Bad worship songs - Beautiful Exchange - Hillsong Worship

From time to to we examine the lyrics of worship songs. Our desire is not to mock or humiliate, but rather to honestly examine content with a view to calling forth a better worship expression.

With the great volume and variety of worship music available, none of us should have to settle for bad worship songs. We should be able to select hundreds or even thousands of top notch songs very easily.

We should note that our title is about worship songs. A bad worship song can be a good song. What makes a song a good worship song? Is it enough to contain words like God or holy? How about vaguely spiritual sounding phrases? Should Jesus be mentioned? We think an excellent worship song should contain as many as possible of the following elements:

• A direct expression of adoration (God, you are...)
• A progression of ideas that culminates in a coherent story
• A focus on God, not us
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody

Scripture quotes or coherent allusions to Scripture

• Doctrinal soundness
• Further, a worship song should not:
• contain lyrics that create uncertainty or cause confusion
• be excessively metaphorical
• be excessively repetitive
• imply that Jesus is your boyfriend

It's worth noting the most worship songs contain at least something good. That is, there might be a musical idea or a lyric that has merit. Such is the case with today's song, Beautiful Exchange:

Video link.

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[Verse 1] You were near though I was distant
Disillusioned, I was lost and insecure
Still mercy fought for my intention
You were waiting at the door
Then I let You in

[Verse 2] Trading Your life for my offenses
For my redemption You carried all the blame
Breaking the curse of our condition
Perfection took our place

[Chorus 1] When only love could make a way
You gave Your life in a beautiful exchange

[Verse 3] My burden erased, my life forgiven
There is nothing that could take this love away
And my only desire, my sole ambition
Is to love You just the same

[Chorus 2] When only love could make a way
You gave Your life in a beautiful exchange
When only love could break these chains
You gave Your life in a beautiful exchange

[Bridge] Holy are You, God
Holy is Your name
With everything I've got
My heart will sing how I love You

Overview

We usually take the opportunity to evaluate worship songs when they are more theologically oriented. Such songs commonly make numerous theological statements which invites closer examination than other, more basic songs.

From a musical perspective this song has a lot going for it. It's not complicated. The chords of the verses and chorus: 

vi - I (first inversion) - IV - I

vi - I (first inversion) - IV  (verse one has an extra stanza at the end with a vi chord)

Bridge

V - IV - vi - I (first inversion)

V - vi -I

In addition, the pentatonic melody is singable and not highly pitched, which is a too common feature of contemporary worship. This may be because Joel Houston, one of the songwriters and the lead vocalist, is not a tenor. Thus the song lends itself well to the congregational setting.

In addition, the production is rather transparent, an unusual thing for Hillsongs. This means a smaller band can offer this uncomplicated song without struggle.

The bridge expresses worship quite well, and may be the strongest part of the song.

Lyrics

Some of the lyrics are written from a Calvinist perspective, which may be not suit certain churches. The very title of the song reveals this. Calvinists believe that some sort of transaction similar to a financial transaction occurred at the cross, that Jesus substituted Himself for us to endure the Father's wrath in our place and pay for our sins. We discuss this errant idea here.

We are not Calvinists so we find the song to be doctrinally problematic. We find verse two to be the primary offender:

[Verse 2] Trading Your life for my offenses
For my redemption You carried all the blame

Breaking the curse of our condition
Perfection took our place

It is true that Jesus died for our sins (Ro. 4:25, 1Co. 15:3, Ga. 1:4), but He did not die to pay for our sins. There is no Bible verse that says this. Rather, He died to pay for us (1Co. 6:20, 1Co. 7:23). Nor did He die in our place, He died as the Lamb of God, a perfect sacrifice. We were already dead (Jn. 3:18, Ro. 5:18), and He died to spill His blood (Col. 1:20, He. 9:22), which washes away our sin and gives us new life.  

Conclusion

This song has a lot to recommend it, but it depends on the doctrinal perspective of the church that considers it. Our doctrine would not allow accommodation.