"Better than Life" by Hillsong and why KNOWING lyrics is important

[blerg1234]

Ok well when I first heard this song, the first thing that stood out to me was this line:

"Better than living the life that I want to. (your love is)"

Now to me, all that says is "I'm a Christian because I have to be, not because I WANT to be."

I'm sure that was not the intention of the author, but I think there are two very important things that Christian songwriters, and Christians who sing the music should keep in mind:

a) Do the words uplift God without showing hypocrisy?

b) Do the words mean something coming from YOU?

I do not enjoy church songs, simply because they do not come from MY heart. I often wonder how many people in church are forcing themselves to 'worship' through all the church songs?

I'm not saying that NOBODY can worship while listening to Hillsong or whoever else, but PLEASE everyone - know what you are singing before you sing it. You might just be saying something you don't mean, and that is hypocrisy.

Let's have a discussion on this while we're at it though .

 

[carrymeaway06]

Better than the riches of this world
Better than the sound of my friends voices
Better than the biggest dreams in my heart
and that's just the start
Better than getting what I say I need
Better than living the life that I wan't to
Better than the love anyone could give
Your love is

You hold me now in Your arms You never let me go

And You oh Lord made the sunshine
The moonlight and the nightsky
You give me breath and all Your love
I give my heart to You
Because I can't stop falling in love with You
I'll never stop falling in love with You
​

I'm going to very strongly disagree with you. I've liked this song since I first heard the lyrics. "Better than living the life that I want to" ... What does this mean? Maybe it means that to you, and yes I'm SURE that wasn't the intent of Hillsong... BUT look at it this way... as sinful people a sinful race, all we want to do is live our own way. It's not about doing it because we have to but a deliberate and always continuous choice to follow Christ. It's not easy. It would be so much easier and in the short term "more fun" to do whatever we want whenever we want... but like children, we need to be "straightened out" and we need to be obedient even if we don't want to... because in the long run it's Better than living the life that I wan't to.

​

 

[blerg1234]

all we want to do is live our own way

I want to live as a follower of God and Jesus Christ. I don't want anything else. Are you trying to tell me that I don't? Because that's exactly what the line in the song says and that's where the problem is. I'm sure there are people out there who are only Christians because they feel they have to be. In fact, I bet 99% of Christians who SING these songs actually don't know whether they love God or not - they just sing them because everyone else does, or because it's what you're 'supposed to do' at church.


You may not realise this, but everything you said is on the assumption that ALL people - including me - don't want to do things God's way because it is apparently 'less fun' and that we aren't willing to be 'straightened out'. I love doing things God's way - I hate everything to do with the world. YES, I do know that we are all sinners, all that stuff, blah blah blah, but that is not relevant here.

By the way, 'want' is not spelled with an apostrophe .

 

[sherri]

I think a lot of it can depend on which way you personally view the lyrics.

"Better than living the life that I want to. (your love is)"

Now to me, all that says is "I'm a Christian because I have to be, not because I WANT to be."

I don't get that - you're saying the song is saying the opposite of what it's actually saying.

It goes better then living the life that I want to - in otherwords 'your love is better then living the life that I want to'


Where does that indicate in any way, shape or form that you're only a christian because you have to be

 

[J27]

I like the song, you can interperet it the way you want but, it is actually bout saying that God is better than all things and he is the only one that we want. When we sing in church we dont just sing, we glorify God, if you dnt like the song, dont sing it, just close your eyes, welcome God into your life and exalt him, with your heart and your soul bless him, worship and praise him with all you have. Instead of singing and saying what a song says, say what you want to say.

 

[blerg1234]

Denial is fun, isn't it kids?

But I won't get into criticising mainstream, trendy Christianity any longer, I'll just get yelled at.

