WOW!
I'll say it backwards... WOW!
What a way to start off a song! A congregational hymn, with a personal statement of such HUGE implications and weight! Immediately, instead of pre-cursing the song with trifle lines of set up, it starts off with a “this is me” statement.
It's as if you are saying to anyone listening: “No matter what else you hear in the song, or what else comes to mind whatsoever, know this: Christ is where my hope is found. He keeps me going during the day, He makes sure I'm awake and ready to take on the morning. And when everything begins to fall apart and my grip and control over my life is ripped out of my hands, He is my hope.”
You can not hope in the circumstances.
You cannot hope in people.
You cannot hope in jobs.
Friends, family, possessions,
your very hold over your life,
All of it- ALL of it can be ripped out of your hands.
...but Christ is always there- and always giving hope.
“Life's a game, and He with the most toys in the end wins”.
This has become a popular phrase in modern evangelical circles. It generally represents a view of the world that we, as Christians, are trying to get away from: Materialism, with an implied understanding that in realty, He who has CHRIST wins. That the kingdom of Heaven is not about WHAT you have, but Who you know.
Sounds good, right?
But it seems like we, as western capitalistic creatures, have simply taken the idea of “he with the most toys wins” and molded it around the Christian faith without realizing it. Now, it has become “He who goes to church every sunday...” or “He who brings the most new people to Christ...” or “He who tithes the most...” or “He who serves in the most ministries...” or “He who is in closest with the pastor..., or the pastors wife...”. It seems that our faith has become solely about us. That it is in our actions that we place our trust and hope for our future.
A great inadvertent mentor of mine is fond of saying that Christianity is NOT a game. But don't we often think of it as one, trying to get ahead by a role of dice and some cards we pick up? Sure, sure, we say that its by grace that we are saved, not works. Sure, sure, our good things are as filthy rags... but we still attempt to view those rags in comparison to others around us- in order to make ourselves feel as though we are doing good. That we are somehow getting ahead in a race to heaven, using our own abilities and actions to get us there.
But this song is immediately starting out with combatting against that. This is saying “hey- I'm not messing around here- this isn't a game. I cant put my hope in myself- but Christ, thats where I put my trust!”
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