Have you ever listened to a popular Christian song and wondered about something in the lyrics? I have, and it happened again yesterday when we (the DanDee couple) were headed for Baskin & Robbins after dropping off our daughter Bekah and new baby Mary Ruth at the Colorado Springs airport for their flight back to North Dakota.

I didn’t mention it to Dee because we both know that I have a tendency to overthink things now and then. When I listened song lyrics, in my mind I asked the “Is that really true?” question. Now that you are all in suspense and wanting to know “Which lyrics?”, here it is, in the chorus of a Big Daddy Weave song that was being played on one of the SiriusXM Christian channels:

You love me, You love me
You love me just the way I am
You love me, You love me
You love me just the way
Just the way I am

I admit that I had an immediate mental reaction upon hearing that chorus, but I’ll get to that later. What I decided to do after my mental knee-jerk reaction was to ask the question “Is that really true?” in a couple of internet search engines. I found a range of articles from theologians, pastors, Bible teachers and ordinary folks with opinions. The results were interesting, to say the least. Here are a few of the responses I found online.

One article, by Brandon Medina, focused on articles praising some Christian artists for coming out of the closet and professing they are now homosexuals.

One Christian worship song writer and singer, on coming out as a lesbian, said,

“What Jesus taught was a radical message of welcome and inclusion and love, I feel certain God loves me just the way I am.”

Another Christian singer and songwriter came out as a lesbian and discussed her experience and views on homosexuality in a popular publication, saying,

“I don’t think homosexual orientation, whether you’re lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, I don’t think sexual identity in any way is a sin. I understand where the teaching [that says] homosexuality’s a sin comes from. However, in understanding that teaching, it’s not one that I feel is one that I could back.”

Finally, the former lead singer of a Christian rock band came out as gay saying,

“I know I have a long way to go. But if this honesty with myself about who I am, and who I was made by God to be, doesn’t constitute as the peace that passes all understanding, then I don’t know what does. It is like this weight I have been carrying my whole life has been lifted from me, and I have never felt such freedom.“

Brandon’s response:

“Does God love us just the way we are? Perhaps, a more accurate statement might be the following: “God loves us despite the way we are.””

“Our revised statement in bold above leads to the conclusion, that clearly there is room for change, yet God loves us anyway.  I think C. S. Lewis summed it up nicely when he wrote,

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us” and also “we are bidden to ‘put on Christ’, to become like God. That is, whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want.“

“C.S Lewis’ point is that, yes, in fact, God does love us, but because of this love, He wants to change us into His image.”

I am not picking on members of the LGBTQ+++ community, however it does seem like the “God loves me just the way I am,” might be a favorite excuse for condoning homosexuality.

Ligon Duncan:

“God loves us no less than he loves his own Son, and he loves us in spite of the deepest sin and shame that we bear. God loves us no less than he loves his own Son, and he loves us in spite of the deepest sin and shame that we bear.”

JB Cachila, Christianity Today:

“God loved us so much that He sent His one and only begotten Son to save us from sin and death, undo the works of Satan in our lives, and make us conform to the image of His Son.” (Read John 3:16-17; 1 John 3:8; Romans 8:29)

“If Christ came to save us from the sorry state we are in, who are we to say that God loves us just as we are? God loves us alright, but He doesn’t want us remaining in the same sinful and unrepentant state that He found us in! “

Gail Burton Purath:

“God accepts us into His Kingdom just the way we are. But He expects us to change.”

In summary, here are some thoughts from R. C. Sproul:

“The kingdom of God is not Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. There are few things more dangerous than preachers preaching that God loves everybody unconditionally, because the message people hear is: “There are no conditions. I can continue to live just as I’m living, in full rebellion against God, and I have nothing to worry about because there aren’t any conditions that I have to meet. God loves me unconditionally. I don’t have to repent. I don’t have to come to Jesus. I don’t have to leave my life of sin. There are no conditions and no strings attached; God loves me just the way I am. He’s glad that I turned out so nicely.”

“I’ve written a book on the love of God in which I talk about three ways that theologians speak about the love of God. First, there is God’s love of benevolence, wherein God has a good will towards everybody, both believers and non-believers. Second, there is the beneficent love of God, or that love by which God gives benefits to people whether they’re believers or not believers: “The rain falls on the just as well as on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). The third and most important consideration is the love of complacency. The love of complacency is not the love of smugness, but rather the filial love that God has for the redeemed. That love is directed first to Christ and then to all who are in Christ, our Elder Brother.”

BTW, Big Daddy Weave clarified what was meant by the line in the chorus “You love me just the way I am“, in the song’s second verse:

“Ever patiently accepting me
Lord, You love in spite of everything I do
But oh so faithfully
You’re committed to the process that makes me like You
And I feel like I can dance
Oh You make me want to dance”

Whoops, I almost forgot to tell you what my first thought was when I heard the song on the radio. When I heard the words “You love me just the way I am,” my silent answer was “Not true, You love me in spite of the way I am.” Since that was the general consensus of the articles I read, I guess I might be in good company.

Be Blessed!

Online Resources:

God Loves Me Just the Way I Am

Does God Love Me Just As I Am?

Why ‘God loves you just the way you are’ might not actually be true

Does God love me just the way I am?