We Believe In God
(Amy Grant/Wes King)
Note the couplet:
If you believe in God / if you say you need Jesus
He'll be where you are / and He will never leave you
So much for faith and repentance!
Why do we "need" Jesus?
I guess I might have trouble meriting heaven by myself, so I need help of some sort from Jesus. In this song, is he my savior, or my example or friend or therapist or life coach or what??
We believe in God / and we all need Jesus
'Cause life is hard / and it might not get easier
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4 comments:
Most of this is NIT-Picking! I am sure I could scrutinize your words and find things at times. I am all about SOUND Theology, but give it a rest. When is the last time you stopped listening to the bad theology in most Christian songs and went out and told a lost person about Jesus.
Dear Dan,
Thanks for your comment.
Behind all my fumbling attempts is the conviction that it is very important for everything in a Christian worship service to teach biblical truths clearly.
There are so many songs [i.e., sets of lyrics] from so many cultures from so many centuries (including our own) which clearly articulate orthodoxy. My plea is that we hold lyrics used in corporate worship to the same standards of orthodoxy we demand of the preachers.
Alas, I confess that I am no winsome proponent of that opinion.
Thanks again.
I am likewise concerned about the widespread uncritical acceptance of poor lyrics in much contemporary Christian music. As someone who helps choose music for choral and congregational singing, I want to pick songs that are fully consistent with biblical truth.
When I see a disagreeable phrase in a piece that otherwise has substantial appeal, I offer changes to the wording so that the phrase becomes acceptable. Standard convention for acknowledging both the original lyricist and the fact of the alteration then requires the placement of "alt." next to the name of the original lyricist where that name needs to appear in print.
Perhaps the discussion here could go beyond pointing out what is problematic and encourage contributors to suggest alternative lyrics and discuss their merits.
We could scrutinize ANYTHING and most likely find something or other that doesn't fit. And don't we need Jesus? Of course. We are sinners, and without Jesus, we are LOST.
True, this alone does not tell the whole gospel. Most songs/hymns do not. We could never fit all of the glory and magesty and wonder and absolute MERCY into one song.
Keep up, however, pointing us to the Lord. Most of us don't have a clue what "soteriology" is. But we know, WE NEED JESUS-- and THAT'S what soteriology is, without the big words.
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