What Are Your Songs Saying About Your Faith?

The first thing I wanted to do when I came to Christ as an eighteen-year old kid was write a song about it. The urge to share the Good News is very natural for believers and I was no different. I knew just enough chords back then to piece together a simple progression and do my best at a lyric that would express my newfound faith. I was on top of the world and wanted everyone to know.

Nothing has changed about that in the 40+ years since other than the fact that my songs got better and that I’ve helped a lot of other people express their love for Jesus in songs, too. My passion to equip others has only grown and here at NCS we’re all about “empowering Christian songwriters worldwide.”

Why?

Because there’s simply no greater story (or reality) than the love of God expressed through Jesus Christ in His advent, life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God where He came from in the first place. Throw in the fact that He’s poured out His Spirit in all the earth (Acts 2) to empower us to really live like He lived and you’ve got a pretty amazing foundation from which to write. Anyone who says they can’t think of anything to write about just needs to wake up to the endless beauty and joy of knowing Jesus (imho).

I was reminded of this in our awesome masterclass with Craig Adams from LifeWay Worship called “Writing Modern Worship Songs.” But in the meantime, Craig shared a wealth of songwriting insights and inspiration that both challenged and excited me. I actually realized during the class that I had let some of the joy of writing about my faith slip away — and I needed to reclaim it.

So, it made me want to check in with you and ask,

“What are your songs saying about your faith?”

During the masterclass, Craig and I touched on the fact that sometimes songwriters start believing the lie that there’s “nothing new to write about God” or that there’s no way to write a “fresh worship song.” While it’s true that words like worship, presence, brokenness, glory, majesty, and others have become so familiar that they’ve almost lost all meaning, Craig was quick to point out that a lack of imagination in writing worship stems from a lack of a powerful devotional life.

When you’re talking about God’s only Son, everything’s new.

“The phrase a lot of people around town use for that very idea, John, is that ‘there’s nothing new under the sun in 2018,'” Craig said. “And I say, ‘Well, which sun are we talking about here?’ The one that rises in the sky, I’ll agree with you. But when you’re talking about God’s only Son, everything’s new. New mercies, new grace, new forgiveness… new melodies, new lyrics… everything’s going to be new. If you’re not going anyplace new in your relationship with Him, everything’s going to be dry.”

Perhaps the greatest tool for writing great worship songs is a rich personal worship life.

Consider a songwriter like Chris Tomlin, writing alongside Louis Giglio and the Passion Movement for decades now. It would be interesting to know how many of Tomlin’s best songs were birthed from Giglio’s teaching and the powerful atmosphere of worship cultivated in and for their arena gatherings. Tomlin’s authentic devotion to Christ is evident in everything he does. Without a powerful immersion in worship his songs would undoubtedly become “dry” as Adams indicated, yet somehow he stays in the fresh move of the Spirit year after year.

But what about you?

• Are you growing your passion for Jesus as you grow your skill as a songwriter?
• Are you increasing your faith as you increase your networking and contacts in the music industry?
• Are you more excited about Jesus than ever before or is He the thin veneer on top of your lyric that may be a mile wide but only an inch deep?

For me, I feel more challenged than ever to go deeper and rediscover some things I’ve let go of in the busyness of life. It’s too easy to be in love with Christian songwriting but not be so deeply in love with the Christ I’m writing about. Having our eyes on CCLI charts and what’s trending can obscure the real goal of glorifying God “in spirit and truth” (John 4).

Your real depth in Christ will be reflected in the real depth, or lack of it, in your songs. Your songs are like windows to your soul. What will people see when they look through them? Will they see a clearer, more beautiful picture of Jesus, or just someone trying to be recognized for their gifts and talents?

Selah.