A Great Song Afterall?

I can't tell you how many times I have found myself thinking, as the ending strains of a song on the radio are dying away, "Ah, that was a great song! What a great message- wait a minute!" I listened to the song and though it was great, but when I actually stopped to think about what it was saying (or wasn't saying), I started to wonder if it was really such a great song afterall.

A lot of songs sound really great when you first hear them, but if you hold them up against the truth of God's Word, they just don't match up. It's so easy to just take every song on Christian radio and assume that because it's being played on K-LOVE it's message must true and in line with Scripture. Unfortunately I've found this is not the case. I'm not saying that you shouldn't listen to Christian radio stations just in case they play a song with a false message, I'm saying that you shouldn't just accept the message of every song you hear as truth just because it's sung by a Christian band, played on Christian radio or is about Jesus. The Word of God is the standard by which we determine what is true and so if a song doesn't match with what the Word of God says, then it is false even if it has the label "Christian" on it.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. There is a song on Christian radio called "What Faith Can Do" by the popular Christian band Kutless. I have heard the song several times and studied the lyrics. These were a few of my observations when I compared it with what God's Word says.

"What Faith Can Do" by Kutless

The song begins by talking about how everyone falls from time to time and has pain and problems, which is all true. The second line says "Gotta find the strength to rise" The only place to find the strength to rise about pain and difficulty is found in Jesus, but the song does not specify whether this line is referring to finding strength in Christ or if it is referring to finding the strength in yourself or other sources. Later in the verse the song's intended meaning is more clear. After talking about how you think you're problems are more than you can take, the song says, "But you're stronger, stronger than you think." That is an outright lie. Jesus says, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 NASB emphasis mine) Jesus is the only source of true strength.

Another example from the Bible is Paul. If anyone had trouble, Paul did. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul tells us that he had been imprisoned, beaten numerous times, in danger of death beaten, with rods three times, stoned once (no, that doesn't mean drugged, it means having huge rocks thrown at your head until you die), shipwrecked three times, and spent a day and a night in the sea. He also faced dangers from rivers, robbers, his countrymen, people from other countries, and traitors, he faced dangers in the city, the wilderness,and the sea. Paul had experienced labor and hardship, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, cold, and exposure. If anyone faced pain and hardship, Paul faced pain and hardship! And yet what does he say immediately after giving this list of all his problems? He doesn't talk about how he was stronger than he thought he was or that he found strength in himself. Instead he says, "If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness." In the very next chapter, chapter 12 verse 9, he says, "And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."  Paul is looking to Christ as his source of strength, not to himself.

The first line of the chorus is "I've seen dreams that move the mountains" That sounds awfully inspiring and very similar to what the Bible says, but it's not accurate. Jesus said, "truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." (Matthew 17:20 NASB) It is faith, not dreams, that moves mountains. Why? Because a dream is wishful thinking. It's your desire that you have invented and want to see come to pass. Faith is confidence in the power of God to accomplish His purposes. See the difference?

The chorus goes on to say, "I've seen miracles just happen". Do miracles just happen? A miracle is the demonstration of the supernatural power of God in this earth. A miracle is an act of God, not something that just randomly happens. When God does a miracle, it is always for a specific purpose. God doesn't just go around randomly doing random things just to make people happy. When He performs a miracle it is for His glory, for the magnification of His Name, for the furthering of His Kingdom. We can see this clearly evidenced in Scripture.

In verse two the song refers to taking a step out on the water. Since it is a "Christian" song, I presume that this is a reference to Peter walking on water. Next the song says, "it will be alright". As long as Peter kept his eyes firmly focused on Christ, everything was alright, but the moment he took his eyes off of Christ things were anything but alright! Without specifying that it will be alright if you keep your eyes focused on Christ, just saying that it will be alright is nothing but false security.

"You will find your way if you keep believing" is another rather ambiguous line. Believing in what? God?  The Bible? Yourself? Buddha? The statement is left completely wide open.

