He Appeared In A Body – The Case for Imaginative Expression in Worship Songs

My son is beginning to transition into singing words, from his toddler tendency of humming and singing gibberish. Each night, he adds a new word or two to the song Jesus Loves Me or “Yeesus yuvs ne” as he puts it. The picture above is of Edward with his Grandpa Troy, enjoying vitality and playfulness together. It reminds me of the way our God–in relationship with us–enjoys the love that we express to Him, through songs of praise.

An Early Church Song — Doctrine and Dissonance 

Timothy also learned songs. It is widely understood that what the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Timothy 3:16 is a song that was sung by the early church. In the song, 1 Timothy 3:16, the top part seems to be a clear narrative of Jesus’ earthly ministry (I recorded a version of this verse to music here):

He appeared in a body (Christmas)
Was vindicated by the Spirit (Baptism)
He was seen by angels (Widely regarded specifically as Jesus’ temptation Matthew 4:11; Mark 1:13)

Here is the part that is questioned for its chronological sense

He was preached among the nations (Jesus wasn’t widely preached until after His ascension.)
He was believed on in the world (Technically, this occurred before the ascension, albeit in sample size.)
He was taken up in glory (This seems to strongly indicate “the ascension” for all intents and purposes.)

1 Timothy 3:16 is not perfectly understood by us today. Scholars still debate its meaning. It likely was understood by the believers; yet, it may have been intentionally left vague. It is evidence that a song can be both sound in doctrine and vague in possible interpretation. 

Today’s Worship — Can Love Look Reckless?

What about songs we sing in church? As Christians, we are invited to focus our hearts and attention on God through singing. We are called to join the Paul and “sing with [our] mind(s)” (1 Cor 14:15). So, it is good that we struggle with lyrics. It is good that we ask questions of a new song.

In the case of the song Reckless Love, each verse of the song expresses God’s sovereignty. Jesus rescue mission on earth is a calculated one. There is no doubt about His sovereign authority (John 10:18, 19:11). Is there room for us to sing that the literal essence of God’s is reckless? No.

But that is not what is being sung here. Scripture uses what is known as phenomenological language. That is language that expresses how a thing seems. For example, the Christian thinker knows full well that God, who made heaven and the earth, has total knowledge that the earth orbits around the sun. Nevertheless, He elects to use these words “from the rising of the sun to the place where it goes down, people may know that there is none beside me. I am the Lord…” (Isaiah 45:6) Is God somehow lapsing in His memory of how He designed the universe? Yes, the reality is that the earth revolves around the sun. Still, no one faults God, your neighbor, or your meteorologist for saying “sunrise” because idioms are understood to be speaking from a certain perspective. 

So what is this song’s perspective? Reckless, an idiomatic abbreviation from the “reckless abandon” concept, describes the passion behind God’s love. It is perspectival, spoken from eyes of wonder, from the ground level view of the worshipper, who, looks up at God like He is a shepherd, climbing up a mountain to save His sheep, like He is a mighty warrior kicking down barriers and dissolving lies with the truth. Songwriter Cory Asbury marvels at God’s love in that it feels reckless–and you can, too! We have biblical precedence to do likewise.

The Word of God tells us to mean what we say; and, the Word of God tells us we have license to do so with creativity. When King David boasts, “with my God I can scale a wall, bend a bow of bronze” (2 Samuel 22:35/Psalm 18:34), do we go all Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Bronze Bow searching for the physical bow that David bent? No! We read and we rejoice–because we are aware that David is describing how God’s Holy Spirit inside of us makes us feel! When the prophet Habakkuk declares “God the Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the deer, he makes me tread on my high places” (Habakkuk 3:19), we read the context, and recognize that the hope of God makes our hearts vibrant, when we nothing seems to be showing life.

Ben Rector articulates this emotion in a 2015 song “Brand New” when he writes “I feel like new sunglasses / like a brand new pair of jeans / I feel like taking chances / I feel a lot like seventeen…Like a heartbeat skip / like an open page / Like a one way trip on an aeroplane / It’s the way that I feel when I’m with you / brand new”  (No one questions Rector’s sanity in relating his life to denim.) 

Worship Today — Can God Not Want Heaven Without Us?

Here is the second song for our consideration: We firmly believe as Christians, and teach at Village, that God the Trinity–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–is perfect, needing nothing. In God’s perfection, He is the source of complete happiness. The theological term for this is God’s aseity. Before, during and since creation–God has been existing in entirely independent perfection from any need or want. So, while we have freedom to sing a song like Hillsong’s “What a Beautiful Name” as God’s global church is doing, (it’s one of the more popular songs in churches on the planet. Jesus’ followers are moved by it!) What do we mean when we sing the words “you did not want heaven without us/so Jesus, you brought heaven down” in the song?

God doesn’t need us. What a wonderful truth that is. Let us never misunderstand this song to believe that God needs us to complete Him. Let us not misunderstand this to say to God “without us, you would not want heaven” as an inverse of what it is saying. We ought never to sing/believe that. Christians should not want heaven without God (Thank you C.S. Lewis for writing on this) But, let us never sing “You could not bear heaven without us” as if somehow we were this captivating entity God just simply needed in His life. We would, indeed, be singing a love song in that case…a love song to ourselves! 

It is out of His glory, mercy and undeserved grace that, truly, God did not want heaven without us. For His Name sake. (Psalm 23) Out of His own glory, He made a way for us to experience Him, and be united with Him through Jesus. Wow! Jesus really is a beautiful, wonderful, powerful name! Again, as we look at the context of the song, the writer does not conclude “What a wonderful person I am, what a wonderful person I am…” Hogwash. These worshippers are writing out of creative expression of deep love to their savior. As we sing throughout the song, Jesus is the One we praise. Not ourselves. Surely Jesus has “no rival/no equal.”

I hope these two examples, paired with 1 Timothy, Psalms and Habakkuk reflect our call as church leaders to teach and defend true doctrine and our liberty in Christ to sing these songs of faith. I hope Christians will choose to neither blindly sing, nor brazenly demonize any worship song. A song can become a beautiful opportunity to teach good doctrine to the family of God–like the aseity of God and the sovereignty of God–as we sing in spirit and in truth, in awe and in wonder. The Creator of the universe created us with immense capacity for creativity, and we have His permission to be creative in our expression of love and adoration of Him. He is love that inspires our love. What a wonderful gift!

I look forward to worshipping Jesus together with you, on a Sunday (or, if you are reading this and do not attend Village Church, I look forward to worshipping Him in Heaven with you, very soon)! I pray that you and I, with childlike wonder, would learn more words to more songs, and learn both the doctrinal significance and the poetic intricacies of the songs we sing. Yes, “Yeezuz yuves ne” The Bible tells me so.

Post Script: I recorded another demo of a Bible Verse Song like 1 Timothy 3:16 above. I love learning God’s Word through music and hope you do too!