I Disagree: I am Strong

You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don’t belong, oh You say that I am Yours
And I believe, oh I believe
What You say of me
I believe ~Lauren Daigle

It’s a song that plays every hour or two on Christian radio. If you listen to those stations, I know you’ve heard it. Probably bumped up the volume and sang along. And good. Overall, it’s a valuable song.

I mean, we spend altogether too much time listening to voices that don’t tell us what God thinks of us. Coworkers, neighbors, Facebook, our own shame gremlins, they fill our minds with a constant stream of untruths about who we are and what God sees when he looks at us.

BUT.

There’s one line of this song that I just cannot agree with. You say I am strong when I think I am weak. That line. It’s been bugging me for weeks, and I finally decided it’s worth talking about.

Maybe you think it would be better to just let it go. I mean, 95% of the song is great. Lauren Daigle is a good songwriter and singer. My sister described her songs as modern psalms, and I think that’s a good description. So maybe you’re thinking, “Seriously, Shannah, what’s so big about that one line?”

Well, two things, actually.

1. Music lasts. We will be humming these words for decades. So we have to be careful about what sort of words we tie into our memories this way. It’s one thing to think about a lyric, notice its flaws, and sing along anyway. But it’s quite another to sing along without ever really thinking about what we’re memorizing. Without questioning just how true those lines actually are. Without comparing the songs, especially on Christian radio, to the Bible. Because…
2. The truth is, that line isn’t biblical. Daigle sings, You say I am strong when I think I am weak. But God doesn’t say that. No verse in Scripture that I can think of or find ever says that God thinks we’re strong. Not one. (Though if you can think of one, I’d love to know about it.) He says HE is strong when we are weak. He says HE is sufficient in our weakness. He encourages more than one person, especially in the Old Testament, to “be strong and courageous.” But he never once says, “When I look at you, I see strength.”

The point of Daigle’s song is to ground ourselves in what God actually says of us. And she’s right. Don’t let the lies of Satan and sin keep you from the abundant life God has prepared for you.

But we need to make sure that we aren’t replacing those lies with more lies that just sound more “Christian.” We need to compare what we hear on the radio, in sermons, on Sunday mornings, in prayer meetings, and on the internet to the actual words of God. The actual BIBLE.

When we do, we can note and keep track of the phrases that are less than biblical. And we can internalize more deeply the actual truths of Scripture, in the Bible and in songs that echo it.

So what’s my point? It’s not that you should stop listening to Lauren Daigle or Christian radio. Nothing in life is entirely cut-and-dried, so don’t be too dogmatic. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.

But we all do need to be careful about what and who we listen to.

We have to compare with Scripture what our favorite artists are singing or the songs the radio plays. Pay attention. Notice where they match up to God’s truth and where they don’t so that, while you sing along, you can hold on to what it true and let go of what it not.

No tune, no matter how catchy, and no artist, no matter how good, can substitute for an accurate grasp on the Word of God. Know what he says and trust in him. He’s a better foundation than anything the music industry can throw our way. And besides, time in God’s word is way cheaper than concert tickets.