 

[Aerdna]

I like the song, you can interperet it the way you want but, it is actually bout saying that God is better than all things and he is the only one that we want. When we sing in church we dont just sing, we glorify God, if you dnt like the song, dont sing it, just close your eyes, welcome God into your life and exalt him, with your heart and your soul bless him, worship and praise him with all you have. Instead of singing and saying what a song says, say what you want to say.

That's what I'd say.. So I'll not type anything. I agree with you.

 

[carrymeaway06]

wan't ... I never took a typing course, and therefore my fingers are all the heck over my keyboard, and I rarely preview and post. I just post. Typo.... Yay!!!

Anyway, yeah... well, from a secular point of view... it's boring. Right? Nobody WANTS to be a limited christ follower. I love the Christian life... but as naturally sinful human beings who continually need to seek forgiveness our nature is to do what we want. We're rebellious. I didn't say everyone acts on it, or even really feels the need to, it depends on your upbringing.

I don't judge ANY music, because it could mean SO MANY different things. Most people would be shocked at what I write... but it's what I feel.... it's what needs to get out. And writing it in lyric form is an artist's way of release... and even appology. Such as half of what John Reuban sings.... or TobyMac... or juliagrace. It's all who you are.

 

[cinnabunch]

Well..i think that line is talking about our sinful nature...wanting what it wants....

cindy

 

[blerg1234]

But it is a poor selection of words.

For those of us who have a good grasp of the English language and see most meanings of words and phrases, there are certain meanings which always stand out.

Comparing God's love to 'living the life that I want to' isn't even a logical comparison - not that God's love necessarily needs to following what humans call logical ideals.

I also think that too many people are too willing to defend things without actually thinking about what they're defending. The bible says quite specificially that we as Christians are to be careful what we say. The fact that I am bringing this point up shows that somewhere along the line, someone screwed up because if the line of the song wasn't questionable, I wouldn't question it.



I do absolutely NOT have a problem with people writing lyrics. I am a musician/songwriter/singer myself and I have always known exactly what lyric writing is - art. An expression of who YOU are.

And that is where you need to draw the line when it comes to singing CHURCH songs. The lyrics need to find the line between 'you' and 'everyone else' and sit on it. It is impossible to write a deep and meaningful church song without God's inspiration because as artists we write our own thoughts.

To me this song is not inspired by God. It sounds more like it may have been inspired by an act of God, but like most modern Hillsong songs, it's just another clone put on an album to make money.

I myself - I haven't even tried writing a 'church' song yet because I don't want it to be about me - and to be honest, the prospect of writing a song with God reading over your shoulder is kind of daunting. I'm sure I'll get over that one day, because I do want to write some cool church songs that'll keep me from falling asleep behind the drumkit but until that day...

 

[sherri]

Denial is fun, isn't it kids?

Yeah. Enjoying yourself

 

[blerg1234]

Well, my Hillsong attending friend, why don't you ask the original author of the song what his intended meaning was? Or do you have to pay money to speak to Hillsong celebrities now? I'm surprised your church hasn't started charging an entry fee. Believe me, I respect what Hillsong has achieved, but I don't respect the way Hillsong robs people.

That reminds me, while you're asking about the meaning of the line in the song, could you find out why Hillsong charges MORE for their CDs than anyone else? I've bought imports from barely known labels for less than other people pay for Hillsong albums...

Oh, and just to clarify for the less quick-witted: I dislike churches - including Hillsong - which are all about money and advertising for the blessings of God. God isn't a genie, God doesn't demand sacrifice, all He wants is obedience and obeying the church isn't necessarily obeying God.

Of course, things could have changed since my last encounter with Hillsong but on Earth things tend to become more decayed before they'll become more Godly...

 

[sherri]

I'd answer you if you wern't just ranting.

 

[carrymeaway06]

MOST churches are messed up. Trust me, I know. Just because an entire church seems all screwy... does not mean there's somethign wrong with the individual who wrote the song. You can't group people together based on a bad experiance with a church. If you're SOO concerned about money, might I suggest http://www.christianbook.com/Christ...earch&N=0&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1

The CD's run about 12 bucks

Hillsong has an extreme ammount of charities, missions, projects, churches, up-and-coming artists and so on that they finance. Is it so wrong to tack an extra few dollars onto a cd? You don't like it, don't buy it.

