Luke 12:35 Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit.
Christian Living
The New Testament has a great deal to say about living as Christians. We will look to the Old Testament for context and background, but focus on the New in these blogs.
September 4, 2017. The DiM work here focuses primarily on Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) that plays on the airwaves. The goal is to encourage Christians to exercise Biblical discernment when a song plays on the radio. If you’re just listening for entertainment, then keep your guard up and treat every song as a “secular” song. What is the theology being presented in the lyric? Indeed, even secular music presents theology.
With so many Contemporary Worship (CoWo) songs making their way onto the CCM charts, we’ve had a lot of interest in the issue of CoWo (as opposed to historical didactic hymns). As I engage folks in conservative churches, I’m finding a lot of people insisting that the CoWo they have in their church is biblically solid. The problem is that they rarely name these songs. I’m interested in doing more evaluation of CoWo songs, but I want to deal with the songs folks genuinely believe to be biblically solid.
I would like to ask my readers to Contact Us or comment below with what you consider to be Biblically solid CoWo songs that cannot be found in a traditional Hymnal. This has nothing to do with the accompaniment. Trading an organ for a band without changing the lyric is perfectly fine to me and does not make it CoWo. The focus absolutely must be in the content of the lyric. If a contemporary band does a cover or remake of an old Hymn, I will be looking for what was removed from the song and what was added to it lyrically.
My comment section is moderated, so if you don’t want me to post your comment let me know in the comment. I’m asking for help on the research end of CoWo. If you think your church does excellent CoWo, I’d love a list of songs/artists you guys use.
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.
August 22, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “O Come to the Altar” by Elevation Worship which currently sits at #3 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.
Elevation Worship is the house band for Elevation Church where Steven Furtick presides. There are lots of problems with Elevation Church and with Steven’s preaching (additional info: here, here, and here). We’ll be focusing on the merits of this song that was clearly written for Elevation’s worship sets but finds itself on our CCM charts.
I have to admit, I was surprised by this song. Its lyrics are better than I expected. The Gospel of Forgiveness bought by the Blood of Jesus is in the chorus of this song. What is lacking is a clear understanding of what needed to be forgiven, so the Law is muddled. I’ll do my best to acknowledge the good and share my concerns in the lyric such that someone who has never heard of Elevation or Stephen Furtick can examine the lyric for themselves. I do not recommend anyone attending Elevation church, nor supporting that organization by buying their music.
Elevation Worship Video
The video is very polished. I thought it was just going to be another “House Band rock concert” video, but they brought in clips from their mass baptisms that were very compelling. I wish I could say that this demonstrates a proper understanding of Baptism, but Elevation was caught fabricating/manipulating “spontaneous baptism” events. There is also the extremely troubling fellowship between Furtick and T.D. Jakes, who is a non-trinitarian. Why is that relevant here? We are commanded to make disciples baptizing them into the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you reject the doctrine of the Trinity, you’re practicing a different baptism. Now, the song keeps mentioning the Altar, the video focuses more on baptism. I’m not going to complain too much here since the evangelical “altar call” at the house band concert would really be just coming up to the stage… and that would expose the “Finney altar call” for the spectacle it is. After we read through the lyrics, I want to come back to this video’s focus on baptism.
Are you hurting and broken within
Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin
Jesus is calling
Have you come to the end of yourself
Do you thirst for a drink from the well
Jesus is calling
O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ
Leave behind your regrets and mistakes
Come today there’s no reason to wait
Jesus is calling
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy
From the ashes a new life is born
Jesus is calling
Oh what a Savior
Isn’t he wonderful
Sing alleluia, Christ is risen
Bow down before him
For he is Lord of all
Sing alleluia, Christ is risen
Bear your cross as you wait for the crown
Tell the world of the treasure you’ve found
Discussion
As I said in the intro, I was very surprised to have found the chorus of this song so good. Let’s start there for now because there is a clarity here I just don’t see in most of the songs on the CCM chart.
Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ
Here we have a central message of the Gospel. I so wish the song made use of the verses to finish proclaiming the Gospel. Sadly, it doesn’t, which leaves this excellent line in the chorus floating without an anchor point. Forgiveness for what? This is where the song falls flat, by softening the Law and emotionalizing it.
