There’s a massively popular worship song right now called “Reckless Love” by Bethel Music’s Cory Asbury. The lyrics of the chorus are:
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah
Like a good blogger, after listening to it I began thinking about the phrase, “The reckless love of God.” Is God’s love really reckless? What does that mean? Does that phrase capture the biblical concept of God’s love?
What Does “Reckless Love” Mean?
First, let me say that I fully understand what Asbury was trying to say in the song. As an artist (I’m using that term loosely) myself, I hate it when people perform theological surgery on art without trying to understand the creator’s intent.
Asbury was trying to capture the glorious, breathtaking, staggering, blows the mind nature of God’s love. The saving, redeeming, rescuing love of God truly is unfathomable and oceanic. It’s a perplexing, head-shaking kind of love. It’s the kind of love that surpasses words. It’s a love that brings new mercies EVERY single morning.
I’m totally on board with singing songs that express the wonder of God’s love, and I appreciate what Asbury was trying to do with the song and the words “reckless love”. He was trying to capture the glorious, overwhelming love that God has for wicked sinners.
But even though God’s love detonates our dictionary, the words we use to describe it do matter. And I actually think that the phrase “reckless love,” sells God’s love short. It actually minimizes the love of God in some ways.
The Overwhelming, Never Ending, Intentional Love of God
In just about every context, the word “reckless” either means not heeding danger or not knowing the outcome and acting anyway.
A parent who plunges into a burning house to rescue a child is reckless in the sense that they’re ignoring the danger and might die in the process. That could certainly be called reckless love and is probably the most positive example of recklessness.
An investor who plows money into stocks without any knowledge of the company is reckless and will probably end up bankrupt or owing money to guys who carry baseball bats.
When a NASCAR driver makes a dangerous move to pass another car, he’s a reckless driver.
You get the point.
God’s love is not a reckless love. It is incredibly intentional and fully omniscient, and that’s what makes it so beautiful.
When it comes to saving and rescuing and redeeming and loving us, God knew EXACTLY what he was getting into.
In 2 Timothy 1:9, Paul says that God:
…saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began…
Before he created the world, God knew that he would send Christ into a sinful, wicked, twisted, bent, and broken world to die for our sins. He knew precisely what would happen. He knew that we would reject him, abhor him, worship false gods, and be his enemy.
And yet in spite of this, he planned to save us.
To save me. To save you. That truly is overwhelming, never-ending, intentional love.
When Jesus went to the cross, he was well aware of Isaiah 53:5-6, which says:
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
When Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem, he knew what was coming. He knew that the wrath of God toward sin – my sin and your sin – was going to be poured out on him.
When he sweat and trembled and plead with God in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was fully aware that he was about to be swallowed up by the overwhelming hatred of God toward sin.
And yet he still went to the cross. Deliberately substituting himself for us. Intentionally spreading his precious blood over the doorframes of our lives.
This is not a reckless love. This is love so intentional and specific and knowing that it takes your breath away.
God knew how much it would cost him to redeem us. He knew that his beloved son, the one adored by angels and upholding the world by his word, would be spit upon and mocked and ripped open by whips and pinned to a cross and pierced by a spear.
He knew that Jesus would scream, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
And he knew that the Immortal One would be swallowed by death.
The glory of God’s love is that he knew exactly what it would cost…
…and he did it anyway.
Delighting In The Love of God
Is God’s love reckless? No, it’s so much better than that. He loves us specifically and intentionally. And because we know that God didn’t spare his own son, we also know that he won’t withhold any good thing from us.
This kind of overwhelming love propels us to worship and adoration. It moves us to say, “Father, why would you save the likes of me?” It drives us to our knees in humble gratefulness.
Do we deserve it? No. Could we earn it? Never. But God lavishly loves us anyway.
Charles Spurgeon, who never seemed to have trouble finding the right words, said this:
Amen to that.
Yes!! Almost unspeakable with words, yet they are exactly the words I want to speak!! Yes!!
It’s a glorious struggle to try to articulate just how glorious God’s love is!
A friend and I were just talking about this! It’s a very joyful frustration to try to muster up words to describe Jesus’s love, glory, and the goodness of His sovereignty…and always come up short 😉
Yes we do! We’ll always struggle to capture the glory of an infinite God!
Yes, but we do not need to resort to derogatory words.
Remember who we are talking about. The holy one. The one whom John the baptist said he was not worthy to loosen his sandals.
Awesome could easily be substituted for reckless and it would make more sense.