The song... it's about who we are as sinners. And that's the last time I'll say it. Let it speak to you for what it's intended... a powerful worship song. Or stay away from it. Don't bash them and tell me who they are or what they believe... and don't tell me for certain they ARE a corrupt people... that's between them and God.

 

[blerg1234]

Sherri - if you have no answer then you can just say so .

Carrymeaway - I know that most churches are messed up. I've been to more than one, and not at any point in time have I blamed every single person in the churches in question on all the problems. The problem is that the 'mob' of people do nothing to change the problems, either through ignorance or simply not realising that they can make a difference within the church.

I know that Hillsong have charities, etc. The stuff they do for the community is wonderful. It's what they do to Christians which is less than wonderful - yes, they provide a good atmosphere for stereotypical worship and growth in God, but their views on money and giving have something to be desired. I am also fairly certain that they publish their own CDs, thus they are not obligated to pay any record producing company, therefore they should be much cheaper than most CDs available from stores like HMV and JB Hifi.

And I did not attack anyone in Hillsong except for the governing forces behind the church and its schemes, and the guy who wrote the song. As I said, I'm SURE IT IS NOT HIS INTENDED MEANING, but it is easily possible for it to be taken that way and to me that's all I can think of when I hear or read that line. That doesn't mean I WANT to think that way, but I tend to read into things a lot.

Once again I do NOT ever attack the congregation of the church. I think I may know no more than 10 people who attend Hillsong - assume they still go there (possibly more that I don't know who go there) and I would not make any judgments on their relationship with God because I know that it's none of my business - not that I have any real knowledge of their relationships anyway. So if I'm not going to judge the people I know, I'm definitely not going to judge a congregation I don't know - what I am judging is the attitude of the leadership because that is what shapes a church.

The most important thing, in the end, is that people GENUINELY accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, out of their own free will. If Hillsong can get 10,000 people to church every Sunday who are crazy on fire for God, then well they must be doing something right and I am not going to disrespect that. After all - that's God's business, not mine.

 

[sherri]

Sherri - if you have no answer then you can just say so

answer what? Your sweeping insults. Your asanine accusations. Your beautiful examples of positive reinforcement and love towards the body of christ.

You're being a twit. Even your insults are stupid. If there was something there to actually answer, believe me, I'd answer it (of course I already did in the first post but you ignored that)

But you obviously arn't after answers, just a platform to come up with random accusations so you can put other christians down.

(and you're not even doing it intelligably)

 

[carrymeaway06]

answer what? Your sweeping insults. Your asanine accusations. Your beautiful examples of positive reinforcement and love towards the body of christ.

You're being a twit. Even your insults are stupid. If there was something there to actually answer, believe me, I'd answer it (of course I already did in the first post but you ignored that)

But you obviously arn't after answers, just a platform to come up with random accusations so you can put other christians down.

(and you're not even doing it intelligably)

Wow girl....

She's right, all you're doing is insulting Christians... particularly the ones with hillsong

 

[blerg1234]

No no, I am after answers, and I don't recall throwing any insults around. You're obviously reading what I have to say with the wrong mindset, which is quite typical of a Christian who refuses to accept criticism as a possible form of growth.

I have not put down any individuals, I have sought to see if people have seen things from my point of view - of which on here, nobody has. This is disturbing to me, because it reinforces the point that so many Christians blindly sing along to songs that they probably haven't even thought about or listen to what they're singing about.

I asked YOU, some specific questions - go read them again. I'm quite clear with what I've had to say and you haven't answered my question, you said:


"I'd answer you if you wern't just ranting."


So you openly refused to answer two perfectly reasonable questions - 1) What the original author's intended meaning was in his/her own words and 2) Why Hillsong charge higher prices for their CDs than hard to get imports from the US?

