The song "Blessed by your name" by Matt Redman is a song that never fails to stop me right there in the middle of the worship. For the longest time ever, there has always been this dissonance within me over certain lines in the song. And then I'll start pondering over it. Then it becomes a distraction throughout the rest of the worship and service.
Firstly, I have trouble singing the bridge. He gives and takes away. It is the famous line taken from Job 1:21: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” He thought God was behind that one really bad week when his livestock were stolen, his servants were slain, and his kids were killed when a house fell on them. In a strange way, we find comfort reciting this verse ourselves when we suffer loss. And while I admire Job's attitude, he does concede right at the end of the book in 42:3 "I spoke of things I did not understand"
So does God really give and then take away?
For me, I do think that any picture we have of God needs to be seen through the person of Jesus. That was after all, one of the main reasons why He came down onto this earth. Job never had that privilege because he was an Old Testament man. He never knew the loving Abba Father side of God. Jesus said that anyone who has seen him has seen the Father, and as far as I know, when he walked this earth, he didn't go around taking from people. He was feeding the hungry and helping the lame to walk and the blind to see. Many people were healed and believed and converted their whole village as well! How do you get someone to believe by giving hope and a new life and bright future and then remind him in the same sentence that it can be taken away at any moment?
Nobody doubts that we serve a giving God and I agree that he has every right to take away, but I do not believe it is his nature to do it. It is however, the devil's nature to do so. Jesus says "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full". From the beginning of human history the devil has been trying to steal or ruin everything God gave us. God gave us authority over a planet and the devil took it. God gave us eternal life, and had it not been the for the perfect sacrifice, we would have lost it all.
Well to be fair to those on the "taker camp", Job 1:22 says that despite having said what he said, Job did not sin by charging God with any wrongdoing. Which means to say that worshiping God by acknowledging his power to take away is not a sin at all. Then again, there are a lot of things God can do that we do not sing about, do we? I believe that we have a loving Father who gives, may allow certain things to be taken away, but then restores back what was lost. It is important that it doesn't stop at "he takes away", which is what a lot of Christians do. We've been taught to grit our teeth and get on with it. Its "all part of God's plan". Its the "1+1-1+1-1+1-1......=0" syndrome. Repeat this pattern several times, and its no wonder so many really do think God is as much a taker as a giver.
And what is this line in the second verse about "pain in the offering"? Seriously, if it pains you so much to offer something, then don't. Jesus came as the perfect offering already so that we may have life. Are we then going to offer him some pain in return? He doesn't need our pain. He wants us to walk in the victory that his blood paid for. Isn't he, as we sing, already "more than enough" for us? I don't get all calculative when I tithe. I don't go round complaining how restrictive the Christian life can be. We should try to find some joy in the ministries we serve in. Jesus told us not to fast and pray amidst all the fanfare just so that we can show off the suffering. I'm sure he knows fully well how important many things are to me. But when I give, I do it willingly anyway because I know he will sustain me. There's joy in the offering, not pain! Focusing on our personal pain in the offering is a bit self-centered; believing that our offering will bring a something greater is a testament of our faith in him. We focus on the "extension of His kingdom", not what we physically have now.
Okay, I'm no theologian. People have been debating this for centuries, and there are bound to be loopholes in this. These views are just my own and I'm not on a mission to convert everybody to see it my way. The last line of the bridge goes "my heart will CHOOSE to say, blessed be your name". It is, really, everybody's personal choice on what they want to believe and how they want to see it. What we emphasize about God affects the way we think of him and our relationship with him.
I think it is good to challenge our theological comfort zone once in a while...
Firstly, I have trouble singing the bridge. He gives and takes away. It is the famous line taken from Job 1:21: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” He thought God was behind that one really bad week when his livestock were stolen, his servants were slain, and his kids were killed when a house fell on them. In a strange way, we find comfort reciting this verse ourselves when we suffer loss. And while I admire Job's attitude, he does concede right at the end of the book in 42:3 "I spoke of things I did not understand"
So does God really give and then take away?
For me, I do think that any picture we have of God needs to be seen through the person of Jesus. That was after all, one of the main reasons why He came down onto this earth. Job never had that privilege because he was an Old Testament man. He never knew the loving Abba Father side of God. Jesus said that anyone who has seen him has seen the Father, and as far as I know, when he walked this earth, he didn't go around taking from people. He was feeding the hungry and helping the lame to walk and the blind to see. Many people were healed and believed and converted their whole village as well! How do you get someone to believe by giving hope and a new life and bright future and then remind him in the same sentence that it can be taken away at any moment?
Nobody doubts that we serve a giving God and I agree that he has every right to take away, but I do not believe it is his nature to do it. It is however, the devil's nature to do so. Jesus says "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full". From the beginning of human history the devil has been trying to steal or ruin everything God gave us. God gave us authority over a planet and the devil took it. God gave us eternal life, and had it not been the for the perfect sacrifice, we would have lost it all.
Well to be fair to those on the "taker camp", Job 1:22 says that despite having said what he said, Job did not sin by charging God with any wrongdoing. Which means to say that worshiping God by acknowledging his power to take away is not a sin at all. Then again, there are a lot of things God can do that we do not sing about, do we? I believe that we have a loving Father who gives, may allow certain things to be taken away, but then restores back what was lost. It is important that it doesn't stop at "he takes away", which is what a lot of Christians do. We've been taught to grit our teeth and get on with it. Its "all part of God's plan". Its the "1+1-1+1-1+1-1......=0" syndrome. Repeat this pattern several times, and its no wonder so many really do think God is as much a taker as a giver.
And what is this line in the second verse about "pain in the offering"? Seriously, if it pains you so much to offer something, then don't. Jesus came as the perfect offering already so that we may have life. Are we then going to offer him some pain in return? He doesn't need our pain. He wants us to walk in the victory that his blood paid for. Isn't he, as we sing, already "more than enough" for us? I don't get all calculative when I tithe. I don't go round complaining how restrictive the Christian life can be. We should try to find some joy in the ministries we serve in. Jesus told us not to fast and pray amidst all the fanfare just so that we can show off the suffering. I'm sure he knows fully well how important many things are to me. But when I give, I do it willingly anyway because I know he will sustain me. There's joy in the offering, not pain! Focusing on our personal pain in the offering is a bit self-centered; believing that our offering will bring a something greater is a testament of our faith in him. We focus on the "extension of His kingdom", not what we physically have now.
Okay, I'm no theologian. People have been debating this for centuries, and there are bound to be loopholes in this. These views are just my own and I'm not on a mission to convert everybody to see it my way. The last line of the bridge goes "my heart will CHOOSE to say, blessed be your name". It is, really, everybody's personal choice on what they want to believe and how they want to see it. What we emphasize about God affects the way we think of him and our relationship with him.
I think it is good to challenge our theological comfort zone once in a while...
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