Last week, as I left church, I heard two visitors discussing the music performed in the church as the last song. Here’s how the discussion went:
Guy #1: “That music at that church makes no sense.”
Guy #2: “What do you mean?”
Guy #1: “Take that last song…”Our God is greater, our God is stronger…there’s only one God. What in the world are they saying?”
Guy #2: “It was a good sounding song, but I guess you’re right.”
Well, Guy #1 WAS right. The Chris Tomlin song says, “Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God You are higher than any other.” As Christians, we believe in one triune God, and that there are no other gods. None. So our God is great. He’s strong. He’s higher than anything else in creation. But he isn’t “greater” than other gods because there are none.
I understand that we need to find catchy ways to write tunes that we can sing in church–fine. But let them pass theologically.
Now, could you say that Tomlin is reflecting back to the Old Testament when God’s chosen people were (sinning by) worshiping other gods? Sure. But the song doesn’t say that–and it’s contemporary worship. Let’s make sure that the music we’re using in our churches actually reflects the theology we believe.
I’ve had a similar rant about another Chris Tomlin song entitled, “Here I am to Worship,” which doubly bothers me because first it’s all about “I” and “me” rather than about “God,” and second because it says, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.” No–I think we DO understand what the cost was–that causes us to place faith in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. I may never experience the punishment my sin deserves because of that cross, so I’ll never live through that–if that is what “know” means, and we’ll have all eternity with which to thank Jesus Christ for dying on the cross for our sins.
So do you know what I do when our church sings these songs? I stop singing during these verses. Just like I do when a church reads the Nicene Creed and everyone says, “On the third day, he descended into Hell.”
I know…crazy evangelical conservative. I’m really not too crazy, though.