Verse 1. Are you hurting and broken within overwhelmed by the weight of your sin. Sin is our problem. Our flesh, our very being is sinful. In fact, we were dead in trespasses and sin (Eph 2:1). The opening lines of this verse focus on the “hurting” and “broken within” and “overwhelmed by the weight” of sin. This is already taking the mystical turn of spiritualizing everything. Sure, the word “sin” is in there, but what is being described points more to an emotional awareness of guilt, or the emotional effect of guilt/shame. The next line takes it a step further with, Have you come to the end of yourself. This is a truism you won’t find in Scripture, it points to the whole “let go and let God” type of sentiment. Have you tried everything else, but to no avail? Well, try this! Do you thirst for a drink from the well. This is one of those lines that gets thrown out there to really grab those who are familiar with some scripture. Now, because I want each of you to be more familiar with scripture so that you can think of Scripture rather than this song, let’s look at what this line is alluding to.
John 4:7-14 (ESV) A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
This is a Gospel passage. The problem is that the person who needs to hear the Gospel doesn’t intuitively know what it means to “thirst for a drink from the well”. We aren’t intuitively aware of the Gospel. Just as this Samaritan woman didn’t understand at first, we today don’t understand the depth of our need nor do we get the Gospel. So, a line like this might lead someone to think, “it’s scriptural”, though the song isn’t actually conveying a complete thought.
Verse 2. Okay, so we’ve come from the chorus that speaks of the Forgiveness bought by Christ’s Blood, and the next line we get is, Leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Here we have a muddled Law, a muted problem of sin. It leaves the impression that the point of Forgiveness is for “regrets and mistakes”. These are some of the symptoms of sin, but they are not the actual problem of sin. The third line has the same sort of emotionalizing of the problem of sin with, Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy. Trade sorrows for joy, though I would argue that Biblically speaking, Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not merely some emotion. In our modern context, I don’t think we’ve maintained such distinctions in language. It’s romantic mysticism, a feel-good sentiment floating in the verse. Now, to anchor this sentiment into a Biblical promise, we need to look past this temporal life and into the New Heaven and the New Earth after the Resurrection.
Revelation 21:1-5 (ESV) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
But we aren’t finished with this verse. This next line makes my blood boil. From the ashes, a new life is born. Can we please stop pulling language from the Phoenix mythos? I mean, this is in your “worship” set, for crying out loud. Stop with the Greek mythology. Just stop it.
Verse 3. Random tidbits of truth here, I suppose. I really like Sing Alleluia, Christ is risen, though, that is very good. By this time in the song, the point isn’t so much the lyric but the swell in the trance-like musical euphoria building toward a spiritual climax. This verse can be repeated like a second chorus as the audience sways back and forth at the leading of the singer, emotions stirred up into a frenzy, arms swaying to the rhythm of the song… because this is the “experience” that somehow translates to “worship”. At least, that is what these bands are led to believe. They are ushering in the Spirit, they are bringing heaven down to earth. At least, that is what the stated goal of this “worship” album is:
EDITORS’ NOTES
On this spiritual soundtrack, Elevation Worship attempt to prove that heaven is indeed a place on earth…(ref: iTunes)
This is purely emotional manipulation by very highly skilled musicians, some of whom might genuinely believe that this emotionalism is “true worship”.
Bridge. There’s no basis in the song for understanding what it means to Bear your cross as you wait for the crown. Let’s look at some Scriptures for a better understanding of what might be going on here.
Matthew 16:24-27 (ESV) Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
James 1:2-12 (ESV) Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
1 Peter 5:1-11 (ESV) So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
To deny ourselves is to resist temptation, to humble ourselves, and to confess that we are powerless, desperately in need of a Savior this and every day here on this Earth. No room for temporal triumphalism here. The Apostles didn’t preach such temporal victory, they preached Christ’s return for His Church, for the crown of Life in the Resurrection in Christ Jesus.
What Altar? I find it curious when these mega churches sing about ‘coming to the altar’. Their altar is a stage, where they perform their rock concerts and TED talks. In historical, orthodox, Christian churches, the altar is where the elements of Communion are kept. Long before Charles Finney and his “New Measures” (which were horrible) and his awful “altar call” nonsense… the Church understood the idea of coming to the altar as a call to Communion, where Christ served His Church His Body and His Blood.
