You didn't want heaven without us
So Jesus You brought heaven down
This is unbelievably wrong. I can hear the criticism, should we throw away so much good because of two lines? YES! These two lines are central to the theologies of Hillsong, Bethel and Elevation and they are absurdly heretical. I once tweeted that if your worship song includes the line "You didn't want heaven without us" then it was not God you were worshipping! Look how great we are! The Creator of the entire universe didn't want heaven without me! Yay me! The arrogance and the petulance is staggering. This "bringing heaven down" theology is constantly taught by these three ministries. It feeds the NAR dominionism theology as well because the church believes it is their job to replicate heaven here on earth. Wrong! We are pilgrims and sojourners beloved, and our only citizenship is in heaven! Jesus overcame the world! He did not make it more like heaven! What makes this song more insidious is that the rest of the song is ok but you cannot avoid these two lines. I do not blame the writers because this is what they were taught! This is why discernment when it comes to what worship music we listen to, support and even hear in church is so crucial. I wish everything was as obvious as Rick Pino, who once wrote a worship song that included the line:
I lay my head upon Your heart
Take me to Your chambers, lead me by the hand
I can't keep my eyes off of you
I would hope I do not need to explain the eww factor here, but we should not feel the need to shower after singing a song. Jesus is not your boyfriend. There will be a Marriage Supper of the Lamb but we are not going on the honeymoon.
Beloved, worship of the Lord should be something we take very seriously. The key verse shows Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman and one of the major points of difference between the Jews and the Samaritans was geographical. The primary disagreement was where they believed God chose to dwell. While the Jews hold that God chose Mount Zion in Jerusalem, Samaritans believe he chose Mount Gerizim near Shechem. This may not seem like much but the rift was huge and the Jews despised the Samaritans. Jesus corrects the Samaritan woman in the key verses and points out that true worshippers do not quibble over such carnal matters as which mountain is better but they worship in spirit and truth. The first part of this means that what we say to God in worship must be in alignment with His spirit. The lyrics supplied here and countless others simply do not pass this test. For example, Reckless Love is a bad song because the love of God is not reckless! Sometimes it is that simple! Other times you have to dig a little deeper to properly discern as we saw with some of the previous lyrics mentioned. Not only do the lyrics have to align with the spirit of God but so does the ministry from where they came! God does not want partial alignment. He does not want lyrics that align from a church that is wildly heretical. What we are singing is what we are saying to God! I do not want to tell the Alpha and Omega to lead me to His chambers! I do not want to tell Him He needs to give me my inheritance! I do not want to brag to Hm about how much I think He loves me! These are not aligned with the spirit of God and are not worship!
The second part of the key verses deals with worshipping in truth. I know this may get tired coming from discernment ministries, but the truth matters a whole lot to God! If your worship song does not align with the bible, then it is not God you are worshipping! Heaven does not meet earth with a big sloppy wet kiss. God was not up in heaven miserable without us. He did not bring heaven down to earth not does He expect us to try and do so. Please, I am not speaking about minor differences. There has to be some leeway for creative license. If the only problem with How He Loves Us was that silly line about being a tree to God's hurricane, I would not call it heretical, just poorly written. The line about God not wanting heaven without us is untrue. It is not only misaligned with the spirit but it biblically inaccurate by miles. It does however resonate with the modern false doctrines that place man at the center of their theology. It is very much a song belonging to the doctrine of me but from a bible perspective it is flat out false. The bottom line here is God wants true worship that is in line with the indwelt spirit of God within us. The 800-pound gorilla in the room is that the vast majority of folks in the apostate church are not actually saved. Thus, there is no indwelt Holy Spirit. Thus, the things of God are foolishness to them and thus these songs are merely entertainment. Have you been to an apostate mega-church? They hype their worship as an "experience" and even provide a five-minute countdown. It opens like a rock concert as the music is used to create an emotional response that the leader and pastor try to convince you is spiritual. It is not because it cannot be so. I am very encouraged at the spread of discernment in the body and the increase in folks who take seriously the doctrine they follow and believe. It is high time to get just as serious about false worship. Jesus is not your boyfriend. God did not send Him to suffer and die on the cross because He was lonely in heaven. Worship is doctrine and we need to start discerning as such.
