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Should we sing Reckless Love in our churches? Is God reckless? // Worship Leader Wednesday
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- Опубликовано: 23 янв 2018
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Read Cory's Asbury's meaning behind the song: / 10158977378510171
We love the song Reckless Love, but many people aren't quite sure we should be describing God as 'reckless'. Should we be singing it?
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Theologically and realistically, God and His love are not separate. God IS Love. God was not careless in His love for us. It was precise. You are trying to justify something that you know you shouldn’t be trying to justify. Love isn’t reckless. It is meaningful. Would you want God’s Love for you to be a coincidence? God created us because he had a whole plan. So, God is selfless, not reckless. They should have used selfless instead of reckless. The English language provides that word.
Amen
Amen, thank you for putting it so simply and beautifully.
i like that… thanks for this. GB
I believe the author had a good intention when he was writing the song but i also think using the word reckless to describe God's love is not the best way to bring out that good intention. I wish he had chosen a better word. God and his love is inseparable
I’m a Father of a beautiful 3 year old, I would ‘recklessly’ put my life on the line for him if he were in danger. I wouldn’t care about the consequence of losing my life if that meant he’d live. That is how I interpret this song in my heart.
Well explained.
Your actions to protect your beautiful child should not be seen as reckless,its your duty towards that beautiful child
If your actions is destructive towards humankind and that beautiful child
In an effort to to save that child then and only then......RECKLESS🤷♂️
@@tonybrown7175 It’s not God’s “duty” to die for us. It was not necessary or something God had to do. But He sent His only son to die for us anyway, regardless of the pain He had to endure.
That is exactly what the song means. People need to stop looking for problems where there aren't any. This is an incredible song.
Amen 🔥
I appreciate what you're trying to say here. However, God's love is an expression of who He is, so I'm not sure how you're able theologically separate God from His Love and call His love reckless? Nowhere in scripture is God's love described as "reckless," which by definition means: "heedless, careless, headstrong, rash, indifferent to or disregardful of consequences." To suggest that God and His love are two different or separate things is impossible. His love is connected to His character--you can't separate the two. To call God's love "reckless" is to attribute recklessness to His Holy character, and my fellow worship leaders, that's something we should never, never do--it's unbiblical. We are called to worship Him in Spirit and IN TRUTH. Recklessness is not of God and therefore not true. I hate to say it, but in our modern worship culture, (of which I've been a part for 20 years), I have seen a very slow and subtle move into compromising doctrine in our services. It's the frog in the boiling water--over so much time it's hardly noticed, yet by the end we are nowhere near sound, biblical doctrine which is the foundation of our faith. And if we can't think of the right words in our own strength to describe God's love, we should just go back to what it actually says in scripture and not try and modernize or modify it to our own lexicon. God's Love is SACRIFICIAL, not reckless. There is a massive difference between the two. The bigger danger here is the influence on young or new believers, or those who don't know Jesus--that their understanding of Him is not biblical but interpretive through these songs via the music they enjoy. You described this is "not a hill worth dying over" at the beginning, but I think this is more serious than you realize.
All this is truth. Thanks for it. This comment is so much better than the video of these guys talking. Obviously these guys are into all the Bethel music and Hillsong music bands and any band that has come out from there.
You can not separate the character of God from the attributes of God. If God’s character is not reckless then His love may not be either.
Ehh. Shallow philosophy.....Really grow up. Is this the standard of christians 2023 - still living on milk?. Thinking and making youtube videos about "Is God reckless" over a song?. Sheez. Learn heart and Spirit and meaning and intent, before carnal mind theology and nitpicking of words as the pharisies did. Also he sings - the reckless love of God. And its very true, to be reckless you need to go into enemy territory and take the risks and chances without defense. Hence he got crucified. So in many ways his love is reckless. But the meaning and the point of the song is with that word - His love is so great, so he dares to risk his own life for you and being "reckless", because he loves you. That doesnt mean in wisdom that he doesnt planned it in perfection and that he is "stupid in reckless". Big difference. I mean come on, this is just pathetic. Dont bother responding i dont use YT notifications. But i think God is more happy to see hearts burn for him through a song that doesn't live up to youre "perfect wording", then a pharisie minded priest that thought he watched over some "words" - that in there mind "was false" and never burn in the Spirit. Reminds me of what Jesus said to the pharisies.
My brothers - Thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts on this song.
I respectfully however, wholeheartedly disagree with your conclusion!
I've listened to the explanation of the songwriter, echoed in explanation by you guys, and it only further confirms that many of us may have some pretty serious misconceptions about the character of the creator of the universe that need to be understood properly.
OUR love can be Reckless, HUMAN love that is can be Reckless, yet God the Father's love, the omnipotent, omnipresent Creator KING, HIS love is most certainly not able to be even remotely compared to being reckless!
For something to be Reckless one would assume the outcome is unknown to that individual, or that one is going against a logical, beneficial choice choosing a different path, does that make sense? If the outcome is in fact known and desired, then the action isn't reckless after all, but rather calculated. How could God's love for us be Reckless, unless we are claiming that God doesn't know what is going to happen, or is surprised by the results of any action yesterday today or tomorrow? (Interesting tid bit to ponder here, Did you know that in Hebrew there is no word for "coincidence"? Because in God's own language there is no need for a word representing coincidence, there are no coincidences to God the Father!)
Leaving the 99 to go after the lost 1 was not Reckless even for the Shepherd in the parable because if you understand the big picture of the parable he is going after the Lost of course, the found are not at risk. The only purpose worth seeking to the Shepard is finding the lost here. He's correctly aligned his priority & moved down that path. This is calculated, not reckless.
Christ going to the cross willingly and dying for our sins was ABSOLUTELY NOT reckless. He calculated, agonized over the decision. He knew exactly what that meant, also clearly understanding that in three days he would rise again, victorious over death! Praise God! Calculated, purposeful & wonderful! But not reckless.
The reason this song rubs many Christ followers is that it (as you've explained rather well in your video) takes a HUMAN attribute/action like being reckless, and incorrectly applies it to describe an action from God the Father.
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God Bless guys, I do not doubt your hearts!
Proverbs 3:6
"In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
You have put into words the turmoil that I feel. You did a great job wording this!
It's such a good song i think you need to consider it with metaphor, i understand if you are offended but we all have different mentality so hey no prop's
Hebrews 12:2 “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God.” Scripture makes it clear that Jesus knew what it would cost Him and yet He went obediently to the Cross. Knowing that truth fills my heart with so much more worship and praise to Him...that He did that for me! 🙌
jason danner the problem is that Cory didn’t write it, so his explanation has not effect on the song standing by it’s self. He muddled the water on what he thought about it, but it did make people think about words we chose every day and that’s so good
@@tsuritoquinker217 Respectfully and with love. I agree the first few times I heard this song I liked it. but after thinking of my words as I sang it, I felt bad. Because I can not get away from the false yet sweet to human ears words. Reckless humans yes. Not our God the creator❤️.
The lyric does not rise to the level of heresy, but it does mischaracterize God. You cannot separate the nature of God from the nature of His love. God is love, and to say God's love is reckless is to say God is reckless. So, sing the song in your churches if you want, but it does not speak the truth about God.
Amen
Yes! Just like how Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent's interpretation. The enemy lets you have truth but will mix in falsehood. Remember to kill a rat, all you need is a sprinkle of poison compared to what else youre giving it.
Galatians 5:9
A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Change the words if you have to, but dont be mislead by 99% truth. You must acknowledgebthe falsehood and correct it.
AMEN! 👏❤️
Yeah I have a problem with the word reckless, theologically, but I got the heart behind the song, so I did some research and found an antonym of reckless - audacious - showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks - and thought YES, that works! SO I use Audacious rather than reckless.
Simon Hicken I’m not so much concerned with the word reckless but more so the bridge:
There’s no shadow you won’t light up
Mountain you won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall you won’t kick down
Lie you won’t tear down
Coming after me
Totally limiting Gods nature, it makes it seem (to an unbeliever who doesn’t know God yet) that He [God] has to work hard to show His love for us, that sometimes there IS actually something between us and God, but God is omnipresent, when we sense He is distant or not there it’s not because he actually is away from us and that we have to wait for Him to break a wall or climb to get to us, it’s the sinner who needs to repent, turning around and realizing He’s been there the entire time. A “”backslidden” believer who’s come back to God knows this: the MOMENT they turn around, God, the creator of the universe is RIGHT THERE, arms open, and He never left, and nothing was in between them and God except their own choice to turn away.
If only the song were called Selfless Love
AndrewAdamsMD NYPD if god doesn’t have a self then it isn’t a trinity, or a pantheon, or the mainstream idea pf the kristian god. in which case that would be somewhat unique and i’d admire your unique conception of god that wasn’t like everyone who simply accepts the common narrative about what’s what and goes home to emotionally repress in front of the television for hours on end before they go back to a job next day that in some way directly/indirectly indentures someone on earth against their “faith’s” good commands.
AndrewAdamsMD NYPD he wouldn't do it cos they particularly chose that word...
I always said steadfast love of God would fit better
SmittyWarben YagerMangensen the definition of selfless isn’t “to lack a self”. It’s to be more concerned with the needs of people around you then your own well being (ex: dying on a cross for sin). Whether you agree or disagree with him, your use of selfless is simply incorrect.
AndrewAdamsMD NYPD agree! I have problem with this regardless what is the context. Using such word is NOT the character of God. The writer is reckless using this word. Why not use a different word? Have some reverence to God. So disrespectful.
You cannot separate God from His love, they are both perfect, and cannot be reckless. This song is not biblical.
God’s love is not “reckless”. It is steadfast. How can you describe something so so holy as “reckless”. In the Bible, the only thing affiliated with the term reckless are foolish people. I don’t think using a term to describe the foolish is appropriate to describe the love of God. God bless you all!
They have crept in unaware!
Because recklessness of a fool and reckless love are two different things. One is dangerous, the other is beautiful. Guilty by affiliation is circumstantial. Jesus was human, and Hitler was human. So am I not allowed to say that Jesus was human because the word "human" is affiliated with someone that was evil?
But the love of God is reckless. It is ludicrous and absurd. We cannot wrap our minds around it. You are right that it is steadfast. But why would a holy and just God died for sinners? Especially for me
I agree,,,God's love is not recklesss....but steadfast.we can't changed the word as we want. It gives wrong msg
@@ilovemybabies6908 it depends on the context. And yes, he can choose whatever lyrics he wants, but you must understand the motives he has. He means "untamed" "irrational"(to human perception) "wild". He can control his lyrics because it is his message. God's grace for us is ridiculous. Now before you call blasphemy, his grace for us is irrational and makes no sense for Him to forgive us, so in a way, His grace is ridiculous. That's not calling God any "incorrect" words, that's human worship and expression. You can't expect humans to completely understand the Ultimate One perfectly, can you?
I am on the praise team at my church and I was very convicted about the term “reckless”. I declined to sing it and many in our congregation also felt the same. Thankfully the church changed the words to, “the overwhelming never failing endless love of God”. If you read through the definitions the term “devil-may-care” is listed and that was the straw right there for me.
Ehh. Shallow philosophy.....Really grow up. Is this the standard of christians 2023 - still living on milk?. Thinking and making youtube videos about "Is God reckless" over a song?. Sheez. Learn heart and Spirit and meaning and intent, before carnal mind theology and nitpicking of words as the pharisies did. Also he sings - the reckless love of God. And its very true, to be reckless you need to go into enemy territory and take the risks and chances without defense. Hence he got crucified. So in many ways his love is reckless. But the meaning and the point of the song is with that word - His love is so great, so he dares to risk his own life for you and being "reckless", because he loves you. That doesnt mean in wisdom that he doesnt planned it in perfection and that he is "stupid in reckless". Big difference. I mean come on, this is just pathetic. Dont bother responding i dont use YT notifications. But i think God is more happy to see hearts burn for him through a song that doesn't live up to youre "perfect wording", then a pharisie minded priest that thought he watched over some "words" - that in there mind "was false" and never burn in the Spirit. Reminds me of what Jesus said to the pharisies.
This song is a disgrace and has deceived so many they say uh I love that song and are clueless. God is in no way reckless. Man can be reckless not God. The song is a disgrace and should not be sung at all do not promote a song at all if it deceives people and lies about God.
I don’t see the problem with this song. I just thought reckless meant passionate.🤷🏻♀️
When I sing this song, I think of how God's love to sinners is foolishness to the world, and a stumbling block to legalists. Yet He does not try to please man and avoid controversy. He offers the cross in spite of all the popularity it costs to do so. He remains true in spite of all the cultural taboos that He breaks. While everyone is tripping over themselves to be politically correct, Jesus comes in and trashes the cultural norms without a thought to popularity... all to save a hell bound sinner like me. The reckless love of God translates to the offense of the cross.
I understand the song to be about how God loves us in a way that most humans would say was reckless. He is willing to pursue His enemies, to love them, to the degree that He would sacrifice His Son for them.
While I understand the intent of the song ,and beautiful lyrics and chords we do need be very careful about our description of God, within our creative, artistic expression. While it would not be as romantic, novel and appealing perhaps, I feel it would be less divisive amongst christians, so more peacable, and more accurate a description if the word were replaced and thus more honorable to God if the word "Selfless" was used in place of "Reckless" - thus the loving act of Jesus upon the cross is still something God had planned, knowing the consequences in His omniscience but willing to suffer for our sake. In no way is this some recommendation, only an opinion.
I once sang a modern worship song, in a secular setting and one of the other performers thought the song was about a romantic relationship. So I agree with your points, it is wonderdul to sing praises to Him, but it is probably best to refrain from singing songs like this to avoid confusing non-believers.
i’ve always loved the use of Reckless Love in the song and just learned today some people dont, for me when i heard reckless i would think of God being willing to do anything and everything to go after me, reckless foreshadowing that there’s no shadow he won’t light up or mountain he won’t climb up coming after me, even if it seems dangerous. NOW as Christians we all know with common sense that nothing could rlly be dangerous for God bc he is God, this earth he created, there’s nothing on earth too dangerous for him, not even the devil which he has already defeated, nor is God necessarily reckless because he knows the outcome of all things, he can’t be reckless, but i thought that the word reckless in this sense wasnt to be taken so literally and more to be used metaphorically and symbolically. Like a father would recklessly love and protect his daughter, if i’m wrong i’m sorry i’m just a teen, but this is how i saw it 💗
I saw it this way too. I still do... The hardest part about it is that I hear some Christians saying that it is blasphemy, and it just messes with me. I will never forget when I was at camp in a little chapel building and this song was played... Everyone was sobbing by the end of it. I was sobbing. I haven't experienced something like that since. People were so convicted that day. I was too.. And ever since, I can't see it in a negative light. I just can't do it.
So, I've learned that I probably would not play this for a church service because of how controversial it is... but I can't see it in a negative light.
@@elizab8844 yeah i don’t think it is blasphemous or bad at all!! people are seeing it the wrong way in my opinion.
As a worship pastor for 20+ years, I have run across songs here and there that have lyrics that could be considered controversial. We typically stray away from those songs just to avoid conflict. However, if it is just one word in a song, why not change that word for your congregation. For instance, while I completely understand what was meant by the lyric "...evolving in pursuit of what you said" in the song "So Will I (100 Billion X)", the word was a hang-up for some people. I would way rather have them focus on worshiping Almighty God than worrying about a lyric, so we just changed the word "evolving" to "emerging" in that song before we ever introduced it. The song went off without a hitch and is now one of our congregations all-time favorite worship songs.
For a song like this one, perhaps change the word "reckless" to "perfect" or "matchless" in order to avoid having people's focus shift away from Jesus and onto how they are going to confront the worship leader about a lyric that they have a problem with. (Or, as stated by you guys, just don't do the song. It's not like there is a shortage of great worship songs in the world.)
typical church, avoid controversy at all cost instead of discussing it and learning,
emily schwellenbach You'll notice that I wrote "we" changed the lyrics to "So Will I". We, the leadership team, discussed it in detail for a couple of weeks before deciding what to do with the song. There are some things worth addressing with the whole congregation, but this seems like one of those things that leadership should pray about and decide upon. (If our goal were to spark debate and divide the church, we might focus on what Paul referred to as "disputable matters" in Romans 14, but we would rather fix our eyes on bigger things, like hosting the presence of the Lord, advancing His kingdom, cultivating heavenly destinies in our lives, etc.)
avoid conflict at all cost and never encourage people to think with their brain, or heaven forbid we let God out of the box!!!
why are you changing his song, he wrote it, in fact you are infringing on his copyright , you have no right t do that. You guys dont understand the reckless love means His love that will go to all ends to find us, not that its foolish, and anyone with English 101 should be able to decipher this . All Bethel songs are very passionate usually inspired from the writer,s "way of suffering" as it use to be called. If a church divides over the word of a song, you have serious poor teaching and immaturity and you need stronger more mature leadership
Emily took the point of this ridiculous controversy of the word reckless that Cory uses and hits the bullseye. I know when myself and another brother in Christ when we were at One Thing 2017 in KC, and heard the song for the first time; not only did we understand the chorus, but the word reckless and how he used was instantly known as to what he meant. We both looked at each other and tears were streaming down our face, because even without the explanation from Cory, which is fantastic, is really not needed. DO NOT CHANGE THE WORDS AS AGAIN AS EMILY SAID YOUR ARE INFRINGING ON CORY’S SONG. There is nothing wrong with worship leaders explaining the reckless part to those who are coming to know Christ and being filled with Holy Spirit. Jesus was purposefully reckless in many things he did to wake people up and believe. Flipping over tables of the tax collectors, going out to to the desert for 40 days and being tempted by Satan, etc., etc. Jesus was reckless for a purpose , because he saw and knew that all his people he loved would either understand and know that he was the Son of God; the 3-in-1.
What is kind of funny about all of this is that King David would have been a VERY controversial worship song writer in today's climate. He took all sorts of liberty in how he used poetic language to describe God in ways that wouldn't seem accurate based on some other theological knowledge we have of God, but it was his pure expression of how he viewed God from a human perspective. Because of that human perspective thing, we'll always be a little 'off' in describing God, especially when trying to do so in an artistic way that invokes the proper emotions.
Yeah, yeah 100% bro.
What David wrote is Scripture, Divinely Inspired and never contradicts any other Scripture, for GOD is the Author.
Rather than try to walk through the Psalms to pick out examples, I found some sites that listed some uses of anthropomorphic language, personification, or figurative language in scripture. Was probably unfair to limit it to David, as it's widely used.
www.equip.org/article/recognizing-and-interpreting-anthropomorphic-language/
carelinks.net/doc/refguide-en/26
biblehub.com/library/barrows/companion_to_the_bible/chapter_xxxv_the_figurative_language.htm
AMEN!!! It's about our Inability to Describe the Fathomless acts of God and of His love!!
I really appreciate the humility of this video. I thought I was going to open it to find a massacre of rude comments but I appreciate how you talked about it. Thanks for sharing - I love the heart for open, honest conversation.
Thanks Alex! We appreciate you bringing some kindness into the comment section :)
Last Sunday God used this song to save me. I accompany my family to church fairly often as it’s very much a gesture of solidarity. So, it was more for them than me. When this song came on something changed. I felt something. Something I wasn’t having that day. For the sake of time I’ll leave out the backstory but let’s just say I have issues with accepting love. So after a few minutes of composing myself, I managed to push the feeling aside and move on. However something about that song burrowed itself into my brain and I couldn’t shake it. Those words, “There’s no shadow you won’t light up, mountain you won’t climb up, coming after me” replayed like a soundtrack in the back of my mind for days. Finally I gave in and pulled the song up, and God began to speak. As the song played, It felt like some kind of personal proclamation of his love for me. Crying and praying I suddenly felt accepting Gods love freeing. The concept no longer felt uncomfortable. So here I am, days by day working at continuing to accept that a all-powerful righteous a holy God somehow is in love with me, a incredibly disgusting and unworthy soul.
I felt like somehow God brought me here to share that and to end with this..
That Sunday, God CHOSE to use THIS song to get to me. He definitely didn’t consider my opinion. I’m pretty sure my worship leaders opinion wasn’t much of a factor either. God did it without reading any comments or concerning himself about weather any of the words didn’t relay the intended messages perfectly. We live In a overly PC world where everyone is a critic. Last week God ignored all of that because the only thing he cared about was getting to me. God did that! I’m still trying to wrap my head around that. I know this is long but I’m hooping God had me put this here because someone needed to read it.
Welcome brother of christ
Yeah. I don’t think I will sing this song congregationally. The word reckless has negative connotations. The last thing I want our congregation to do is to think negatively of God’s love. Also- there are so so so many great songs that talk and explain the love of God in beautiful language. Why would we use one that could be fuzzy with its language?
I like the music and the tune of this song, but to consider even Gods love reckless is not right. God does not chase you down until you believe in him he lets you choose and you love him. God is not reckless and neither is his love
I love what you said about human language being limited and incapable of perfectly describing God's love for us. That speaks to me.
It is impossible for any ASPECT of God to be reckless.
Your argument is rationalization. Just because you PERCEIVE God's love as reckless does not make it so.
God's love if infinite. It is divine.
God is omniscient. He already KNOWS the consequences, so how can He do anything without regard for them?
Theologically, this song is incorrect. You cannot support that adjective to describe anything about an omnipotent, omniscient God. God is not who you (or I) say He is. God is who HE says He is."
God's Word says that "God is love." You cannot separate His character from God. To say that His love is reckless is to say that HE is reckless.
is being reckless a bad thing?
Yes. A synonym for reckless is "careless".
Synonyms is a Word that means exactly or "NEARLY" the same as another word ... Reckless is not careless , "Care"less love is not love , Reckless love is to love without thinking about the consequences .. (just my thoughts) God bless you :)
@@slysal5 YES, being reckless is a bad thing!! It means to act without giving consideration of the consequences of one's actions. Synonyms for reckless are THOUGHTLESS, CARELESS, RASH, IRRESPONSIBLE, FOOLHARDY AND UNWISE. There's not a sane person on the planet who would rejoice at having those words associated with them and their character. GOD IS LOVE. So calling his love reckless is CALLING GOD RECKLESS. That's dangerous and certainly NOT WORSHIPFUL!!
@@boulibin so how do you explain away or downplay words like rash, irresponsible, thoughtless, foolhardy and unwise? Because those are all synonyms for reckless as well. Follow up question #1: WHERE IN GOD'S WORD does God himself, his beloved Son Jesus, or their servants, the prophets and apostles, ever use such words to describe ANY ASPECT OF GOD, much less his love? Follow up question #2: WOULD YOU BE DELIGHTED TO BE CALLED/DESCRIBED AS thoughtless, careless, rash, irresponsible, foolhardy and unwise?
People keep arguing for this word usage based on their emotions and the story Cory Asbury attaches to It. Which is a poor, SELF-centered "interpretation" of the parable of the lost sheep, by the way. Also "poetic license" is used as justification. Well, GOD IS A POET (around 30% of the bible is poetry!!) but nowhere in HIS poems is he ever described as reckless or any of its equally offensive, negatively-charged synonyms.
No one says (or can say!) "Here it is in Psalm X" or "ln lsaiah chapter Y it says." No one spells it out and PROVES FROM GOD'S WORD that reckless and its synonyms are fitting ways to describe ANY part of God's nature.
What people WILL say is "Watch Cory's video where he explains it." But no one will say, "l have taken some time and diligently searched the scriptures myself and l have found..." Should we settle for the word of Cory over the word of God?
But WHAT DOES OCCUR is defenders of "reckless" calling others nitpicking, legalistic, judgmental, smallminded, non-creative Pharisees. NAMECALLING MAY MAKE YOU FEEL SUPERIOR BUT IT IS STILL NOT PROOF. It's just evidence of an assertion (i.e. God's love is reckless) that can't be substantiated by scriptural proof.
I'm actually handing out the leads and chords to this music today. I thought through this song myself, particularly the "leaves the ninety-nine". In the military there is the idea of "acceptable losses", the losses that are acceptable and even expected when taking a location of value, for example. Having 100 sheep losing 1 would be acceptable. It would be reckless to risk everything just for 1 sheep. This is the recklessness of love, to risk life and limb to go out and find the one, just because even one lost is too much.
Wow man that’s an incredible analogy!!! You need to share that with your church!!
You've missed the point of "leaving the 99", just as Cory Asbury did in writing the song. Jesus teaches in that parable that the 99 are all saved. They are the righteous. They are safe in their salvation. There is no risk or danger to leave them because they are the righteous. So you, of course, will leave them to find the one that has fallen away. To make this into a military analogy, it's like knowing that your platoon is safe at base camp, but there is a man still out in the warzone, so you go get him. You're not endangering the base camp by going to get the one.
Michael Greene The righteous can still fall.
I definitely see your point of view but would disagree. Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees in this parable, not born again Christians who are the only people this side of the New Testament that are considered actually as righteous. I'm thinking that it's a parable of Jesus saying to the "righteous" Pharisees that the one lost sheep that needs Him is far more valuable to Him than 99 who think they don't. I believe the recklessness sung in this song is instead our human means of verbalizing a love that would ONLY be considered reckless by those here on Earth. He loves us to the point that He created us with the choice to love Him in return. He died to save every person from the point he died to now, every single person whether they chose to reciprocate that love or not. He promised to then never leaves us or forsake us after we've accepted Him. So, if I were to love the homeless person on the side of the road, give him everything I have, and put my name on the line so that he could gain back his life, everyone would think me reckless at the very least. But to God, it's perfectly logical and not reckless at all because of endless I AM of who He is.
After saying all that, it is my personal experience. It's how God spoke to me when leading this song at my church. It's absolutely accurate that the Lord reveals Himself in infinitely different ways to everyone based on the same passages of scripture. Our only responsibilities from then is that when He reveals that to us is to pray about it, find backing in His word for the revelation, and seek the counsel of someone in love with Him. All revelation of God is backed by scripture, brings peace to chaos, and is confirmed by the Holy Spirit regardless of whom He is inhabiting.
After that novel of a response, haha. I shared my testimony with the song not as the definitive word but hopefully as just another facet of the goodness and kindness of God in how He perfectly teaches and relates to us as individuals and how that can sometimes bless a nation through such a song as this.
I appreciate your response. Two things:
1. The 99 aren't referring to people who don't think they need the Shepherd. That's a HUGE stretch. Jesus refers to the 99 as "righteous", not "people who think they're righteous", so I choose to take Christ at His word when He calls them righteous. Remember, the Pharisees were righteous under the law, but they were legalistic and did not practice grace. This doesn't make them unrighteous, just arrogant jerks. But being an arrogant jerk doesn't make you unrighteous.
2. "everyone would think me reckless at the very least. But to God, it's perfectly logical and not reckless at all because of endless I AM of who He is." I love that you used this line, because I think it points out exactly my point. To God, it's perfectly logical and not reckless. Because we know God, we should understand His moves as Him being perfectly logical and praising that, not seeing Him as reckless. That is the way the rest of the world sees the way God works, not the believer.
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:18
God IS Love! He is the very definition of love. So if His Love is reckless.. then God is reckless. Also, the parable is just that. God would never leave me to rescue you. He doesn’t leave the 99. He’s able to be there and save the one all at once without abandoning anyone. That’s the AMAZING God I serve!
Hang on.
_"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. *Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?*"_ (Luke 15:4)
That's a rhetorical question, he leaves the 99 cause he loves that 1 sheep so much.
It is sad that this is a controversy in the first place.
I'm not sure I think it's sad. It is important that we have our theology right in our songs, so if we question the theology of a song, that's a good thing. But we should also be careful not to throw out a powerful song over what might be a misunderstanding. Examining these things is good :)
91: 1 I think we should always be conscious and thoughtful of lyrics. Certainly framing God as reckless in nature is not biblically true at face value. It goes a long when you can articulate a meaning to help people get over the hump. But some are always gonna be stubborn no matter what and I would say that's their choice.
Worship Tutorials It is sad that something so minute became such a controversy. I, personally, relate to this song because a lot of times in my life, I've felt unreachable by God. Just to feel that God would go out of his way to get to me; it's unfathomable in my mind to the point that I just have to prostrate myself in his presence.
But it is not minute and for many, many people they cannot acclaim the word reckless the God. That greatly hinders their worship regardless of how others might be drawn to it.
Stephen Sarine Usually it's "conservative Christians" who are steeped in tradition that think that way. Those are the people who almost made give up on church if I wasn't truly saved. It's the "sloppy wet kiss" line from "How He Loves" all over again!!!
wouldn't the omnipotent nature of God make recklessness impossible? God did not send His Son without regard for consequence, He did so to save the world because He loved it. Reckless might seem like a nice romantic way to describe God's love, but totally inaccurate. I'm fairly sure that wasn't the intention of the writers, but the point being that when we sing words outside the Bible we need to be extra careful that they are still in line with the Bible. What kind of an irresponsible God would we be loving, had He not been in total awarness and knowledge of what He was doing? His love may look reckless to us, but certainly that is not how the Bible describes it.
And His love bankrupted heaven? What does that even mean? That somehow the resources of heaven were depleted in loving us? God is abounding and totally self-sufficient, there is nothing that could bankrupt or deprive Him. His love abounds to us indeed, but not at His expense. His love is an outpouring of who He is.
quacking96 you are right on the money and I agree. Their defense that God is not reckless but His love is, is actually saying that God is reckless because God IS LOVE.
Theologically speaking, this song is unbiblical.
Then it’s an easy choice for you to not do it. Agree to disagree. But not everyone sees it that way which is why it is great that no one is forcing you to do it. That’s the beauty of good theological debate, we don’t have to agree, we only have to love and respect!
Brian Michael Fuller i think that's where i disagree. theological debate must lead to the truth, of which exists only one. that's not to say we dont respect one another, but to leave the debate as "you have your view, i have mine" is intellectually lazy and irresponsible. my issue with doesnt rest with something arbitrary like different cultural contexts of the word, for the word is defined clearly in the dictionary, and as a church that releases songs to public, local context is not enough to justify its choice of language.
Brian Michael Fuller to add to that, the reason why im so insistent on not just leaving it as "everyone has their own opinion" is because not everyones opinion is the Bibles opinion, and i hope that through my own broken testimony i might point more people to the Word.
All I know and see is that MANY people, including me, are brought closer to Jesus through this song :) And so MANY people blessed by it.
Clearly the song is bringing them to the Jesus that saves and doesn't just aspire to save-- especially when you see youth all over the world coming to the feet of Christ through this song. And you can't say the song is just emotions therefore is invalid because then you are invalidating human emotions when even Jesus felt emotions: "oh Father, why have you forsaken me?" He clearly was in an emotional state of disturbance in the form of a human. a perfect human if I may add. Many people argue this song just feeds the fleshly emotions, but I beg to differ. If I am brought to my knees in worship in my closet (which is what this song did to me the 1st time) then it's doing more than just scratching the surface of my emotions it's literally creating a bridge to an intimate space of worship. And God's love is absolutely reckless and overwhelming and just doesn't make sense to the human understanding. If you've ever been tossed upside down by His love you'd know this too. My human love is conditional, it varies, and it does not reck people upside down that it brings them to repentance. No, but God's love does.
I really love what you are writing here. This is exactly my thought. Thank you for sharing :) This song is really brought me to Jesus even closer. Once again thank you.
To say that the song it flatters the individual is a big statement to make. Jesus is bigger than the world, and everything that He does is above our human understanding. If you really read their comments, you can see clearly how God really use this song to change and touch a lot lives, not just an aspiration. And He has the power to save, which is clearly what the message of this song about.
Makes me cringe personally.
Ya like the Jehova's witness and the Mormons think they are bringing people closer to Jesus?
He's not calling God reckless. I love this song it moves me in ways I can't describe. Listen to the live version. Listen to his live version he explains the meaning.
The way it sounds moves you. Music does that to people. But it is blasphemy because God's love is not reckless. The song should not be played in churches because it is not a Christian song.
Ehh. Shallow philosophy.....Really grow up. Is this the standard of christians 2023 - still living on milk?. Thinking and making youtube videos about "Is God reckless" over a song?. Sheez. Learn heart and Spirit and meaning and intent, before carnal mind theology and nitpicking of words as the pharisies did. Also he sings - the reckless love of God. And its very true, to be reckless you need to go into enemy territory and take the risks and chances without defense. Hence he got crucified. So in many ways his love is reckless. But the meaning and the point of the song is with that word - His love is so great, so he dares to risk his own life for you and being "reckless", because he loves you. That doesnt mean in wisdom that he doesnt planned it in perfection and that he is "stupid in reckless". Big difference. I mean come on, this is just pathetic. Dont bother responding i dont use YT notifications. But i think God is more happy to see hearts burn for him through a song that doesn't live up to youre "perfect wording", then a pharisie minded priest that thought he watched over some "words" - that in there mind "was false" and never burn in the Spirit. Reminds me of what Jesus said to the pharisies.@@therealzacharnold
Tim Keller, in his book "Prodigal God," has done an absolutely stellar job explaining that the center of the parable of prodigal son is actually the Father (not the son) and His prodigal love. For those struggling with Cory Asbury's use, I HIGHLY recommend spending some time with Tim Keller's book.
This song is a saving grace... I LOVE this song... It describes Jesus as a loving, chasing, spiritual relenting following of the weak, lost sheep that have trouble following Him. The song itself is so exact in my heart, I cry and cry and listen to this beautiful song, and I love the Lord all so much more! Thank you Cory Ashbury, that you listened to the Holy Spirit, and did not listen to humans, but listened to the spirit of God. Thank you.
I love this song. The 1st time I fell I heard this gentle.. Lullaby.. This ghostly, haunting sound from childhood.. of want.. Of safety.. Of comfort. I saw myself falling in slow motion.. Like the hand on a clock to this anointed sound. And, every time I hear that piano.. I am taken back to that moment.
💜I just replace Reckless with blessed. For God knows before, now and after. He does what He means to do.. When he means to do it. Though I understand what you are saying.. God's Love and God's will.. has no boundary.. And No limit.. When coming after us. We are the reckless... He is the Father.. The un-reckable Father. God bless you! Thank you Jesus! ❤️🌺
The explanation only made it worse. At least before we could have thought he was saying it as a figure of speech; the explanation shows that he meant it literally. Saying God loves recklessly is saying He is reckless. The same way one may say someone's driving is reckless, one is also saying the driver is reckless. Also, him saying God's love isn't for Himself is against His character since He does everything for His own glory. The title (and chorus) shows bad theology and we need to protect our churches from that. If someone wants to listen to it personally as a figure of speech, that's up to them, but I would not lead this in times of corporate worship.
Either way, if any song requires this much explanation to the 'average' Christians, is it wise to sing that song with the possibility of new believers and non-believers present, who may not be able to understand that the song doesn't mean what it says? There are so many songs to choose from, why risk using one that could make you a false teacher (teaching doesn't just come from the pulpit, it comes from the songs we choose to sing during services too)? Teachers are held to a higher level of accountability.
This song is beautiful because God is beautiful, and without his reckless love we wouldn’t be the children of God we are today!
we've become so Limp Wristed and acceptant of what God finds "Detestable". No God's Love is Not reckless !
Reckless Love is a beautiful song. And when you think about it God's love is as reckless as it gets. "Believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, never fails."
This song reaches the depths of my soul...I have it in my iTunes, saved to my favorites on RUclips, and I have been singing it every day. I Love singing it in fellowship with others too. Sometimes I get so choked up that I can’t keep singing. I was a prodigal daughter and God still chases me down, & fights til I’m found. The lyrics really speak truth. Praise God!
“I couldn’t earn it..I don’t deserve it. Still You give Yourself away.” Arguments about stuff like this were a factor in to keeping me out of church and “churchianity” for about 23 years. Thanks for keeping it real.
One problem with a lot of criticisms about the lyrics of certain songs is that people read the song lyrics as prose rather than poetry. Song lyrics are poetic in nature and should therefore be interpreted figuratively rather than literally. I see the word "reckless" in this song as describing God's great and incomprehensible love for us, such that He was willing to give anything (even His own Son) to demonstrate His love for us. So, "reckless" is perhaps used as a hyperbole (an obvious deliberate exaggeration). Hyperbole statements are often extravagant and not to be taken literally. It is a literary device also found in the Bible. We can sing the song with conviction if we see the word "reckless" as a figurative expression of how great and extravagant God's love is.
That said, if the lyrics are such that the song can cause misunderstanding or cause my fellow brethren to stumble, I would think twice about singing it.
Renaissance Man, your last sentence in your post, is the wisest comment I have read so far of all comments here. It is not only a wise statement, but it has biblical support also. (something all our postings should be based on regardless of which side one might take) 1 Corinthians 8:18, Romans 14:21
“His Love bankrupted heaven for you” what is it about? What kind of statement is this? It sounds more like a me centered theology. I am so special for Him that God recklessly died for me. It’s not about us. Christianity is Christ centered, not me centered. It’s not personalized religion.
If you see that big of an issue with the word "reckless" change it to "precious". I am more worried about the meat of a song rather than singling out a word.
Rücksichtlos, a German word meaning "RECKLESS"... A direct definitional translation meaning, "to not be looking back"... This song is by far a true and awesome explanation of how God loves us. No matter of all of the crap we have done in our lives, God doesn't look back. Therefore loving us in a very Rücksichtlos way... a RECKLESS way. :)
So wait, the love of God isn't of God then? Noah Webster, who wrote specifically to keep language consistent so that the scripture would remain uncorrupted and disambiguated, defined reckless as careless, heedless, and mindless. A Bible search for the word "reckless" also turns up some interesting results, but always describing wicked people and not God. Since the word is always associated with wickedness in the scripture, and because I cannot find any way to reconcile the love of God to wickedness, and since I cannot find any way to separate the love of God from God Himself I have a very difficult time with this explanation from a purely logical perspective.
I hate to say it, but Asbury's statement on the subject is false both from a literary and doctrinal perspective. I think we all know this, yet give it a pass and even distort both language and scripture to suit simply because of the writer of the song and not it's content. Such is the age we live. I have a dream that one day music will be judged not by the fame of its skin, but the content of it's literature.
To accept reckless as an adjective for any of God's attributes or characteristics means pushing past the dictionary, the thesaurus and, most importantly, God's word. Out of my fear of God l refuse to allow my mind to justify such distortions. Jesus said l'd be judged for every careless word l utter (Matthew 12:36-37)
People who have a problem with the word "reckless" should probably read the book "Beautiful Outlaw", by John Eldredge. You may have put God in a box without realizing it. Have a blessed day!
In my opinion the love of God is so inexplicable, that he would love me, despite my treachery and sin... and yet He did, because of who He is, and despite my lifestyle and posture against Him. In my view this fact makes His love "reckless", inexplicable, incomprehensible.
I am reminded of the famous CS Lewis quote:
“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.”
Notice, that this love is an ongoing, active, effort, wherein we continuously hold on to our desire (aka "steady wish"), for the ultimate good of another, as far as it can be obtained, with no mention of stopping if it gets too costly. This is how I see God's love, exemplified in the life, death and ressurection of Christ, and that love is so far from the typical love humans share, that it is fairly described as shocking, inexplicable, incomprehensible, and yes, reckless.
In my opinion. God bless you all.
Agreed! That's how I view the song as well :)
i first heard "a reckless love..." 1st line of the song relentless by hillsong united....i get it right away, no controversy.
This song is a staple of my campus ministry. We play it several times a semester.
I think the whole point is there is no reservations in Gods love. It is whole and unconditional, and honestly, that's how I want it. A love that has no fear of what I will do, or what could come from being associated with me.
If the lyrics bother you, then change them or don't sing the song. There are thousands of wonderful songs out there.
I just think that you can only understand the lyrics if you have experienced them; if you have been in such a low point in life where the only thing you can do is be overwhelmed by God's love. Could other words have been used? Sure, but just from my own personal experience, reckless fits perfectly.
Um, God's love and God Himself are the same thing. The Bible says God IS love.
it all boils down to the fact that our human vocabulary cannot put words to the nature of God's grace....
He is awesome... but truth be told, awesome isn't enough to describe God.
likewise when a man in his own words not able to put words on how he sees God, that in itself is worship...
#TheRecklessLoveOfGod
Human language might be limited in the ability to describe God, but it CAN incorrectly describe God.
#PerfectLoveOfGod
I have to say that I was frustrated for two days not being able to hear the lyrics after being introduced to the name "reckless love" by my mother. She wanted me to listen to it and she told me that the words were amazing. I heard ot again this morning from a fellow Marine that those words were amazing. I finally started the intro and googled the lyrics. I didn't even get to the first verse while listening when I read the words in the first line in the first verse. Let me say I had broke down I began to weep I have never wept in that fashion just over reading words. Man I felt those in my heart and my stomach. Cory is completely correct no matter what we've done God will Love us unconditionally without hate or envy. But with patience and with kindness.
The Holy Spirit so moved me through this song. At first I wasn’t crazy about it but we actually sang it on Sunday morning and God had plans for me to give in inhibited free worship, not worrying about what people might think. It was like only God and I were in the room.
You know who does the best job at criticizing and tearing down Christians? Other Christians...
Yep :(
Truest comment. I'm getting quite sad reading all the discord here.
We are not putting you down. I pray that God will give you the eyes to see that we are speaking the TRUTH.
Robert Payne Who's fault at the end ? Mainly lukewarm seeker friendly pulpit leaders including the religious legalistic with personal interpretations they feeding from, so please don't point fingers at singers or authors. After all a rebellious leader caused division in Heaven contaminating others.
Who are we to even know God without him giving it to us!!?? Yet we use this knowledge to talk down to people and tear them down. Sad
The issue I have is the heretical church it comes from.
Jeff Bays same brother. I already have questions regarding their church itself. We used to sing their songs in our church but I started to tell the team to be more vigilant about these songs and these chrches.
How judgemental you all are ? Probably never seen a miracle in your seeker friendly environment.
Yea it’s actually theologicaly right. It’s just the church itself is off
Love this song! Draws me close to my Father every time i hear it. ppl who disagree with the idea of "reckless of God" might have older brother mentality?
John 8: Jesus answered, "You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
just sayin'. . .
We sang it on Sunday and changed the word Reckless to Relentless. I didn't love the idea of changing the word...but submitted to leadership and it worked when we sang it. The strongest argument I heard for changing it to Relentless was this: you can't separate God's behaviour from His person. To call His actions reckless is to call Him that. So there's that! Anyway...I agree with you guys and LOVE the song...especially Cory's live version. I can barely handle all of God's love when I hear it!!!! I like watching you guys. Great content and easy and fun to watch. Bless you
The fact that a word from the song has to be defended means that it would be misunderstood. You cant really blame people for have differing thoughts about it. As an adult, i know better than to take it at face value but what about younger audiences? How would adults explains to their children or to children in general, how and why God's love would be considered "reckless." Lets face it other words would have been better to describe Gods love ie: perfect, unconditional etc etc. I get artistic expression but i personally feel it should have been done more appriopriately.
This explanation basically just uses the same explanation Cory Asbury uses to explain the song and gives no original reason to explain the song. God's actions aren't reckless but purposeful. To say He loves with no regard of consequence to Himself says he doesn't already know the consequences of His actions. If He doesn't already know the consequence then He's not God. He sent His Son to die for our sins so that we could spend eternity with Him. He didn't send His son to die for our sins in hopes that it might atone for our sins, but because He knew it would. Nothing reckless about that. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." His love is purposeful in all He did and does. There's nothing reckless about how He loves us and I would have to say agree to disagree.
Amen
Only Begotten Son...but yes I agree with you :)
If my house is burning to the ground and my dog is trapped inside, I love my dog, but i'm not taking the risk to go in to save her, unless i feel confident that I can get in and out safely. However, If my son is trapped in a burning house I will recklessly rush into the fire even if i have little confidence that I can make it out alive. And so did Jesus. Cory Asbury has written a great song which uses this word to illustrate this love God has for us.
Saying that God loved us without caring what would happen to him, diminishes it. He loved us knowing and caring that he would have to suffer and die. So “he doesn’t wonder what would happen” I agree.... he knows what would happen and he designed it that way.
we sing some of Jesus culture songs, BUT alot of their theology is TERRIBLE, just like hillsongs and others
So something that my friend have been talking a lot about lately is how we often rob God of his worship. How often do we find ourselves talking about how we didn't like this or that worship song or how a certain prayer was or something along those lines? When someone is praising God they're pouring out their heart to him. Obviously not everyone is theologically correct in everything they do and no one ever will be. But imagine if God were sitting beside you in the car listening to a certain song tapping His foot and singing it and just being glorified through it and then you look at Him and say "I don't really like this song" and change the channel. Isn't that a scary thought? Since they are Not worshiping us we should be far less judge mental about their worship and/or prayers. I'm not saying to never analyze someone's intentions especially if you think they aren't good, but if it is something as petty as what is being discussed here I would say that it's pretty safe to say this man truly loves Jesus and is worshiping Him through song and we should let God have his praise through it because it's changing many people's lives and I believe, glorifying our God.
Imagine you're sitting in a car and Jesus is next to you listening to a song describing Himself. You're sitting there praising Him. Then Jesus is like, "I love that you're praising me, but you're praising a false impression of me. 700 years before I came to the earth, I sent prophets to tell of what I would do. I spent hundreds of years planning out my birth, life, death and resurrection. My Father is omniscient and knows every outcome to more than you could ever hope to understand. Why do you call me reckless? Why do you tell the world that I'm reckless?"
If I wrote a song about my wife and called her reckless how do you think that would go down? Can we please remember that we are dealing with GOD almighty here and it is he who we are worshipping. Where is the reverence, the fear of God, the awe? We are so enamored with his love these days that we forget his wrath, righteousness & purity (which is ironically what enhances the view of his love) Our Jewish brethren don't even dare say his name in Hebrew incase they say it wrong. Where has that kind of reverence gone? We must not misrepresent his name or his character. He has asked us to worship him in Spirit & in TRUTH - John 4.
Am here seating by my pregnant wife who's in deep pain and I worship and turn on this song ,my wife sang along in pain before 5mins she's gone to sleep ,this is a woman struggling to sleep ....YOU too need to be examined ...
Thanks for your explanation. Sadly, there are many that will actually need it. This song is one of my favorites, as well as my wife's. I'm 70; she's 69 yrs old. We're not twisted up by generational tendencies. This song clearly shows God's heart for his people in particular the lost ones. Good job guys.
Thank you for your interpretation. Yes I agree that there is a difference between saying "God is reckless" and "Love of God is reckless." But I don't think I will go down that road of worship with you guys.
I think the song is confusing in the first place as a worshiper of Christ. Even if the word "reckless" doesn't have the negative connotation and we have to "expand our mind" to understand the context of the song, I think it's confusing for the general people's understanding who God is. As worshipers we must be nitpicky with words because it's God who we are singing to and we are singing about. I believe that every word we sing must be full of reverence, and I believe a lot of people lost the meaning of the word "reverence", or respect.
For me, the term "reckless" is not a respectable term to use to describes God's love. Yes, the song lifts up the love of God, but I think the words use the describe God's love in not respectable in a sense. If we don't nitpick with the words and pass it on as "God doesn't care" or "He wants your worship to come from the heart," then do we just sing the song without any respect to the words we give to God and the description about His love?
And on top of that, I think just people lose the idea what's "bad english" and what's "good english." and I think the English Cory Ashbury used is "bad english," because if God's love is reckless, then is Christ reckless? Was Christ life wasted because of God's recklessness?
I understand that the argument where there is a limitation to describing the words about God's love, that it's incomprehensible and as you stated, "We are artists, we are creative people, trying to explain to another one about how we feel about what Jesus has done for us." Yes, there is limitation to words describing that feeling. BUT at the end of the day, we are lifting of praise to God. No? Do we lose that sense of reverence when we lift our praise to God? Do we describe it like how "raw" it is to God and not give the respect in describing His love? I think we as Christian shouldn't lose our battles with being nitpicking words to lift our praise to God during worship because it's God who we are singing to and we are singing about.
Well again, at the end of the day for a lot of people, it's all about personal preference. A lot of people like it for the song because of the context of the lyrics, and a lot of people dislike it because of the words. For me, I am part of the people who dislike the song because describing that His love is "reckless" is pretty reckless to me.
I hope and pray that Worship tutorials will pray more about the songs when singing it to God instead of depending on the "feels" of the songs. ONE question I want to ask to Worship Tutorials: Do you sing the songs because it feels raw and right to you or do you sing the songs because God gladly accepts the songs you sing on Sunday?
I guess you have not been down that road that you have experienced Gods reckless love, now I understand
emily schwellenbach no because I have that much respect to God. just because you make it sound good doesnt change the fact that you are using terrible english. it's like stretching the meaning of the word. for example "shit." people use the word shit as a good connotation like "that's some good shit." does that means you can use that word like in worship too? no because it's disrespectful. that means as long as the word has good connotation, we can use it in worship? no. because it's rude. we cant say, God, Your love is some good shit.
Same thing goes with the word reckless. God's love is reckless. so was Jesus reckless? no because it's too good to be reckless. it's more than that.
Although I would typically avoid using profanity, I do believe your case is 100% spot on. Thank you.
What about the fact that God Is Love?
Agreed! I introduced this song to our youth maybe a month ago and they loved it and I had some adults with similar questions.
God created humanity, knowing full well with omniscience he would have to send his son to die. Therefore he put himself(in some way) in pain when he could've theoretically avoided. And that, to me, does seem reckless(but necessary).
Also think about a parent when they see their child in danger. Whatever they're doing immediately becomes less important. They could have fine China and would easily drop it and sacrifice its safety to save what they truly love.
That is the way God views us when we turned our back on him. He put himself in harms way to save us.
Great point about parents. I have a child, so I often try to frame the mind/love of God within the context of a parent/child relationship. I would abandon all consequence if it meant saving my child.
Matthew Wood That was really beautifully explained.
Unlike a parent, God's Son on the cross was not reactionary. It's not at all like a parent saving a child. This is a horrible explanation. It was carefully planning and thought out, not reckless. If I followed your logic, then God would have come down out of heaven, yanking Jesus (His child) off the cross and letting us all burn in Hell. That would be reckless love, not caring about the consequences. Instead, from the beginning, God planned out how His love would be demonstrated. You said it best yourself, "God created humanity, knowing full well with omniscience he would have to send His son to die". Forethought implies lack of recklessness by very definition of the word "reckless". It's just that singing, "O the over-whelming, never ending, thoughtful love of God" doesn't role off the tongue and stir up emotions as well. Recklessness, by definition, requires lack of care and/or lack of thought. God and His love are neither.
Michael Greene I understand what you're saying. It's not a lack of seeing the other side of the coin its just disagreeing with it.
Also need to clarify Jesus is not exactly his son(from an English language perspective) but more an extension of himself(or another form). Also the child in the analogy is us. He wouldn't save Jesus because he wouldn't save himself to forsake his child.
Some theology here is that God could've easily created a world where it wasn't necessary to send his son(himself) to die. But in order for true love to exist he made a world where choice to do good/bad existed. Because I don't believe it couldve been true love if we were forced to worship God. But once again, God made a choice knowing full well he would bring harm to himself. And in that way, from our perspective it would definitely seem reckless.
You are looking at is as saying God is reckless. But the point is that his actions seem reckless(although obviously they're not).
It's like calling someone stupid, then they get upset because you characterize them as stupid. What you were trying to say is their current actions were or seem stupid.
It's a perspective. Not a definition. But it's honestly not worth arguing about. I don't feel convicted and so bottom line is we're gonna sing it.
"seeming" reckless and actually being reckless are two very different things. This song's verbiage, nor Cory Asbury's explanation, does not imply "seeming" but uses the word 'reckless' as definition.
What makes the sacrifice of Christ more amazing is that it wasn't reckless. It was carefully crafted and thoughtful. What makes Christ's death awe-inspiring is that He knew the whole time and still walked the path. God planned it from the beginning and carefully crafted each moment and interaction so that it would be just as it was.
Take time to read through this post written last year. I think it may explain better: gospelreminders.org/2017/06/19/is-gods-love-reckless/
Reckless LOVE of god. Not saying he’s reckless, saying his love is reckless, like it says in the song no shadow he won’t light up mountain he won’t climb up coming after me. That’s saying his love goes beyond wonders for you.
I was looking for a completely different verse and God showed me Amos 3:12. Talk about reckless love! He rescued a remnant only parts? God sees even the least of us as valuable as worthy of rescue! Man I could preach on this!
God left the 99 to find the one... I'd say that's pretty reckless love...
cory asbury explained that God isnt reckless, its just a portion of his testimony that the Lords love and pursuit if His lost sheep is just overwhelling and amazing how much His heart pursues us. Im a worship leader and my church does allow me to play bethel songs in the youth groups. i honestly love bethel and could care less about what people say about songs of praise to God.
people just enterpret words weird and get mad for no real reason and put legalistic rules around worship songs that are actually theologically sound but the way they might be enterpreted could cause issues. but its a totally relative thing. i personally love this song, the church sings this song in many different ways, so if the building in which you congregate in doesnt allow certain songs, id research the songs first before just listening to a pastor say "this song isnt good"
It is not legalistic to demand theological accuracy in ministry. It is heresy to allow inaccuracy.
Cory Asbury also seems to think that Heaven could be bankrupted. God's love doesn't come at the expense of heaven being bankrupted (how is that possible?). It is impossible for love, in and of itself, to be reckless...love is a verb, and is inanimate, therefore it does not have intent. If I say that God's love is reckless, or thoughtful, or purposeful, I'm actually describing the one doing the loving. God was thoughtful in how He loved. God was purposeful in how He loved. God was reckless in how He loved.
To me, this doesn't seem like poor interpretation of the word 'reckless', as much as it is the writer not knowing the actual definition. Just my two thoughts. BTW, you're doing great on the guitar. I watched your John Mayer videos and they were great!
Ask Job's friends about legalism. They were rebuked by God for using poor word choices to describe his infinite attributes. False theology is serious, and treated serious in the New Testament and the Old
Wow thank you for sharing the definition, God truly does love without regard for the consequences, even when we hate him, yet He loves us. I filmed a cover to this song on my channel and it moved me immensely, so beautiful!!!
“God transcends all creatures. We must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is limited, image bound or imperfect, if we are are not to confuse our image of God - the inexpressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the ungraspable- with our human representations. Our human words always fall short of the mystery of God.”
I agree with the concept that language is limiting and what Cory's intended meaning was - but I also get where people are coming from when they don't like the song. This is because God not only acts for the good of humans in Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross - but for His own glory. Using the word 'reckless' implies that God didn't know what would happen - which I truly believe Biblically, He did - being completely sovereign. (Comes back to an election / predestination issue here).
I get that this isn't Cory's meaning to the song, but we need to be careful what message we're sending out in our songs, (which can preach louder than our Pastor's messages sometimes, unfortunately), because non-believers and 'weak' Christians will hear it too.
HOWEVER - as said - I agree completely that we should be completely flabbergasted at the amazing love of God.
would it be wrong for a song to preach louder than a pastor? would it be wrong for a song to communicate more clearly than a pastor?
Anyone can interpret any song in there own way. You turn on the radio hear a song and it can leave you with different interpretation. It's a beautiful song and is enjoyed by myself. Thanks for sharing your videos with us. God bless you
Thanks Gina!
Wow. Looking through the comments makes me want to now write a paper of how God’s Love isn’t reckless.
I've always interpreted this song to describe the wonderful love of God. Jesus hung on the cross & forgave the very people who put him there. That is certainly an awesome love. Praise the Lord!
Ohhhhh..... it’s not GOD that’s reckless. It’s His CHARACTER!!!! Ohhhhhh so He doesn’t CARE about the consequence or result of His actions. Makes total sense know. 🙄🙄 what’s that, my art, my expression doesn’t have to be theologically sound? Phewww I’m glad my art trumps truth. Didn’t want to have to be boxed in by Scripture or the infallibility of God that I TEACH to non-believers or young believers. This is ridiculous. If you have to justify it, guess what- you already know it’s wrong. That’s ok. We can excuse it. Very sad. I thought you were better than this.
Marc Vidito "what? My character on the internet doesn't have to be loving and Christlike? Oh good...."
Cool video guys. But my wisdom goes: if you have to explain your song in a RUclips vid, maybe don’t sing the song.
Fair enough :)
I dont think its a matter of having to explain it on a youtube video, its a matter of people completely misunderstanding a songs meaning.
@XI eleven - you think this is like justifying drinking alcohol?
Nothing wrong with a glass of wine here and there. The bible is clear about moderation. Gluttony can be a sin, you can make a sin out of anything. Nothing wrong with this song at all. Love your videos, God bless you :-)
they did not write this song, Corey Asbury did
worship music has evolved with the current universal culture, intellect and style, while our hearts are pure and we aim to honour God. We use universal ways of writing and playing songs in displaying our faith. Reckless Love is a modern approach to explaining the unconditional love of God. Would it not be considered reckless if you told your Dad/Mum or Wife/husband that you have decided to die for an undeserving group of people or the entire earth. Even if it guaranteed a new beginning it would still be considered reckless by your family as their love for you is greater than their love for the people you dying for! the song is perfect the way it is and I believe the explanation by Cory is directed by the Holy Spirit, and is sufficient in bringing context, its a personal revelation the same source of many songs that has been written in the past, the fact that Christians are not happy with the lyric speaks to a natural/fleshly defense and response. God demonstrated His Love for us in a way that is so extreme, it would be deemed reckless in any context of the current day! When sheep wander they sometimes climb up mountains and get themselves stuck in crevices and on ledges, the Shepherd has to climb and go through these crevices and on these ledges, putting his life at risk to save the sheep, this could also be considered as reckless as his life is considered more valuable than the sheep, just as we would agree that Jesus life would be considered more valuable than ours, yet he climbs and saves the same way Jesus came and died for our sins. Great Song!
All I know is that God himself woke me up at 4 am and led me to the live video of this song that has the explanation with it because He wanted me to spend time with Him before I went to work. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and the tears poured down my face. He is so good!
the song needs to be biblical
Amen to that!
This should not even have to be discussed.
Really?!
Sing it in church...
The angel's are singing it in heaven anyways!
😇👼😇👼😇👼😇👼😇👼😇👼😇👼The reckless Love of God!!!
Amen .. it is way past time to reveal these snakes.
I was a little taken back by the song at first glance. Then i listened to it a few times and it really spoke to me. it is my 13 year old daughter loves this song and sings it with more feeling than i have seen her ever sing before. It speaks to the young people and we need that for sure.
God's love is powerful and unyielding. I plan to show the definition of reckless and discuss each point that the definition reveals. I am going to use the shepherd reference to the "reckless" approach to retrieve the stray sheep. Love the song and the message behind it!
Respectfully, just about 100% disagree with everything you just said. 😂 At least we agree that it is not a hill worth dying on. Personally, I would never let us do the song in our church, but I wouldn’t walk out of another church because they did it.
0:33
0:49
Deuteronomy 13:3
you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Google's interpretation of reckless : (of a person or their actions) without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action.
EXAMPLE
"reckless driving"
for me Gods love is reckless.
Micah Ovey Moses God’s Love is premeditated. His thoughts towards you predate the Earth itself. God’s love is His gift, and action from Him. We can’t call anything He puts His hands to do as reckless. To do so is to deny His sovereignty.
But, that’s just if we’re debating the topic.
They said reckless isn't describing god but his love . Yet in John it says god is love. Just something to ponder.
Josh Gryskiewicz i dont think you got the point of that scripture you're talking about lol
ruclips.net/video/nw3voRQQDQg/видео.html
We played it at 1st Baptist Clarksville on 4/15/2018 and received a terrific response from the congregation!!! The Reckless Love of God is all around us at all times!!!
A good synonym for reckless is fearless, and that is my understanding of the song. We recall that God is the author of our existence, of our reality, and he therefore moves within and among us in a freedom that is so far beyond our understanding, such that His lack of Fear is purely and truly reckless, in the context of His Being, not ours. Reminds me of the song Outrageous Grace by Godfrey Birtil. God’s grace is outrageous in the positive sense of the word as just a pinnacle of such unexpected and undeserved love for us.
He left the ninety nine for us, so he could die on the cross. This song is explaining god LOVE FOR YOU!! I think reckless is the best way to explain Jesus’s love for us, bc there’s no shadow he light up, mountain he climb up coming after me.
I've been reading many of the comments and threads. Besides the word reckless, the other strong argument seems to be about the 99. Do you not have unsaved people in your churches? Sometimes just like Christ leaves the 99 to go after the one we could sing a song for the one (or more) unsaved in our church. If our churches are only filled with believing people then we might be doing something wrong. If we are to be Christ like then we should be going after the one and also without thought or care to consequences loving the unbelievers. I think about this song and I sing it over the one who does not yet realize that God is in pursuit of them. I declare it over their lives. I love your title line ...Is God Reckless? God can choose to be whatever he wants...He's God😉
I think if we are first being negative everything will fall under negativity no matter how much we try to explain,the receivers point it's goin to be negative but as for me I understood the Love GOD gave me it's undescribable...thanks for the sharing
God does not need to worry about any consequence. HE IS GOD!!!! He HAS NO LIMIT.
I think the better word and more accurate phrase would have been "Relentless Love of God" but I respect the message the artist is trying to convey. It's a beautiful song and sends a clear message that God would do anything for his children.
I have a friend who is still trying to figure out what God is like, and she was frightened by the word "reckless" referring to God... she thought about reckless driving, which endangers EVERYONE.
I so glad God's love was reckless and came after me. He wasn't reckless...
This song is so right, God’s Love is ridiculous. Even though we sometimes don’t even care about Him he gave himself for us!! Sinners!!! I love the fact that you guys took the time to let us know what you think, and I think that you guys are right!! God bless you all!!
Perfect explanation. Nothing more needs to be addressed, period. I will sing this song and Jermey Camp's own "Reckless", no less. :)
I am introducing this song on Sunday morning. I plan to replace the word, reckless with the word, perfect. The word, reckless is not the right word to describe God’s love. In an environment that is focused on understanding the “true” meaning of scripture, how can we not take the definition of the word, reckless and be concerned about mis-characterizing the love of God?
I love this song! Brought revelation on how great is the Love of God. Each time I sing it, I fall in love with God almighty, am amazed at how much one can love the other.
You guys handled this so well! We did this song, (City Life Church- Chilliwack, BC), and discussed, beforehand, this concept of God being associated with recklessness, and concluded with similar thoughts. To me, it’s a lyrical picture of a father running through every obstacle - even to the point of injury, to save his child. It was a powerful song in our time of worship.
I believe that everyone has their own opinion and they are entitled to it. In my opinion the way the song uses reckless as loves no matter what. His loves breaks through all boundaries in a way that could be described as reckless. Not in a bad way.
Psa 141:4 Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing or wickedly perform reckless acts with men who commit sin. Do not let me feast on their delicacies.
Prov 14:16 The wise person fears and turns away from evil, but a FOOL is reckless and overconfident.
Prov 21:5 The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit, but anyone who is reckless only becomes poor.
ETC... ETC... ETC....
THIS IS THE PURE WORD OF GOD... PER SCRIPTURE (WRITTEN BY THE LORD), RECKLESS ACTS ARE THE ACTS OF FOOLS... NOT GOD.... I HOPE YOU ALL REDO THE SONG WITH THE WORD "SELFLESS". IT IS A MORE APPROPRIATE SONG.
I am so extremely glad that you addressed this sad crazy issue! We sure can nitpick, us Christians. My wonderful Pastor would not allow this song to be sung at our Church because of that word, because of opening a door to anything slanderous about our precious Lord. He has an amazing heart! But I was so deeply sad, as were others , because this song is so So Mighty!!
This song spoke the Heart of my addict son, gave words to his Desperation and Need for God nothing else could! He was at a Christian rehab. And at this amazing rehab Chapel Services I have seen the total Undoing and longed-for Comfort so severely needed in these young men's lives through the power of this amazing song!!
I understood it from the start to be referring to the Reckless abandon, as it were, that Jesus feels & Took Against Himself!, in Our Language, toward Every Single One of the hundred sheep in His fold!! I am that One lost sheep that Jesus mighty love came after at His OWN Expense!!, truly! OUR Language-- for it could not be Conveyed in the language of Heaven , the great Cost of His sacrifice!
And... so He Does come after Each One of Us with this same Reckless abandon and Loving risk to Himself!!! Our Great Shepherd.
Thank you Cory Asbury for this Amazing life-changing song!!! And for all the Broken hearts it has MENDED in Love!!, for every soul that has been given new Life and New Hope through it. Please keep the great songs coming!! It's Truly ANOINTED.
And I just thank you two gentlemen for addressing this issue for the Church because we do get off track over well- meaning semantics!!
It’s not nitpicking or semantics - the church has stopped caring about singing truth, instead catering to feelings and emotions.
Such an amazing song. Brought me to tears hearing it for the 1st time at church. Anyone who has an issue with it...God is good
My 2 Cents...
Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees in this parable, not born again Christians who are the only people this side of the New Testament that are considered actually as righteous. I'm thinking that it's a parable of Jesus saying to the "righteous" Pharisees that the one lost sheep that needs Him is far more valuable to Him than 99 who think they don't. I believe the recklessness sung in this song is instead our human means of verbalizing a love that would ONLY be considered reckless by those here on Earth. He loves us to the point that He created us with the choice to love Him in return. He died to save every person from the point he died to now, every single person whether they chose to reciprocate that love or not. He promised to then never leaves us or forsake us after we've accepted Him. So, if I were to love the homeless person on the side of the road, give him everything I have, and put my name on the line so that he could gain back his life, everyone would think me reckless at the very least. But to God, it's perfectly logical and not reckless at all because of endless I AM of who He is.
After saying all that, it is my personal experience. It's how God spoke to me when leading this song at my church. It's absolutely accurate that the Lord reveals Himself in infinitely different ways to everyone based on the same passages of scripture. Our only responsibilities from then is that when He reveals that to us is to pray about it, find backing in His word for the revelation, and seek the counsel of someone in love with Him. All revelation of God is backed by scripture, brings peace to chaos, and is confirmed by the Holy Spirit regardless of whom He is inhabiting.
I share my testimony with the song not as the definitive word but hopefully as just another facet of the goodness and kindness of God in how He perfectly teaches and relates to us as individuals and how that can sometimes bless a nation through such a song as this.