Worship Leader Wednesday is a series where we give you quick tips that you can put into practice today to become a better worship leader
Reckless Love is a very popular song right now, but many people have taken issue with the usage of the word ‘reckless’. Does this song describe God as reckless? In the video above, we share our thoughts on why we sing this song in our church.
We also believe it’s important to set this song up a bit before singing it. We’ve written a script you can use in your churches – hit the link above to download the free PDF.
More Worship Leader Wednesday Posts
Tips for Creating an Awesome Set List
In This Episode, Brian and Fuller Talk About How to Plan Your Set Lists. We Will Discuss Song Selection, Transitions, & More.
The cost of raising up leaders
Today’s Worship Leader Wednesday episode is really all about humility. One thing all great leaders do is raise up other leaders. At the heart of the Great Commission is the idea of raising others up. As worship leaders, we should be raising up the next generation of worship leaders on our teams.
How to cast vision to your worship team
You hear us talking about vision often here at Worship Tutorials. We believe that vision is vitally important to our ministries, and we even read in the Bible, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov. 29:18).
How to handle the Last Minute Pastor
In this episode of Worship Leader Wednesday, Fuller and Brian talk about how to approach the ‘Last Minute Pastor’. What do you do as a worship leader when your pastor consistently asks you to change songs (or other elements of the music portion of the service) at the last minute?
Your argument was unconvincing to me. God does know the effect of His sacrifice and of His love. “For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame.” Eph. 1 says “In love he predestined us to the adoption of children through Jesus Christ according to the kind intention of His will” v. 4-5.
The word reckless normally has a negative connotation. You think of someone driving recklessly, or destroying something fragile through lack of care. Words with generally accepted negative meanings don’t seem to be the best to associate with God or His attributes.
That would be my argument. Be blessed
i think i agree with mike
When you listen to all of the words of the song, it talks about kicking down walls and tearing down lies. To me, God is reckless in that He will do absolutely anything to get to us. The perfect example is Jesus and how he was totally reckless when it came to confronting the religious sect of His time. He kicked over tables and used a whip in the synagogue; pretty reckless. He was also reckless in the face of death, hell and the grave by laying down His life. Most people would not do that because, well, it’s reckless. Then, from the foundation of the Earth, He knew He would leave His Heavenly throne to humble Himself to become a man and chase after the very creatures He made. Definitely reckless. This is kind of love does not make any sense, it’s totally reckless… thank you Jesus that you are recklessly loving toward me! Wow!
I think your argument, in fact is very convincing, and if I were to use the song in a corporate setting, which I myself love, I do think I may be able to create a reasonable argument on your line of thinking. So I won’t be as strong as the above reply. However, I would be stronger in his words that the word “reckless” doesn’t just NORMALLY have a negative connotation to it, but almost ALWAYS. Looking at synonyms, most of them feel negative. Maybe daring or daredevil or adventurous would have positive overtones. But when all else fails, I go to God’s Word. Reckless is not used in the King James. In the NKJV it’s used once in Judges 9:4. Three times in the NLT (Judges 9:4; Proverbs 14:16; 2 Timothy 3:4). Five times in the NIV (Numbers 22:32; Judges 9:4; Proverbs 12:18; Jeremiah 23:32; 1 Peter 4:4)…and on and on. Not one time is the word used to refer to God (or his actions) and never is it used in a positive way.
Now, again, I love the song. I am an artist and I get the concept. It’s unique and beautiful. It makes me think about God’s love in a fresh way. It works for me personally. But I believe I would have a hard time arguing semantics with someone who had a problem with this song. If I do something recklessly, does it not characterize part of my nature as being reckless? And if I am reckless, do I consider the cost of my actions? I do think God knew the cost.
If it’s about art, art is subjective. I might use a color that doesn’t appeal to someone. I must be prepared for that. If it’s about theology (and sure that can be a sticky point as well), that is more objective. For instance, I just looked in the Bible and gave you examples of the use of that word (color).
But this is my real hesitation – I know the song has spoken to many people. I know it works well in several worship contexts. I love the song. But as a worship leader charged with leading my people, in my context, I know many won’t get it, no matter how I explain it. And it does indeed have to do with the English language of which “reckless” is a part of. So no matter how much I like the song or understand what its meaning is, I cannot justify using it in my setting. I cannot dismiss people who cannot get it as closed-minded or unspiritual. I don’t want to be a stumbling block and I do not want anything, even a song, to distract from worship. I believe Paul’s words here apply: “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say–but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’–but not everything is constructive” (1 Corinthians 10:24).
I am not condemning those who use it. I’m glad that freedom exists. I do encourage all worship leaders to be wise. Know your people. Know the theology behind what you sing in worship. Remember who you are serving and don’t force something you like for the wrong reasons. It is our goal to connect our people with the true living God whose love for us cannot be completely described by the English language (or any of the 6,700 languages on this earth).
This is a great discussion. I appreciate these things that Worship Tutorials post. Keep up the good work.