And I'll stand in awe of YouThat chorus soars. "I'll stand in awe of You." It carries a sense of the grandeur and ... well ... awe of God. "Awe" ... that emotion that combines veneration and wonder and dread, inspired by overwhelming greatness. That's ... the right response. That's the only reasonable response. Veneration, wonder, and ... yes ... dread. Perfect.
Yes, I'll stand in awe of You
And I'll let my words be few
Jesus, I am so in love with You.
Then there's that last line. "Jesus, I am so in love with You." Here's when words become important. Love is a choice ... a stable, unconditional attachment. "In love," on the other hand, is an intense romantic feeling. Love can be platonic. "In love" includes romantic attraction and desire. It is possible to keep the pledge to love someone "til death do us part," but "in love" is an emotion that no one can control and, therefore, promise. So ... is being "in love with Jesus" a good thing? Insofar as feeling warmly toward Jesus is good, I suppose so. But that's not the command. When Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14;15), He wasn't talking about a warm feeling. When He said loving God was the highest commandment (Mark 12:28-31), He wasn't talking about a warm feeling.
I'm all in favor of awe. It's perfectly appropriate and, in fact, unavoidable if you get a real glimpse of God. I'm absolutely in favor of loving God. It's commanded and it's important. Being in love with Him? Not so much. It's an emotional thing, unsustainable, and unreliable. What He wants is our whole selves, not a warm feeling. Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" (John 21:15-17). He didn't ask, "Are you in love with Me?" Which are you?
6 comments:
It's kinda creepy, actually.
I'm not familiar with the song, but I guess a good alternative would be "Jesus, I love you so much"? But I'm not sure about the melody if it would fit. Not to take away from your point about love and in love (I fully agree), but it seems sometimes difficult to be very precise in music. Not to say I don't do it all the time, but sometimes I wonder about how far my need for theological accuracy should be applied to music. In our day, music is all about the feeling. We even argue that the singing before the sermon is meant to put us in a mental and emotional state of worship. So would it be so wrong, in a song, to engender those feelings of love, as long as we don't rest our faith on those feelings?
I agree that it is “creepy”--for everyone, male or female!
In the systematic Christian theology, based on Scripture, to which I subscribe, I have seen no support for being “in love” with Jesus, the Son of God and Lord and Savior of the world. Although Jesus was a man, He was/is not a potential romantic partner in any way, shape, or form; in fact, the notion of “being in love with Jesus” is blasphemous to my mind.
I am chagrined to admit that I have a book in my home library titled, Falling in Love with Jesus: Abandoning Yourself to the Greatest Romance of Your Life, by Dee Brestin and Kathy Troccoli. It was a gift from a friend (so I have not discarded it), and I did read it (many years ago), finding it at least better than, say, something from Ann Voskamp or her ilk). The blurb on the back cover includes these words:
“Using humor, contemporary love songs, real-life stories, and solid Biblical teaching, Dee and Kathy help women discover a life-changing intimacy with Jesus. No matter your age or marital status, you are His bride, the object of His affection. The secret to an abundant life lies not in ten steps, but in developing a deep love relationship with Jesus, abandoning yourself to the greatest romance of your life!”
That blurb contains several issues for me: (1) the fact that “solid Biblical teaching” comes last in the listing, rather than first; (2) that lyrics from secular, romantic “love songs” meshed seamlessly with much of the book’s contents; and (3) the fact that this book is marketed to women (mistermed “His bride”--a designation for the Church, not individual women)--as if women can rightly have a romantic relationship with Jesus (while men by nature probably can’t). If a certain heart attitude towards Jesus is proper for women to have, then it would be proper for men as well. Clearly this sentiment is not right for anyone (even if Matt Redman sang it with no hesitations).
P.S. After checking the full lyrics of the song you reference, I see no substance there at all. Thus his words could have been even fewer--as in not at all--to my mind. No, Jesus is not my boyfriend--nor yours, Matt.
David, I tend to give music (poetry) some "poetic license," like you. I don't like heresy in poetry form. This doesn't rise to the level of heresy. It's just that so many are so confused about important things like "love" and I feel the need to call attention to it.
Lorna, I've noted (in conversation) in the past that it's sad how too many churches hire good musicians rather than musically-inclined theologians to lead worship. For entertainment purposes, I give some leeway, but I'm still highly sensitive to lyrics regardless.
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