"You Are My Drug, You Are My Addiction" (Connotatively Difficult Words to Sing in Worship)
In my personal time with the Lord, one of my favorite tunes to sing right now is called "It's My Joy." It's a throwback (2003) praise song by the band Enter the Worship Circle. The lyrics are pretty plain and simple, and the sound the band strove for was very stripped-down and folksy. But it packs a punch, because some of the words used by the songwriter have a negative connotation.
"It's My Joy"
You set the lonely in families
You set the lonely in families
You set the prisoners free to sing
You are my bliss
You are my drug
You are my addiction
And it's my joy
It's my joy
To give you praise
You rain abundance; You shower love
Refresh the weary more than enough
You are my bliss
You are my drug
You are my addiction
And it's my joy
And it's my joy
It's my joy
To give you praise
I see this song as Truth...plain and simple. But no matter how "contemporary" your church's worship style is, there is nary a local congregation that is gonna' feel comfortable singing the words "drug" and "addiction" when referring to their God.
Why is this?
Connotations are powerful things. When a word or phrase has a strong idea or feeling attached to it - especially something negative - we're done with it.
Why is this?
Connotations are powerful things. When a word or phrase has a strong idea or feeling attached to it - especially something negative - we're done with it.
- A drug is generally defined as "a substance that is used as a medicine or that people take for pleasure."
- An addiction is a "compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal."
By definition, it seems that God could easily be described as a drug, for His salvation is like medicine to the sin-sick and His grace-filled gift of abundant is indeed pleasurable.
Once we are His, we are no longer slaves to sin but to God (Romans 6:15-23). This sure sounds like addiction to me, for we ought to have a compulsive need for our Savior and the new, righteous-habit-forming lifestyle to which He calls us. And we ought to have withdrawal-like effects if we begin to turn our back on the Spirit and His guidance.
So pull up a chair, turn on the YouTube (link below), and take a listen to the worship song "It's My Joy." See if you can set your connotative side to the side and worship to these seemingly odd words that speak so frankly of our Savior. Challenge yourself to view things a bit differently today. And see if God might not start to "redeem" these difficult terms (at least in your mind and heart) for His glory.
Once we are His, we are no longer slaves to sin but to God (Romans 6:15-23). This sure sounds like addiction to me, for we ought to have a compulsive need for our Savior and the new, righteous-habit-forming lifestyle to which He calls us. And we ought to have withdrawal-like effects if we begin to turn our back on the Spirit and His guidance.
So pull up a chair, turn on the YouTube (link below), and take a listen to the worship song "It's My Joy." See if you can set your connotative side to the side and worship to these seemingly odd words that speak so frankly of our Savior. Challenge yourself to view things a bit differently today. And see if God might not start to "redeem" these difficult terms (at least in your mind and heart) for His glory.
2 comments
Leah- Looking forward to your talk at Transformed this weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jacqui! I look forward to meeting you. Transformed is always a good time!
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