I was directed towards a song by my discerning sister a few days ago (note: I didn't say critical...I said 'discerning'. Completely different [?]). She recited some lyrics from said song and I basically looked at her with an expression that said "What the mess are you talking about?". Well, to help you understand my utter confusion, here are the words she said:
So take me as You find me, All my fears and failures, Fill my life again. I give my life to follow Everything I believe in, Now I surrender.
I didn't recognise the song from these verses, but I had heard it before. It's called 'Mighty to Save', and it appears to be the latest big hit to come from the small, underground ministry that is Hillsong. They're flying below the radar at the moment, but I'm sure you'll hear of them soon enough. Lets just hope that they don't sell out and start putting on big concert-type worship sessions that perhaps do little but appeal to people's emotions. It would be a shame if that were to happen.
OK so I'm being exaggerative for the sake of sarcasm (**slaps his own hand and vows to get back to the point**). The point of this is to show you just how confusing these lyrics are. Before I do that, there are some positives to be taken from this song, so all is not lost. The chorus is incredibly catchy, and I do like its words also. However, if ever a song was built around a strong chorus, this is it.
The way I imagine it is that Mr Morgan was inspired with this great chorus, and performed it for people to much delight. His listener's then asked "That's great Reuben, but what about the verses?", to which he replied - "Don't worry, I've got them covered. Now, if someone could pass me my book of Christian cliches I'd be much obliged." I could go on and tell you that Darlene Zschech had actually borrowed Reuben's book to write a new album of her own, but I fear I'd be labouring my point.
In examing the meaning of these couple of verses, allow me to make a fairly obvious observation by quoting them again, with emphasis added:
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.
Dare I say, typical Hillsong?
Then there's the actual meaning, which for the most part escapes me. The first line "Take me as You find me" is a popular Christian catchphrase, but it's pretty redundant if you ask me. I mean how else is God supposed to "take" us? There are instances when a similar phrase works however. For example, there is a song which goes, "You take me as I am, and You make me as You are". In this case, that phrase works, a) because it is indicative and b) because of the contrast it sets forth. In 'Mighty to Save' however, no such contrast exists, and it just doesn't work for me.
The state the singer finds himself in is in a state of fear and failure, which isn't the most positive thing for a Christian church to affirm corporately. As a personal confession, these words are no doubt true in people's lives at different times, but in Christ we are not known as failures. Not because of merit on our side, but because of merit on His side. You could argue that the line "Fill my life again", is a plea, asking for us to be filled with this truth again, to be filled with the perfect love that drives out fear. You really have to read between the lines to come up with this conclusion however, because nothing more is said. Had the next verse expanded on what we need to be filled with, I wouldn't have many problems. But instead, it begins with a completely new train of thought, and not a very solid one either.
From being in a place of fear and failure, the singer now decides that "I give my life to follow everything I believe in", proving the point that while Christians may not tell lies, they certainly sing them. But apart from this being unattainable, it's probably not the best thing to do anyway. For example, some professing Christians "don't believe" in no sex before marriage. I don't say this to judge, but to illustrate that it's probably best to give ourselves to what God believes rather than what we believe, for what we believe isn't always true and right. Now I'm not saying that Reuben Morgan is encouraging us to go with our own desires, but the lyrics are ambiguous, which is a dangerous thing. By saying "I give myself to follow everything I believe in", what are you affirming? Very little if you ask me.
The verse then finishes with a line that contradicts the previous two. Having just sung that we're going to give oursleves to things we ourselves believe in, we now sing that we surrender? Huh? Surrender to ourselves? That's the meaning that makes sense given the context, but it certainly doesn't make scriptural sense. I assume this means that "I surrender to God", but why do the previous two lines point to a different conclusion? So many questions, so few answers in these lyrics.
In short, it's not a good sign that if you just read these two verses without any knowledge of where they came from, then there would be nothing substantial to affirm beyond doubt that they are taken from a worship song. Read them again if you don't believe me. Should the verses of our songs really be so shallow, void of lyrics that explicitly point to God?
Such verses follow a similar pattern to a Nooma DVD - ambiguous to the point of having little true meaning. Once again though, I have to give credit where credit is due. The chorus really is quite good, but the verses...well...not so much (the first two which I haven't quoted aren't much better to be honest). Bob Kauflin may just have it right when it comes to Hillsong - strong on the musical side, weak on the lyrical side, and heavy on the subjective side. That about sums this song up I think.
So take me as You find me, All my fears and failures, Fill my life again. I give my life to follow Everything I believe in, Now I surrender.
I didn't recognise the song from these verses, but I had heard it before. It's called 'Mighty to Save', and it appears to be the latest big hit to come from the small, underground ministry that is Hillsong. They're flying below the radar at the moment, but I'm sure you'll hear of them soon enough. Lets just hope that they don't sell out and start putting on big concert-type worship sessions that perhaps do little but appeal to people's emotions. It would be a shame if that were to happen.
OK so I'm being exaggerative for the sake of sarcasm (**slaps his own hand and vows to get back to the point**). The point of this is to show you just how confusing these lyrics are. Before I do that, there are some positives to be taken from this song, so all is not lost. The chorus is incredibly catchy, and I do like its words also. However, if ever a song was built around a strong chorus, this is it.
The way I imagine it is that Mr Morgan was inspired with this great chorus, and performed it for people to much delight. His listener's then asked "That's great Reuben, but what about the verses?", to which he replied - "Don't worry, I've got them covered. Now, if someone could pass me my book of Christian cliches I'd be much obliged." I could go on and tell you that Darlene Zschech had actually borrowed Reuben's book to write a new album of her own, but I fear I'd be labouring my point.
In examing the meaning of these couple of verses, allow me to make a fairly obvious observation by quoting them again, with emphasis added:
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.
Dare I say, typical Hillsong?
Then there's the actual meaning, which for the most part escapes me. The first line "Take me as You find me" is a popular Christian catchphrase, but it's pretty redundant if you ask me. I mean how else is God supposed to "take" us? There are instances when a similar phrase works however. For example, there is a song which goes, "You take me as I am, and You make me as You are". In this case, that phrase works, a) because it is indicative and b) because of the contrast it sets forth. In 'Mighty to Save' however, no such contrast exists, and it just doesn't work for me.
The state the singer finds himself in is in a state of fear and failure, which isn't the most positive thing for a Christian church to affirm corporately. As a personal confession, these words are no doubt true in people's lives at different times, but in Christ we are not known as failures. Not because of merit on our side, but because of merit on His side. You could argue that the line "Fill my life again", is a plea, asking for us to be filled with this truth again, to be filled with the perfect love that drives out fear. You really have to read between the lines to come up with this conclusion however, because nothing more is said. Had the next verse expanded on what we need to be filled with, I wouldn't have many problems. But instead, it begins with a completely new train of thought, and not a very solid one either.
From being in a place of fear and failure, the singer now decides that "I give my life to follow everything I believe in", proving the point that while Christians may not tell lies, they certainly sing them. But apart from this being unattainable, it's probably not the best thing to do anyway. For example, some professing Christians "don't believe" in no sex before marriage. I don't say this to judge, but to illustrate that it's probably best to give ourselves to what God believes rather than what we believe, for what we believe isn't always true and right. Now I'm not saying that Reuben Morgan is encouraging us to go with our own desires, but the lyrics are ambiguous, which is a dangerous thing. By saying "I give myself to follow everything I believe in", what are you affirming? Very little if you ask me.
The verse then finishes with a line that contradicts the previous two. Having just sung that we're going to give oursleves to things we ourselves believe in, we now sing that we surrender? Huh? Surrender to ourselves? That's the meaning that makes sense given the context, but it certainly doesn't make scriptural sense. I assume this means that "I surrender to God", but why do the previous two lines point to a different conclusion? So many questions, so few answers in these lyrics.
In short, it's not a good sign that if you just read these two verses without any knowledge of where they came from, then there would be nothing substantial to affirm beyond doubt that they are taken from a worship song. Read them again if you don't believe me. Should the verses of our songs really be so shallow, void of lyrics that explicitly point to God?
Such verses follow a similar pattern to a Nooma DVD - ambiguous to the point of having little true meaning. Once again though, I have to give credit where credit is due. The chorus really is quite good, but the verses...well...not so much (the first two which I haven't quoted aren't much better to be honest). Bob Kauflin may just have it right when it comes to Hillsong - strong on the musical side, weak on the lyrical side, and heavy on the subjective side. That about sums this song up I think.
Dec,
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and I love it. I've listened to that song alot, and I honestly like it. It's catchy, to say the least. You're absolutely right though, it really doesn't make much sense. This song really capitalizes on the emotion involved, which is probably not a good thing. This seems like such a product of the American Church, but they're..um..Australians. I'm not sure how that worked out. Very interesting insight there though!
It certainly is catchy, that much is true. As you say though, it makes very little sense, which unfortunately is something that could be said with regards to many of the songs we sing in church. Perhaps ill give a few more example over the coming weeks/months. Glad you enjoy the blog anyway, and since you've just found it, happy reading (I didnt have much else to do over the summer!)
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