There are far more errors in this song than I can discuss individually in one blog post, but it is filled from beginning to end with statements about how you are strong, you have to face your problems, you need to try,  you will find the way, you must believe, you can do it, you have the strength to rise. This is not faith, folks, this is human effort. Faith is founded on dependence on God, the message of this song is dependence on self.

I noted as I studied the lyrics that there is not a single mention of God, or even a clear reference to Him, in the entire song. I tried to find where the lyrics indicated that the faith mentioned was faith in God, but the closest I could come was one ambiguous mention of prayer in the chorus.

I chose this song for the purpose of example, because the errors are obvious and there are lots of them. If you have doubts about my observations, feel free to look up the lyrics and take a look at them for yourself! My goal was to show you how far off center the message of even a "Christian" song can be and hopefully emphasize the importance of testing your music against the Word of God before you accept it's message as truth. The people of Berea even tested the message of Paul himself to make sure that it matched with Scripture We would do well to be a little more like them.


"Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." (Acts 17:11 NASB)

The Good Shepherd........Drives Away His Sheep?

I had an argument some time ago with someone who tried to convince me that during Jesus' ministry on earth, His goal was to drive people away. According to this individual, Jesus tried to drive everyone away from Himself and then somehow only the people with extra determination were accepted by Him. My mind was reeling! Where in the Bible do you find THAT? He tried to tell me that the stories of the rich young ruler and also the Syrophoenician woman, with the demon possessed daughter, were examples of Jesus trying to drive people away.

After looking at both of these stories, I believe that you really have to read a lot into it in order to say that Jesus intended to drive the people away. Sure, Jesus made it clear that following Him was not easy, sure He tested their faith, but I don't think that that means that His motive was to get rid of them. He invited the rich young man to come follow Him! He healed the woman's daughter. Those are definitely not good techniques to use if you want to get rid of people. In fact, all throughout Jesus' ministry, He demonstrated this kind of love and compassion over and over again. When blind Bartimaeus sat beside the road calling out to Him, He asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" and then He healed him! For the woman caught in adultery, He rescued her from death, told her that He did not condemn her and gave her a second chance saying, "Go. From now on sin no more." When the little children came to Him, Jesus even became upset with the disciples for trying to send them away (Now why would He be upset with them, if they were only following His example?). He said, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Then He took them in His arms and blessed them. It is clear that Jesus was in no way trying to drive people away.

Unfortunately, it is only of recent that I have really felt free to search these things out and truly disagree with what the previously mentioned individual told me. I never really believed his argument, but it for so long he had cultivated the idea that he was infallible, that I had a hard time rejecting what he told me.

Even though I didn't fully believe this lie in my mind, it still wreaked havoc in my heart. I became afraid that Jesus would drive me away. What if I wasn't "determined" enough? My spiritual growth became stunted and my fear paralyzed my relationship with God. I longed to continue growing closer to Him, but I was so terribly afraid that He would find me "not good enough" or "not earnest enough" and turn me away. I felt that I needed to make myself more acceptable to God and muster up a sufficient amount of earnestness (I was never exactly sure how much was enough) before I dared seek Him.

It has only been within the last year that I have begun to see this teaching as the lie that it is and root out the stronghold it has had in my heart.

All throughout the Bible, God continuously portrays Himself as a shepherd. Jesus is even called, "The Good Shepherd". Can you imagine a shepherd standing in the midst of his scattered sheep, waving his staff and driving away any that tried to get near him? Shepherds don't do that. Especially not good shepherds.

Listen to what Jesus says about Himself,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My o

wn and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd." (John 10:7-16)

Does this sound like someone who is trying to drive His sheep away, or someone who has come to care for them and draw them to Himself? Jesus said directly that He would "draw all men" to Himself. He does not drive away, He seeks, He heals, He forgives, He invites us to follow Him.

"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)

*All Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible