I am not approving or condemning this song, nor the artist, but I find the topic very interesting. I heard this song on one of our popular radio stations here semi-local and following the song, one of the announcers stated that they sang a modified version of it in their church on Sunday. I began to think about the context and realized that it was lyrically supposed to be God singing to us.
I do believe that there is an appropriate time and place to a song of this nature, and have heard a wonderful song written by a friend that tells a story of someone crying out to God, and then God responding. This song, is simply God telling us he loves us and is with us. Two other songs that come to mind are 'I Have Always Loved You' by Third Day, and 'I Am The Way' by Mark Schultz, both songs I have enjoyed listening to.
The first question of the day is when can we sing a song that is first person from God to us, without in some fashion deciding that we are God? My 5 year old son in church today recited John 14:6 which says, "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." He immediately stopped and said, "Well Daddy, you know not through me, but God right?" Just the fact that he said it sparked his conscience to realize that the words he spoke were flawed if they were coming from him.
Secondly, is it ever appropriate for us to sing this manner of lyric, and why?
Thirdly, doesn't singing as though God is singing to us automatically make it 'me' centered?
Here is Matthew West's "More".
Take a look at the mountain
Stretching a mile high
Take a look at the ocean
Far as your eye can see
And think of me
Take a look at the desert
Do you feel like a grain of sand?
I am with you wherever
Where you go is where I am
And I'm always thinking of you
Take a look around you
I'm spelling it out one by one
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine and you shine for me too
I love you
Yesterday
And today
And tomorrow
I'll say it again and again
I love you more
Just a face in the city
Just a tear on a crowded street
But you are one in a million
And you belong to me
And I want you to know I'm not letting go
Even when you come undone
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine and you shine for me too
I love you
Yesterday
And today
And tomorrow
I'll say it again and again
I love you more
I love you more
Shine for me
Shine for me
Shine on, shine on
Shine for me
I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine and you shine for me too
I love you
Yesterday
And today
And tomorrow
I'll say it again and again
I love you more
I love you more
And I see you
And I made you
And I love you more than you can imagine
More than you can fathom
I love you more than the sun
And you shine for me
Labels: Bad Theology, God Centered Songs, Man Centered Songs
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5 comments:
Take this and think about preaching, where we proclaim God's words, and yes, it is as if God is speaking but we are the mouth...what about OT prophets who spoke for God, "thus saith the Lord"?...in other words, as you said, there is a time and place for such songs, and it depends on if we understand who is doing the talking, and if we are going to put words in God's mouth, they had better be biblical, etc.
The point being that it is all about truth, because if we speak the truth we are speaking of what God is...the "man-cneted vs. God centered" dynamic isn't the only construct we need to view things from...it is helpful, but it can be taken too far...
For example, consider Psalm 23: it is certianly God oriented, but David is speaking of personal things throughout...my, I, me, me, my, me, I, I, me, me, me, my, my, me, I, respectively...but we see this grounded in God...Lord, He, He, He, you, your, you, you, Lord, respectively...
Faith is the action attaching itself to grace...God gives the grace to be able to do it, our faith does it based on that grace...
This song, IMO, is stupid.
It reads like an exercise in self-esteem building. If we are going to write a song from the perspective of God to us, we need to be extremely careful not to go beyond what Scripture says, or to impose our own feel-good agenda on top of it. The only way I think you could do it would be to limit yourself to the statements God Himself has made in the Bible -- and many of them in the OT are in fact quite poetic.
It's sort of the same as writing biblical fiction. When the author is writing the character of Christ into the story, he/she needs to be extremely careful about not putting superfluous words into His mouth. Some authors do it successfully. Others don't, and the fiction ceases to be biblical. I see something similar in these types of songs. Stick to Scriptural statements, or just write a praise song from us to God.
I think Marie and I are in agreement, and it does make me also think about books like "The Shack" and attempts to soften God to our tastes...I like good fiction, but if it is to represent God in any way, it needs to keep closely tethered to what we already know is the character of God revealed in scripture...
I think I have to agree with the comments above me, but a few lines just hit me funny. It's probably figurative, but did God have to teach the stars how to shine? And he loves us more than the sun? does he love the sun?
Personally, I am more concerned with how I can love God more and shine, period. If I want to hear God speak, I need to read the work, not listen to a song that seems to be trying to make God hip with cliches. Sorry.
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