When I hear the song and the words “reckless love of God” in the song I think of God’s “rescuing” LOVE. It is a song of pursuit that never gives up on his child or his bride no matter what god-forsaken situation they have gotten themselves into.
No mountain he won’t climb up. “Intentional” while it does describe an aspect of God’s love, doesn’t convey the same “extremeness” if you will. Like “reckless,” intentional could also be misconstrued depending on the connotation that the listener gives it. (His intentions were good, but it just didn’t pan out the way he intended). God’s “reckless’ love speaks to the unrestrained lengths that God goes on our behalf, that no human could fathom to go, even giving His one and only precious and perfect Son to DIE. Words applied to our perfect God have a different connotation than words applied to fallible humans. Think of “jealous” for example. Jealous God is good. A jealous person is a problem. Intentional God is perfect at accomplishing his intentions by only speaking. A person’s actions most often fall short of their intentions. Reckless God’s love is indescribable in human terms. It is immeasurable and unlimited in what it can accomplish. I think of a dark situation my daughter found herself in. She was determined to live on her own, and in rebellion, moved into a trailer with someone she didn’t know in New York City because it was what she could afford. It soon became clear to her that she was living with a heroin addict and that she was in a scary and dark place. When she reached out to my husband, he didn’t hesitate stop everything, get on the next plane and rush to her and physically remove her.
That is reckless love and an allegory of God’s reckless/wreckless love. His love has no boundaries. He does whatever it takes to rescue us.
Firstly, I want to make clear that I am a Christian of the reformed faith. I attend a congregation that is a confessional body that holds to the Heidelberg Confession, Canons Of Dort, etc. I want to state my views here in the spirit of love and unity that that comes only from the true love that is possible in Jesus the Christ. I find it sad that you quibble with the words “reckless” in the song when they clearly understand it as you have detailed it so forcefully and convincingly in your review. I am convinced their love of The biblical Jesus is genuine. I simply am discouraged that TOO many in the reformed faith are quick to nitpick with anything they find in other believers who don’t square 100% with every single point of doctrine, and in so doing they PUT DOWN the faith of these believers. Is this out of spiritual pride among many in the reformed tradition? I am afraid so. It is quite sad. We who hold to the Biblical doctrines of grace as understood by Augustine, Luther, and Calvin and some many other godly men and women throughout the ages, and yet somehow fail to realize that is only by the grace of God that we came to understand the depths of His Grace (actually we do not fully understand it, His Grace is MATCHLESS and beyond words). Are we guilty of the same sin as the apostle Paul who received so much understanding of the grace of God that he fell victim to pride and looked down on his fellow brothers? (2 Corinthians 12:7). Let us examine ourselves and ask for forgiveness from our spiritual pride.
Johnathan Edwards spoke with wisdom: “Spiritual pride tends to speak of other persons’ sins with bitterness or with laughter and levity and an air of contempt. But pure Christian humility rather tends either to be SILENT about these problems or to speak of them with GRIEF and PITY. Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others, but a humble Christian is most GUARDED ABOUT HIMSELF . He is as suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart. The proud person is apt to find fault with other believers, that they are low in grace, and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are and to be quick to note their deficiencies. But the humble Christian has so much to do at home and sees so much evil in his own heart and is so concerned about it that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He is apt to esteem others better than himself.”
Again, let us examine our heart and judge ourselves. We must delight in not just our own salvation but in the many multitude of who are in Christ around the world. The grace of God is not bound to traditions of men nor denominational walls built by man. God’s word stands ALONE! And JESUS ALONE is UNCHANGING ROCK!
The reason this song needs to be put under a microscope is because it is being sung and proclaimed in a special time set aside within a worship service when we proclaim who God is. If what is stated about the most holy within a holy time by his people is not worthy of intense scrutiny, I don’t what is? You can’t be arguing that we should not scrutinize our thoughts and words are you?
I don’t like it on the radio either, but radio is not a worship service.
If you can picture yourself in the presence of the almighty calling him reckless then that is between you and Him. I want the things I say and proclaim about Him to be even more reverent as I continue to walk with him. Holy, Holy, Holy seems to be a good proclamation to test against. Amazing, awesome, incredible, terrific…………. there are literally a thousand words that would be ok. Reckless is just not one of them in my opinion.
I agree…intentional would be a great one.
Reckless is a negative, not knowing consequences term and this does not describe God’s love
“Matchless” could be, more, appropriate!!! Pastor Leo W., in S. FL ??
