For those of you into worship music, which I’m assuming are the majority of people stumbling across this, I urge you to check out “The Economy”, the new John Mark McMillan album that came out November 1st. I’ve been listening to McMillan for many years now, one of the benefits of being friends with super trendy Christians. [1] When his song “How He Loves[2]” took off, I was really excited to hear the songs played during worship across the country. However, I was surprised when I found myself singing different words than the people around me, and that’s what we’re talking about here today.
The biggest misconception about “How He Loves” is that it is simply a happy tale about how God loves us. It is not. It is a song created out of pain, suffering, and a genuine search for God in a time of hardship. It’s about a revelation of God’s character during a place of brokenness, not simply written in the midst of a spiritual high. That’s why the imagery is so strong. God isn’t a calming breeze; he’s a hurricane overpowering the tree of our existence. We’re not splashing around in God’s grace; we’re sinking. The heart doesn’t go “pitter patter” like a 40’s love story; it beats violently. That’s why the chorus is so simple yet profound, it’s the only response for such an overwhelming encounter with the presence of God, just surrendering and trying to grasp how much our God loves us. If you didn’t already check out the song, do that now. Fast forward to 6:26 in the song and listen to the original third verse about McMillan’s friend Stephen, whose death inspired this song. Listening to the emotion in his voice, it’s clear how much weight is behind his proclamation that God loves us.
My favorite part in this whole song is the phrase “heaven meets earth like a sloppy, wet kiss”[3]. The thing about a sloppy wet kiss is that it’s not designed to be subtle. It’s an often uncomfortable, overwhelming display of affection. The images of God we often cling to is that of a stoic warrior, not that of a father who embarrasses his kids by being overly affectionate. But that is who God is, a father who loves his children so freakin’ much. Most of us don’t even know where to even begin contemplating a love like that from a God we’ve turned our back on time after time.
1. There is also a downside to being friends with super trendy Christians, such as finding out that buying Tom’s Shoes off of eBay doesn’t actually count and does not make me a better person.
2. How He Loves – John Mark McMillan
He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath
The weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these
Afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize how beautiful you are
And how great your affections for me
Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so
Yea He loves us
Oh how
We are his portion
And he is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes
If grace is an ocean we’re all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart burns violently inside of my chest
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way
He loves us
Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so
Yea He loves us
Oh how
I thought about you
The day Stephen died
And you met me between my breaking
I know that I still love you God
Despite the agony
See people they want to tell me you’re cruel
But if Stephen could sing
He’d say its not true
Cause you’re good
3. The part often changed by some people covering it to “unforeseen”. Unforeseen just doesn’t do it justice; it’s a pleasant, comforting metaphor sandwiched between sinking in grace and a heart beating violently. The encounter with God here isn’t a pleasant reminder that God is fond of us, it’s much more raw than that.
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