Welcome to this week’s online youth lesson. To catch up on previous lessons, click here.
We will kick off this week with the newest song from artist Lauren Daigle, “Hold On To Me.” Pay close attention to the lyrics of this song, as we will be discussing it along with others in the lesson below:
Prayer needs include continued prayer for Pastor Paul, Sherilyn, Stevan and the rest of the Sheets family as they adjust to a new lifestyle after the passing of Sally Sheets. They are planning an online memorial service starting at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 5 at www.sallysheets.com. We would encourage everyone to take some time that evening to tune in and support the family.
Julianna Jordan continues to deal with knee pain after her lacrosse injury last week. She is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow (Thursday) morning to determine if the injury is a meniscus tear, ACL damage or some other issue. Please keep her and the family in prayers.
Hunter Sauers continues to recover from his severely broken hand and subsequent surgery a week ago today (Wednesday).
Please continue to remember Trina Eia and her family, Janice Sprenkel, Phyllis & Steve Sauers and others currently dealing with cancer.
John Zaktansky had a successful lumpectomy on Monday morning and is waiting for testing results on the lump.
Lastly, please remember our church’s annual More Than An Egg Hunt event this coming Saturday — a huge community ministry with potential for widespread impact. Also, please be praying for our church’s Easter/communion service with Rev. Matthew Pickering and for the youth yard sale coming on April 24. A lot of preparation needs to happen between now and then to make it a successful fundraiser — and more importantly, a successful community outreach event.
—
A number of years ago, the Zaktansky family was introduced to the music of Jamie Grace via a special live song performance by former youth member Beth Wagner during a Sunday morning service. The song she sung was Jamie Grace’s popular piece, “God Girl,” which quickly became a popular tune with our young daughters. The song:
The song resonated for a lot of reasons, mainly because it so unapologetically allows the singer to proclaim to the world an unshakeable allegiance to God. Our family learned to like a number of other songs by Jamie Grace at that time, making it a point to try to see her perform in person. We traveled to eastern New Jersey to catch one of her concerts, and were blessed by the message and her devotion to God despite her personal imperfections. We got to meet her in person, got a few autographs and were excited our girls had a positive, Godly role model to enjoy.
A year or two later, she came to rural Danville for a concert, and we had the opportunity to interview her for a preview story in the newspaper, talking on speaker phone as a family with her and getting to see her again in concert with a meet-n-greet opportunity afterward.
Soon after that concert, Jamie got married and has since gave birth to a young daughter, Bella. Jamie wasn’t as active with her music during that time. Recently, she started becoming more active with her music again, sharing that she is repurposing herself as an Indie/Pop musician and her music itself has changed quite a bit. She allegedly tried out for American Idol and is on the current season.
On Monday, she released a video (Re)Introducing herself to the world. The video:
Sadly, she makes no mention of God in this video. She talks about her new music hopefully eliciting joy and smiles and positive mojo, but no attempt to suggest that her music has a higher purpose, that she uses it to point people toward God as she once did. As a parent of two young girls that have looked up to Jamie Grace for quite some time now, it is a very disappointing change. This doesn’t mean she lost her faith or that God isn’t still using her talents for His kingdom, but it seems to illustrate an important consideration when it comes to Christian music.
For years, the church as a whole has been divided over the type of music it shares. Old hymns vs. more contemporary songs of worship. Those who old fast to the older hymns of the church do so in fear that contemporary musicians will veer away from keeping God at the center of their music. Unfortunately, cases like Jamie Grace only prove their fears correct.
Another popular Christian musician whose music seems to follow the same pattern is Lauren Daigle. Her older songs were unmistakably centered on God and praising Him. Her newer songs are much more cryptic.
Her most recent song, “Hold On To Me” which is shared above, replaces any reference to God with more ambiguous “you” and “you’ve” and other pronouns. It can be understood that she is speaking to God, pleading with Him to hold on to her through life’s tough moments, but the song could also be used in a variety of other contexts. A wife singing to her husband (or vice versa), a child singing to a parent. That ambiguity may make the song more appealing to a larger base — including the worldly pop scene that Lauren has been working her way into — but it also whitewashes God out of the picture for those who want to deny Him.
Another popular song from Lauren Daigle, “Rescue,” uses the same tactic. Except in this song, she as the speaker in the song uses first-person perspective to speak as God. “I” hear your SOS. “I’ll” be your shelter. “I’ll” be your armor. “I” will rescue you. It would be very easy (even down to the syllable count) to write the song with God specifically in place of the “I” references: “God” hears your SOS. “God” will be your shelter. “God” will be your armor. “God” will rescue you. So why does Lauren replace God with “I”?
Listen to the song and pay attention to the lyrics. Take count the amount of times she uses “I” statements and how few (zero) references to God Himself.
This is the kind of song I could see a boyfriend (husband, father, etc.) sing to his struggling girlfriend (wife, child) who is struggling (or vice versa). I’ll be there for you no matter what.
The point of this lesson isn’t to vilify Jamie Grace or Lauren Daigle. They have amazing vocal talents and they have been beacons for God via their past works. This lesson is more of a cautionary tale to be mindful of the lyrics we listen to and how easily the worldly pressures to conform can work their way into what should be Godly music.
Personally (John speaking), I have made it a point to listen to songs specifically for their references to God. Which artists are more likely to be unashamed in their commitment to God, to reference Him directly instead of replacing him with ambiguous pronouns that appeals to the world and potentially waters down our testimony?
The Bible includes a number of verses that focus on music. A few include Psalm 95:1, Ephesians 5:19, Psalm 71:23, Psalm 150:1-5. However, one I’d like to close today’s lesson out with comes from Psalm 98:1-7 (NIV):
1 Sing to the Lord a new song,
for He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm
have worked salvation for Him.
2 The Lord has made His salvation known
and revealed His righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered His love
and His faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Those verses — especially 4-7 — make it very apparent that we should sing our praises to God with all of our heart and soul for the whole world to hear. Replacing God in our worship music with pronouns seems to defy the very concept of unabashedly praising Him with our songs.
