If there’s one band out there I greatly enjoy, it’s Third Day. And for full disclosure’s sake, we do several of their songs as congregationals at Grace Life Church, including “Your Love Oh Lord” and “Children Of God”. However, I was a bit disappointed the other day when I heard this particular song on the radio. It seems to be another in a long line of songs that just don’t say enough. Much of that has to do with trying to be marketable to wider audiences. But I wonder how much of it has to do with being ashamed of the gospel?
Here are the lyrics (you can listen to the song on YouTube here).
Well, late one night, she started to cry and thought he ain’t coming home
She was tired of the lies, tired of the fight, but she didn’t want to see him go
She fell on her knees and said, “I haven’t prayed since I was young
But Lord above I need a miracle”
(Chorus)
Well no matter who you are and no matter what you’ve done
There will come a time when you can’t make it on your own
And in your hour of desperation
Know you’re not the only one, praying
Lord above, I need a miracle
I need a miracle
He lost his job and all he had in the fall of ’09
Now he feared the worst, that he would lose his children and his wife
So he drove down deep into the woods and thought he’d end it all
And prayed, “Lord above, I need a miracle”
He turned on the radio to hear a song for the last time
He didn’t know what he was looking for even what he’d find
The song he heard gave him hope and strength to carry on
And on that night, they found a miracle
They found a miracle
In your hour of desperation
Know you’re not the only one, praying
Lord above, I need a miracle
I need a miracle
Several questions I have about this song:
*Are they endorsing the fact that having this life’s problems is the main problem?
*How are they defining this miracle? Is it God drawing a soul into seeing the depth of their sin?
*Where is the preaching of the gospel in this equation?
*Does the songwriter understand the difference between God-wrought conviction and felt needs?
*Are they trying to say that the girl in the first verse is a born-again believer (even though she hadn’t “prayed since she was young”)?
*Could the song not have better clarity with the characters as to their lostness?
*I totally agree with the song in that God uses trials and hardships to get our attention but what is the miracle that the characters in the song found?
*How many of these problems listed in the song were self-inflicted? The bible deals much more with change of behavior to see situations improve than it does supernatural intervention (especially if these characters are believers).
*Does this song just cater to a victim’s mentality?
I totally understand that people going through great trials calls for empathy from the Church. However, overlooking an individual’s contribution to those trials is not being true to the Bible. Believers should be holding one hand out to be held by the suffering individual while in the other hand presenting God’s solutions to them from His Word. Having heart-felt emotions for those in dire circumstances and even doing service ministry to those in need is only a part of the healing. Being reconciled to God through the gospel is the foundation for all healing.
All I ask is that Christian bands and songwriters be very specific even though the demands for artistic aesthetics are at play. When writing songs that are expressly Christian, including a ministry element, then art is created for God’s sake and not art’s sake. Fidelity to the revealed will of God as found in the holy scriptures is paramount paling in comparison to iTunes sales.
Brother Music Minister, I believe that this song is way too ambiguous to use in a church service. I will keep listening to Third Day but will have to skip over this song.
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I love Third Day also, but I completely agree. Lyrically, I’m assuming they’re going for a broader audience with this one, but it couldn’t be more vague on the main issues.