Sometimes I have trouble listening to songs that sound like they're worshipping a person. As a Christian, I believe in one God. I believe that He alone is worthy of our praise. It makes me sad when I hear a song that idolizes someone as if they're a god.
The easiest way to tell if a song idolizes someone is to determine if the song sounds like it could be about God, but isn't. In other words, could the song be sung to God and sound like it's praising Him? If so, it's idolizing whoever it's about. It's treating that person like they are their God.
Not only is that sacrilegious, but it's also dangerous. There's a quote from the book Paper Towns by John Green that shows this.
https://risarodil.tumblr.com/tagged/john+green/page/2
The truth is, no matter how much you love someone, they will always disappoint you. The more you look up to someone, the more you stand to lose. I know because I've been there. I've put too much faith in people, only to be let down.
The good news is that God will never let you down. He will never fail you. Trust me. I know from experience.
These songs that idolize people also idealize them. They look at them in their best light and ignore their flaws. Love really is blind. These people don't deserve to have songs written about them. They aren't worthy of the praise and adoration that is blindly and wrongly given to them.
I bet you could ask anyone who has written a song that idolizes someone if that person lived up to how the song made them look. If they never let the singer down. If they really are all good. If the singer was honest, they'd say no.
It's just not humanly possible. No one is perfect. Only God is. Only He deserves our praise.
There's a Christian song called 'King of My Heart' by Bethel. There's also a Taylor Swift song with the same title. That in itself is an indicator that Taylor Swift's song idolizes the guy it's about. I'm not saying that Christian and secular songs can't have the same title. It just so happens that, in this case, the title, in my opinion, has a religious connotation.
In the Christian song, the king of their heart is God. In Taylor Swift's song, the king of her heart is her boyfriend. That just seems so wrong to me. Why would anyone let a flawed human take the place of God in their heart?
There's a line in Bethel's 'King of My Heart' that says, "You're never going to let me down." You can't confidently say that about anyone but God.
What does Taylor Swift's song say? "And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for. King of my heart, body, and soul." It's basically all about sex. You could argue differently, but if you took away the sex with this guy, she probably wouldn't have written this song.
Another song that idolizes someone is 'Strong' by One Direction. I sang it at a talent show at church camp once. I prefaced it by saying that it was a secular song but I was adapting to be a praise song to God since it already sounded like one.
"I'm sorry if I say I need you. But I don't care, I'm not scared of love. 'Cause when I'm not with you, I'm weaker. Is that so wrong? Is it so wrong that you make me strong?"
This song isn't as offensive to me as Taylor Swift's 'King of My Heart.' I don't avoid or abhor all songs that idolize someone. Sometimes I just pretend they're about God. Admittedly, I sometimes like the songs because there's someone in my life who I'm idolizing, so I can relate to the song. I'm not perfect or immune to sin.
The good news is that I usually realize relatively quickly when I'm idolizing someone. And you know what they say. The first step is admitting you have a problem.
It's important to note that there's a fine line between songs that honor someone and ones that idolize someone. It's good to love people. And it's good to express that love. But if you're like me and prone to love more than you're loved, you have to be careful not to idolize anyone.
Trust me, they don't deserve it.