Matthew 26:26-29 (ESV) Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
This song isn’t referring to an actual altar, there isn’t even a representation of an altar in the Elevation Auditorium/Concert hall. It’s purely mystical, purely emotional, completely spiritualized and as such there is no solid meaning to the idea of coming to the altar in this song. I encourage you to consider how Scripture talks of Communion in 1 Cor 11. We need to divorce ourselves from the notion of the “altar call” where we “make a decision for Christ”… primarily since Scripture nowhere talks like that. Instead, we should consider what it is we are receiving in Communion. That may be tough for those of you in churches that don’t go up to the front to receive communion, but it’s at least a Scriptural basis for the idea of “coming to the altar”.
Baptism. A common doctrinal error regarding Baptism is viewing Baptism through the lens of the Law rather than as a gift of the Gospel. Baptism is something Christ does for us, not something we do for Him. For non-Lutherans, I know that’s an odd way to speak of Baptism without first spiritualizing it, but in some way, I think the editors of this music video recognize that there is something special going on in Baptism. While the song makes an appeal to come to the altar, they don’t have a clue how to demonstrate that or represent that in any meaningful way, so they look to Baptism. This is so close to being a good thing… so close. Yes, Baptism is God’s work and it comes with a Promise.
Acts 2:36-39 (ESV) Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
Conclusion
The song does have problems, particularly in its emotionalizing of sin such that the emphasis is on the effect of sin rather than sin itself. We are guilty of sin, regardless of whether or not we “feel it”, it is fact. The Law points out our sin and we’ve all fallen short. The song does have essential elements of the Gospel, that Christ shed His blood for our Forgiveness and that He has Risen from the grave. With a lot of work, this song can be a reminder of the Gospel for those hearing it playing on CCM radio.
Please don’t go to Elevation Church, don’t sit under Steven Furtick’s teaching, don’t buy this “worship album”. This song isn’t the reason I don’t recommend that organization. I’ve listened to several sermons, read through several controversies, and he’s aligned himself with heretics such as T.D. Jakes and Joyce Meyer. Pray for Steven Furtick and avoid him. If you have friends who think highly of Elevation church, don’t try to win the argument with this song review. You’ll need to address the false teaching and Furtick’s mishandling of Scripture (additional info: here, here, and here).
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.
July 25, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Old Church Choir” by Zach Williams which currently sits at #5 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.
Today’s song is a nostalgia bomb of Revivalism lacking substance and misusing the term “gospel”. This won’t be a long review, as I could find very little to salvage in it. I am surprised that this is charting so high this week, though. Let’s give the song a listen and then read through its lyric. I’ll be posting a link at the end to discuss Revivalism of the 1700s, so do please check it out.
ZachWilliamsVEVO (Official Lyric Video)
Lyrics
There’s revival and it’s spreading
Like a wildfire in my heart
A Sunday morning hallelujah
And it’s lasting all week long
Can you hear it? Can you feel it?
It’s the rhythm of a gospel song
Once you choose it, you can’t lose it
There ain’t nothing
There ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy
I’ve got an old church choir singing in my soul
I’ve got a sweet salvation and it’s beautiful
I’ve got a heart overflowing cause I’ve been restored
No there ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy
No there ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy
When the valleys that I wander
Turn to mountains that I can’t climb
You are with me, you never leave me
There ain’t nothing
There ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy
I’ve got an old church choir singing in my soul
I’ve got a sweet salvation and it’s beautiful
I’ve got a heart overflowing cause I’ve been restored
No there ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy
No there ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy
Clap your hands and stomp your feet
Till you find that gospel beat
Cause He’s all you’ll ever need
He’s all you’ll ever need
I’ve got an old church choir singing in my soul
I’ve got a sweet salvation and it’s beautiful
I’ve got a heart overflowing cause I’ve been restored
No there ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy
No there ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy
Lyric Video by Zach Williams performing Old Church Choir (Official Lyric Video). (C) 2017 Provident Label Group LLC, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Discussion
This is an anthem for Revivalism, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The whole week-long tent meeting model of revivalism where Finney left his mark. Decision theology. Emotionalism. There’s not really a lot we can work with here by way of “best construction”. Let’s work through the verses briefly and then we’ll look at the problems with the Revivalist movement of the 1700s.
Verse 1. A “revival” spreading like wildfire in the heart, a rhythm of a gospel song, that one must choose. No mention of faith. Faith isn’t an emotion. It isn’t a feeling. It isn’t a rhythm of a song. It’s not clear if this is even going to try to distinguish between “revival” as in people returning to God or folks “getting saved”. It’s just a “gospel pep-rally” thing.
Chorus. An old church choir singing in my soul. How Old? What is it singing? I ask this because the revivalism movement is rather new in the history of the Church, 18th~19th Century. In our old church, we sing older hymns, some that date back to the 4th Century. But this song isn’t really drawing on antiquity or orthodoxy, it’s a nostalgia piece for the old “sawdust trail” of the late 1800s.
Verse 2. In this section we get a “you” reference we want to connect to Christ. Unfortunately, the emphasis of the song is revivalism, not specifically the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When the word “gospel” is used, it’s referring to a type of music that accompanied many a tent-revival meeting.
Verse 3/Outro. In this section of the song, the “call to action” portion isn’t a call to the Gospel. I think this falls short of even revivalist synergism, in that it doesn’t even ask the listener to make a decision for Christ but it’s aiming for the listener to “find that gospel beat”, supposedly to get that old gospel choir singing in your soul.
The song is a mess, I’m thoroughly frustrated with it. Listen, we examine music here often. But what we focus on here is the content of the lyric, above all else. Whether you like bluegrass, polka, hand bells, rock & roll, or Gregorian chant is really a matter of Christian liberty. Scripture doesn’t speak for or against any particular style of music. It’s about the doctrine that is being taught.
So, before we close out let’s look at what the Apostle Paul urged his readers concerning the Gospel.
Romans 10:1-17 (ESV) Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
The focus is on the Preaching of God’s Word. Paul encourages Timothy to do just that.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV) I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
There is no sense in looking for or promoting waves of revival movements. The Church isn’t a movement, it isn’t a fad, it isn’t a campaign, or a circus. The Church is the Body of Christ, and gathers around the Preaching of God’s Word. Revivalism is a circus act, a man-made attempt to make God popular. In our modern-day context, instead of looking like Barnum and Bailey big tents, it looks like an NFL production ala Joel Osteen or anything Hillsong. Now, I’ll concede that there are some revivalists who actually do preach the Gospel to some extent. Folks are finding saving faith in spite of the revivalism because God the Holy Spirit does what He says He does, granting saving faith by hearing of the Word. This is in spite of Revivalism, not a result of it.
This song earns a Disapproval. There’s nothing here but a promotion of Revivalism. The word “gospel” is pointing to a style of song or tent meeting, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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.
July 18, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Broken Things” by Matthew West which currently sits at #8 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.
I dislike this song very much. It’s an anthem of synergism with a focus on “me”. It’s a pious humble-brag of sorts along an, I’m broken, but God uses broken things not perfect things so I’m what God’s looking for, theme. This song earns a spot on the Disapproved list. Let’s watch the video and read through the lyrics.
If grace is a kingdom
I’ve stopped at the gate
Thinking I don’t deserve to pass through after all of the mistakes I’ve made
But I heard a whisper
As Heaven bent down
Said, “Child, don’t you know that the first will be last and the last get a crown?”
Now I’m just a beggar in the presence of a King
I wish I could bring You so much more
But if it’s true You use broken things
Then here I am Lord, I am all Yours
The pages of history they tell me it’s true
That it’s never the perfect; it’s always the ones with the scars that You use
It’s the rebels and the prodigals; it’s the humble and the weak
The misfit heroes You chose
Tell me there’s hope for sinners like me
Grace is a kingdom
With gates open wide
There’s seat at the table just waiting for you
So, come on inside
Okay, this song upset me greatly. It starts with a goofy hypothetical and takes a nosedive from there. The video brings no corrective clarity. The summary of this song is “let God use you for Greatness despite your broken state!” That’s a theology of glory, it’s a pious version of the humble-brag. It’s about how awesome we are because we’re broken and we just need to see ourselves as god sees us…. no. That’s not the truth of our condition under sin and it certainly isn’t the Gospel of Grace. Even that last line is junk. It’s almost a partial quote… but it isn’t.
