His Name”.

Conclusion

As always, Hillsong music is a dangerous brew of leaven. There are clear passages of scripture that we can turn for an understanding of the Name that is above all names, the Name of Jesus Christ. The Church is baptized into the Name of God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. There is much to be seen of God that He has revealed of Himself plainly to us in Scripture. The pursuit of hidden knowledge is dangerous and even deadly to our faith, particularly when that pursuit is encouraged empirically or sensually, looking within ourselves and our emotions rather than on the objective Word of God.

Jude 24-25 (ESV) Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge