Song: “Word 2 the
Father”
Artist: DC Talk
Album: Free at
Last (1992)
Track: 16
Ah, yes , here we are at the end of our examination of DC
Talk’s Free at Last album. On the whole, it honestly did a little better
than I thought it would in a theological review, but my expectations were
rather low.
But then again, we haven’t reviewed this song yet, and it’s
so bad it might tank the entire album.
The Good
I’ve been quick to give the boys praise throughout the whole
album when they get the smallest thing right, but this song isn’t good at all
theologically. I don’t really have
anything to put here.
Neither Good nor Bad
The third verse is made up of names for previous DCT
songs. Okay, that’s not a terrible
thing. It’s certainly not wrong to do
that, but it’s not in the “good” category either. Just something to note and move on.
The Bad
Let me categorize the bad to make this easier.
IRREVERENCE
When this song came out, I would have stood with DCT on this
one, but the older I get, and the more I learn of our Savior, the more this
sort of irreverence bothers me. Despite
what they claim in the song, saying “Word” is not at all like saying
“Amen.” Even if the dictionary
definitions are the same, there is a world of difference in connotation.
And if you are rolling your eyes right now, image responding
to a judge’s questions to you with “Word” rather than “Yes, your honor,” and
tell me that there isn’t a difference. As
someone who used to work in the court system, I can assure you that the judge
would think there is a difference. Even
using the analogy of a father, I would not speak this way to my earthly father
(outside of an obvious joke). This song
puts the Creator of the universe on the level of some guy on the street instead
of giving Him the reverence and respect He deserves.
“Straight up propers to the Papa.” Look, you may already be flipping through
your Bible to find the passage that bids us to call on God as “Abba, Father”
(Romans 8:15), but do you really think this is what Paul meant when he wrote
that? Romans 8 is in the context of how
we have been set free from the flesh, how we have been made heirs of all things
with Christ, how we are confirmed in that inheritance by the Spirit, who
indwells us. In this context, do you
really think Paul is saying, “So all this being true, speak your Father in
Heaven in a manner that would insult even your earthly father.”
IMPROPER WORSHIP
But it’s not just that the song is irreverent, but it
appears to have a setting to it as well – a setting in worship. This is not clear in the song, but the line
that “those in the pews may find it unusual.
We’re here to get them to loosen their collars,” seems to suggest that there
is a setting to the song, and that setting is in the middle of a worship
service. It’s the very fact that the
setting is during worship that people would “find it unusual,” after all. The song itself isn’t at all odd compared to
the general music scene, but if I heard while in a pew at worship, I certainly would
find it odd! And I’m not loosening my
collar because DCT wants to use worship time to sing about themselves (more on
that below). I’ll stick with songs that
focus on God.
Look, I write Rock music.
I play Hard Rock, Blues, Alt Rock, all sorts of stuff like that, so this
is not me being a prude. At the time I
am writing this, I am in the process of producing a Christian Hip-Hop
album. I like this sort of music. I listen to it at home and in my car all the
time. I am not one of those people who
are just against Rock music. In fact,
quite the opposite. I love it.
But church is a place of corporate worship, of responding to
God’s love, word, and grace in congregational singing. It is not the place for a rap band to get up
and say “Word” to the Father. It’s not a
place for solos or special music. We
have been instructed on how to worship our Father in a worship service on the
Lord’s Day, and this is not it.
What I’m referring to is what is called the Regulative
Principle of Worship. There are not many
who believe in this anymore, but what it says is that we should only have those
elements in worship which are commanded by God or inferred by good and
necessary consequence. Unfortunately,
this post is already running long, and I don’t have time to go into deep detail,
except to say this:
Why were Nadab and Abihu killed by God in Leviticus 10? Was it because they were worshipping false
gods? No, they were worshipping God, but
in a way that God had not commanded. The
Lord takes the worship of Himself quite seriously, and so should we. That means that we can listen to all sorts of
music and very cool stuff in our cars that we should not listen to during
worship. This sort of thing has no place
in worship.
SELF-CENTEREDNESS
Like so much of this album, this song falls into bragging
very quickly. It’s strange how the songs
that are supposed to be about focusing solely on God (this one and “Jesus is
Just Alright”) end up focusing on DC Talk.
Just look at verse 2.
Who is dropping science? Who is
standing up tall? Who is keeping the
message intact? Who hooking people with
the message? It’s not Christ! It’s DCT.
In the bridge: “Can’t nobody stop
us,” “We do this like Brutus,” “We ain’t new to this.”
Who is this song about?
The Father is mentioned a lot, but when it comes down to content, this
song is about DC Talk.
WATERED DOWN VIEW OF SIN
This is mainly regarding the lines, “I give myself to you in
everything I do.” Yes, I am almost
certain that once again DC Talk goes for the rhyme rather than good
theology. I doubt they even believe what
they are saying here. But they say stuff
like this, and thousands of fans sing along, perhaps not knowing any better.
Does DCT give themselves to God in everything they do? Goodness, they didn’t even do that in this
song, much less in life. We do not give
ourselves to God in everything. That’s
the very reason that God had to give Himself for us! The boys have denied in this line the
orthodox view of man and sin. Even as
Christians, we do not cease sinning. Our
heart has been changed, our repentance true, and we are clothed in the
righteousness of Christ, but “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.” It is by
grace that our imperfect and misguided efforts are deemed acceptable by God,
and that acceptance is certainly of grace, and not because we actually achieve
His standard.
Overall
A theological disaster.
Sad really, that the album should end with one of the worst songs
theologically (though I’ll say it’s one of the best musically). It leaves a somewhat bitter taste in the
mouth at the end of this series of reviews.
Thus ends our look at Free at Last. It’s a mixed bag, really, but when it goes
wrong, it goes way wrong. Hopefully,
we’ll see some better theology in the next one we do.
Which should be what?
Find me on Twitter and give me some suggestions!