Verse 1. We start with a hypothetical question that winds up being presented as truth at the end of the song. If Grace is a kingdom… Stop. Why are we separating God’s Grace as its own thing and defining it as a kingdom? A kingdom is defined by its King. God the Son (Jesus) is King, not an abstract notion of “Grace”. Hear me, I’m not saying God’s Grace is abstract, I’m saying this lyric is treating the concept of God’s Grace in the abstract, and then comparing it to something else that is God’s, His Kingdom. The singer has stopped at the gate of God’s Kingdom, and all of heaven bent down to tell him he gets a crown? Man it takes a lot of work to unravel this coded speech to make it in any way redeemable. The average listener will simply pluck out word pictures and then proof text them in isolation. If you have to deconstruct a lyric into segments that might be valid in different contexts, you’re no longer evaluating the lyric. You’re on a theological scavenger hunt.
Chorus. First line is okay, we could go somewhere with this. We are beggars in front of the King. But instead of pointing the beggar to the King who gives good gifts, takes our rags and clothes us in the Righteousness of Christ… we go right back to synergism, the notion of “giving ourselves to God” so that He can use us. Folks, this is NOT the point of the Gospel. God doesn’t need us to “give ourselves over to Him” for Him to use us. He is Sovereign, God used unbelievers like Balaam and Judas to bring about His purposes. The point of the Gospel is not that God finally gets to use us… it’s being reconciled to Him, forgiveness of sins, the promise of the Resurrection in Jesus Christ, our adoption out of the kingdom of death and darkness into the Kingdom of Eternal Life with our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Verse 2. The hope being begged for is still the wrong hope. It’s a hope “to be used” when the primary Promise of the Gospel is the hope of Salvation!
Outro/Closing Verse. This is where that initial hypothetical is turned into a declaration. I’m annoyed by this abstraction of Grace being the Kingdom. It’s vague, semi-gnostic, gobbledygook.
There are clear ways of encouraging the body of Christ in the hope of their salvation by Grace through Faith in Christ Jesus and in stir up one another to love and good works without diving into the nonsensical. Let’s look at Scriptural encouragement in all of its clarity:
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (ESV) | Christ the Wisdom and Power of God
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Colossians 1:3-23 (ESV) We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 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.
Colossians 2:6-15 (ESV) | Alive in Christ
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
1 Peter 1:3-9 (ESV) | Born Again to a Living Hope
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 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.
Conclusion
This song is an altar-call anthem, an attempt to motivate someone to “give themselves to God” despite their unworthiness… by actually making that unworthiness into what makes you worthy? “Cause God uses broken things, you’re broken, so let God use you. It starts on the wrong foot and doesn’t recover. It’s a confusion of Law and Gospel, diminishing the Law and completely misrepresenting the Gospel and turning into Law (give yourself to God falls under the first/greatest commandment). This song falls under the Disapproved category.
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.
July 14, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “The Gospel” by Ryan Stevenson which currently sits at #17 on 20TheCountdownMagazine but was requested by a reader, so I thought we’d cover 2 songs this week.
Musically, this song is very well done. Lyrically… it has an odd way of talking about the Gospel without actually sharing the Gospel. Quite frustrating. The target audience is unclear, so for someone who already has a clear understanding of distinguishing Law and Gospel, it can be given a best-construction that serves as a reminder to rightly distinguish between law and Gospel. Outside of that, it’s a vague appeal to something called “the Gospel” but could be used by any church of any denomination to define what that Gospel is. I don’t like that kind of vagueness. Listen with discernment.
A restless generation, we’re turning over every stone
Hoping to find salvation in a world that’s left us cold
Can we get back to the altar, back to the arms of our first love?
There’s only one way to the father and he’s calling out to us
To the captive it looks like freedom
To the orphan it feels like home
To the skeptic it might sound crazy
To believe in a God who loves
In a world where our hearts are breaking
And we’re lost in the mess we’ve made
Like a blinding light in the dead of night
It’s the Gospel, the Gospel that makes a way
It’s the cure for our condition, it’s the good news for us all It’s greater than religion,
it’s the power of the cross
So can we get back to the altar, back to the arms of our first love?
There’s only one way to the father and he’s calling out to us
To the captive it looks like freedom
To the orphan it feels like home
To the skeptic it might sound crazy
To believe in a God who loves
In a world where our hearts are breaking
And we’re lost in the mess we’ve made
Like a blinding light in the dead of night
It’s the Gospel, the Gospel that makes a way
In my own life it means forgiveness, when I know I deserved the fall
It called me out of my darkness, and carried me to the cross
In a moment my eyes were opened, in that moment my heart was changed
Like a blinding light in the dead of night it’s the gospel
To the captive it looks like freedom
To the orphan it feels like home
To the skeptic it might sound crazy
To believe in a God who loves
In a world where our hearts are breaking
And we’re lost in the mess we’ve made
Like a blinding light in the dead of night
It’s the Gospel, the gospel that makes a way
As mentioned earlier, I’m confused as to whom this song is being targeted. Is it for the unbeliever? Is it for the believer who has doubt or has been led astray? Is it for the believer who isn’t sure how to help his/her neighbor? I think this last category is probably where we can force the song and give it a best possible construction, but that is us working meaning into the song. Overall, as long as we are providing the right definition of what the Gospel of Jesus Christ actually is, what this song says is fairly good despite being oddly worded in a few places. Let’s work through the song’s lyric.
Verse 1. So, the first 2 lines suggest the target audience is “seekers”, unbelievers supposedly looking for salvation. But the reference to returning back to the altar and the arms of our first love suggests it might be pulling from the Christ’s message to the church in Ephesus, “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ (Revelation 2:2-7 ESV). So, this language of returning to the altar seems to be aiming at making a sacrament of the whole “altar call” thing of Finneyism. Either come to the front to “accept Jesus into your heart” or come to the front to “rededicate your hearts to God”… it’s not found in Scripture. I’d much rather view this as a call to the Lord’s Supper, where we eat and drink the Gospel.
Chorus. Here’s where we get some of the odd coded references to the Gospel. It’s set up to say that the Gospel sets captives free, and it does but not as something apart from Christ. The “Gospel” is the “Good News” of what Christ has done for us. So, yes, He has set us captives free, He has purchased us with His blood adopting us into His Kingdom/Household. Christ has done all of this for us, and this is the Gospel. I really don’t like the sanitizing of the state of our sin. It serves only to undercut the Law and in doing so it dims the brightness of the Gospel. We aren’t merely suffering from “broken hearts” or “in a mess” we are wretched.
Verse 2. It’s the cure for my condition… yes it is. The song hasn’t made that condition clear. The condition is dead. We are dead in sins, condemned under the Law. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that He has brought us to life by His Grace through Faith in Him.
Ephesians 2:1-10 (ESV) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Also, can we please stop falsely pitting the Gospel against Religion? Stop it. Scripture is God’s revelation of Himself to mankind. Our worship and our doctrine is tied up to the Word of God and that is true Religion. False religion is the problem, the religion of the old Adam (sinful man) fueled by the temptations of the doctrine of demons, “did God really say”. Every form of this “not religion but _____” cliché needs to die.
Verse 3. In my own life it means forgiveness? Forgiveness of sins is the central point of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It’s the point of the Gospel for the whole world, though not all will believe it.
John 1:29-34 (ESV) The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
John 3:16-20 (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
The same with the reference to “my darkness”. I’m not a fan of this subjective treatment of sin, it leaves too much room for dumbing down the problem to only an emotional/temporal concern rather than an eternal one.
Conclusion
I was very hard on some of the elements of this song, but overall I still think it is salvageable at least for easy listening. Discernment is key here, especially since we have another example of talking about the greatness of this thing we call “the Gospel” without clearly proclaiming Law and Gospel. I’m tired of muting of sin as “mistakes” or “a mess” that we see in these popular songs. It’s been the norm for so long, I really don’t fault these guys individually for making these errors in malice.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, don’t rely on folks knowing what the Gospel is when attempting to teach the Gospel. Learn to articulate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If I’ve failed in sharing how that is done from Scriptures, do let me know.
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.
Evangelical Worship Edition.
CCM Edition.
Faithful Stewardship 
You must be logged in to post a comment.