One of the most popular contemporary Christian worship songs of the last few years has been "Reckless Love." For many modern churches, this song has become a staple in their rotation of worship songs, and to be fair before we go any further, I understand why this is the case. Overall, its lyrics reflect biblical teachings about God's loving pursuit of lost humanity, and for the most part, dare I say, it borders on being theologically rich, which is, sadly, a rarity in today's Christian music landscape. While there is nothing overtly objectionable with this song, I do think Christians should stop to think about the implications of the song's title. When we call God's love "reckless," what exactly does that mean and why does it matter?
In honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday, I think it is appropriate for us to contemplate the nature of God's love today. In Scripture, we see plainly that God is love and has loved humanity sacrificially and unconditionally (see 1 John 4). Perhaps the most memorized verse in the Bible highlights how God so loved the world that He gave Jesus to save it, and because of God's love for us, we are, in turn, expected to love others just as He has loved us (see John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16). Simply, a follower of Christ cannot be an unloving individual. Love is to be a defining quality of the Christian life, for the world will know Christians by their love (see John 13:35).
The love of God permeates every page of Scripture. It is an inherent attribute of the triune God, and He has demonstrated His love for us by sending Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Thus, based on the whole narrative of Scripture, I believe it is misleading, at best, and inaccurate, at worst, to deem God's love reckless. I know plenty has been written about the problematic title of this song, and while I am not judging those who like this song or lead congregations in worship with this song (I do not want to be that guy), I do think the discourse around this song raises a broader, more important point for us to consider.
Whether we realize it or not, church members learn a large chunk of their theology from the songs they sing. On Monday morning whenever they are getting ready for work, for example, they are more likely going to be singing the closing hymn from the previous day than they are to be endlessly quoting the pastor's three sermon points to devote them to memory (as a pastor, I admit this rather begrudgingly). Thus, those leading people in worship must be careful to ensure that sound biblical theology is present in all aspects of the church's gathering, especially in the songs we sing. If people are going to remember anything from our gatherings, help them remember what God has revealed to us in His inerrant and sufficient Word.
In my humble interpretation of Scripture, God's love is anything but reckless. In our dictionary, "reckless" is defined as "without caution," which implies that someone or something is doing something in a carefree and potentially dangerous way. Therefore, this undercuts any semblance of intentionality on God's part, for if His love is reckless, His love is, to an extent, aimless. By this word being used to describe God's love, we have, hopefully unintentionally, trumpeted the thought that God's love is not deliberate but has fallen upon us almost by accident. According to the Bible, God's love is relentless, not reckless, for through it all, God's love pursues us endlessly and purposefully.
I understand that some of you may be reading this and disagreeing with me on all fronts here. To you, I would say you might be right, but these are just my personal thoughts based on my study of the Bible and of its presentation of God's love. An additional number of you may be thinking, "Who cares? It's just a word!" To you, I would say, "Yes! It is just a word! But words matter, especially when dealing with the things of God." We cannot afford to be reckless (see what I did there?) in our handling of biblical doctrine and theology. God has spoken to us in His Word, and we would be foolish to think that we can improve upon His words and concepts with words and concepts of our own.
Now, if your church sings "Reckless Love" this Valentine's Day weekend or at any time throughout the year, do not go up to your worship leader and call them a heretic for their actions. However, I write this to church leaders and congregants alike to merely encourage you to do whatever it takes to make sure biblical theology permeates every lyric, every prayer, and every proclamation sung, offered, or uttered whenever the church is gathered to worship Almighty God (and in walks of life, for that matter). As is the case here, just one word can undermine the biblical validity of anything and can cause false concepts of God to creep into the minds of church members who take the theology presented at face value. At the end of the day, we must be vigilant, especially in today's day and age, to ensure that the authoritative Word of God actually serves as the authoritative Word of God in our churches.
For His glory,
Cody Fleenor