Now, you'll find that the only person who has insulted anyone is you - right when you said "You're being a twit.". I never throw baseless insults around, because that way when people say silly things like what you've done, I can respond this manner.

So my advice to you would be either provide me with the answers to the questions I asked you, or simply stop posting in this topic since you're only using it as a place to harass ME, because I am not like you and I do not share your opinion.

In regards to the reason I started this topic, you claim that my take on the meaning of the line in the song is the opposite of the intended meaning - how so? It's quite clear about what it says - "Better than living the life that I want to". Now I'm not saying that I am a perfect Christian, or that I am perfect in any way or anything arrogant or stupid like that, but what I AM saying is that the life that *I* want to live, is a life where I follow God and where He is important in my life. I have not wanted it any other way - so that makes that line in that song incorrect, and far too personal to be sung in church by anyway except those who share the opinion of the original author.

The reason for this, is because the line IS ambiguous in meaning and that is not a good feature of a church song.

You can defend it all you like, but my point still stands and people need to acknowledge things like that.

 

[Riis]

Tell me if I'm wrong but it doesn't make sense that the line 'better then living the way I want' means what you think it does otherwise the song would be saying that - 'being a christian is better then not being a christian even though i don't want to be a christian i have to be so i am but it's still better'
I might be interpreting what your saying wrong but doesn't make sense to me really anyway i think your right about being careful about what you sing. That's true it is hypocrisy to go round singing things you don't believe but a line like that is relative and it's more important what it means to you then anything else... so it's still a great song... also i think that we all occasionally just want to do what we want to do regardless of wether it's wrong or right and that would be what the song is actually talking about.

As for Hillsong well I dislike churche's that go around asking for money all the time too... but God does love a cheerful giver... and I don't think it makes any sense sitting around pointing it out. Every single church has it's strengths and weaknessess that's all there is to it. As for the prices of their CD's hey they produce them their entitled to charge what they want - sure there are some churches around that aren't so great but what does pointing it out do, if you don't like a church you should just change. I mean churches are run by people to and people make mistakes there isn't any such thing as the perfect church so sitting around pointing out the problems is kinda doesn't make sense we should just be grateful that these people do have a connection with God and are willing to share with us.

ps. sorry bout the lack of punctuation

 

[carrymeaway06]

Tell me if I'm wrong but it doesn't make sense that the line 'better then living the way I want' means what you think it does otherwise the song would be saying that - 'being a christian is better then not being a christian even though i don't want to be a christian i have to be so i am but it's still better'
I might be interpreting what your saying wrong but doesn't make sense to me really anyway i think your right about being careful about what you sing. That's true it is hypocrisy to go round singing things you don't believe but a line like that is relative and it's more important what it means to you then anything else... so it's still a great song... also i think that we all occasionally just want to do what we want to do regardless of wether it's wrong or right and that would be what the song is actually talking about.

As for Hillsong well I dislike churche's that go around asking for money all the time too... but God does love a cheerful giver... and I don't think it makes any sense sitting around pointing it out. Every single church has it's strengths and weaknessess that's all there is to it. As for the prices of their CD's hey they produce them their entitled to charge what they want - sure there are some churches around that aren't so great but what does pointing it out do, if you don't like a church you should just change. I mean churches are run by people to and people make mistakes there isn't any such thing as the perfect church so sitting around pointing out the problems is kinda doesn't make sense we should just be grateful that these people do have a connection with God and are willing to share with us.

ps. sorry bout the lack of punctuation

By sitting and pointing things out, we just become judgemental freaks. That's all the good that does. They don't sit their preaching about needing to keep the lights on like all of the other churches I've ever been insdie. They don;t need to. They're a thriving church with willing memebers.... and if they get excited about Jesus, who are we to tell them otherwise. Interpret the song the way you like.

If any of you don't like the song, just fdon't listen.