Over the years, many song have become distasteful to me because of biased opinion and/or bad experiences that I associate with certain songs, or sometimes I just get so sick of hearing that same song all the time, especially the super repetitive songs.
In my desire to be honest and fair, I started thinking about some of the old songs that I never sing anymore with the intent of separating my biases and my distasteful experiences from the songs that I believed I was being unjust to. I did not get very far.
Most people that I know are familiar with the old song "
I Need You More". I grew up hearing the song often, and I myself fell into the mesmerizing lyrics of the song that displayed a great devotion and an "ever increasing need" for Christ and His grace. I have seen many teary eyes and expressions of serenity and false wonder among the worshipers that surrounded me singing this very song.
As I was meditating on the words of the song, I was suddenly hit with the realization that the song, while passionate and full of good intent, lacked critical thought and theological care. It appeals to emotion far more than the intellect, and by default teaches a false understanding of the relationship between God and man.
The chorus is where I find my dissonance. It reads as follows:
"
I need you more. More than yesterday I need you Lord. More than Words can say. I need you more than ever before. I need you Lord. I need you Lord."
Now, I obviously have no argument with the statement that words are insufficient to describe the need we have for Christ. The world is full of darkness, hunger, hatred, sorrow and humanity all across the World suffer in a variety of ways. It's the "more than yesterday" and "more than ever before" parts that I am calling into question.
I can think of a couple people whom, if i were to tell this to them in person, would produce tears and begin talking about how they "need Him more" every day, and they might even be offended by my saying this. Perhaps they would accuse me of not having a good "relationship with Christ" or that I am not "in tune with the Spirit".
You might ask "what's wrong with these lyrics? Isn't the writer just being honest about how he feels or about with his relationship with Christ?" At one time I would have asked the same thing, but now it is not so.
Critical analysis leads me to ask this question instead, "can I truly need God more?" I believe the answer is "no." Scripture teaches that God is the creator and sustainer of life. In Him "we live and move and breathe", and outside of God's permission and will we cannot exist. For it was through Christ that we were made and it is through Christ that we remain, that even as He was hanging on a cross with nails in his hands and flesh ripped from His bones He held us in existence.
Given all this, can we say that we need Him more? If our breath, food, water, our very existence relies on Him being Him can we need Him more? I say no. For since before we were conceived in the wombs of our mothers we needed God to the absolute utmost. We always need God and we always will. We do not "need Him more", instead we become more and more aware of our need! We learn to rely on Him more, to trust Him more, and to turn to Him in struggle and in our lacking. We need God just as much when times are good as we do when they are bad.
As you seek and become more and more aware of the human condition and our need for God, I pray that you will desire, trust, and cling to Him who alone can redeem and sustain.
Peace be with you,
Stephen