My fellow Christian no one is putting down your faith or beliefs just the song that steers Christian to worship (singing songs is a form of worship) songs that uses negative words to describes the intentional, unending good love of God.
This is so good! There are many times when the connotation vs. the denotation change over time, colloquial use of words for effect, etc. Is., “he’s a Bad man!” at one time meant “he’s very cool!”, not literally bad. I think your points of spiritual pride vs. humility, especially in the Reform circles, should be examined first, before throwing a song under the bus that has been used by the Lord in countless lives to open hearts to the depth and height of His love. I think it’s called “straining out the gnat”? God bless you!
I’m so glad you found it helpful!
God’s love is undescribable ,it goes from the heavens to earth below and beyond!,it leaves you speechless and in great wonder,it’s amazing.
God love is incomparable
Amen to that!
The song writer couldn’t figure a word to describe God’s love, I knew when I first listened to d song..i understood what he meant even with his choice of words…God’s love is indescribable,inexpressible and uninmaginable….
Thanks for this post, brother. Good, measured thoughts. I actually came across a similar post on the same song this past weekend that pushed the concern with the lyrics of this song even deeper. Have you seen this one? http://kuyperian.com/god-not-reckless-love/
No I haven’t but I’ll take a look!
Thanks for sharing website. Spot on and my hope is that it reaches all Pastors and God changes their hearts. I find it hard to believe that Christians will sing these kinds of songs to the King who has suffered and given His life and has supplied eternal life for believers. Very sad taking the world’s view on the reckless love but bible says beware of worldly beliefs.
You are 100% right, Stephen. There is nothing “reckless” about God. I listened to the song for the first time today. I like the cadence, but not the song. It makes God sound like some ham-fisted, baffoon who tries to hug you but accidentally knocks you down instead (“Baby Huey” comes to mind … remember him?). Though I wanted to like “Reckless Love,” that single, reckless word wrecks it for me! 🙁 Thanks for another good post.
You’re welcome! And that’s a funny analogy about the guy trying to hug someone!
How about inserting the word Selfless Love of God??
Stephen, I had a similar thought process when discussing this with our song leaders. We arrived at simply changing one word, albeit the first of the title words too: Relentless > Reckless.
In leading it the first time she, our song leader that Sunday, taught a quick lesson in joyful discernment and how when we sing truth it carries more weight, in the spiritual realities, in our minds, and with longer-lasting enjoyment. His love is surely relentless, as described in the rest of the words in this very anthem!
In fact if was one of our key song leaders who first brought it up, desiring to share this song with the congregation, yet feeling a tension in noting how it seemed the words were sloppy and “didn’t sit right in view of God’s true character.” So we collaborated as a team, with our Elders, to think through how songs such as they can teach people. It was not just a Yes/No to sing this song, but a willingness to compare it to Scripture. (A few year s ago this leader may not have had the nerve or wherewithall to do this theological work, and her maturity is akin to the whole worship team’s growth in grace and truth.)
I love how you guys worked through this as a team. And I think relentless love works so much better than reckless love. Nice job!
Stephen, I’m a big fan of yours and especially of your earthly Dad as well. While I wholeheartedly agree with your original post, I’m shocked at your response to Jeff Patterson’s reply post. As a fellow songwriter, how could you possibly agree to changing copy-written material no matter how egregious the original work. The song simply needs to be abandoned and exiled by the faithful until it is reformed and redeemed by the writers and publishers (the true owners) themselves (though I’m quite certain they would never walk away from the financial profit they are reaping). Please encourage Mr Patterson and his team to instead engage in writing original, biblically based works that simply overshadow much of the rest of the tripe that is being offered up today as worship to our unmatchable God. Thanks! and Blessings!
I would argue that Jesus’ love is reckless in some sense. I agree that your example of a mother running into a burning building to save her child is reckless. If that mother knew for certain that she would die inside that building but still save her child, would that be reckless? I would argue it would be even more so. Yet, this is exactly what Jesus did. He knew what would happen to him upon entering Jerusalem. He knew he would have to take on God’s wrath for all of mankind’s sins. Even though Jesus didn’t necessarily want that to happen (much like how the mother wouldn’t want to be killed in the burning building) he knew it had to happen for us to be saved. His love was very intentional, but I would say it was also reckless.
Luke 15:4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?”
The words of Jesus tell us this is the RESPONSIBLE response, not a reckless response. He related to something people knew at the time. “Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine?”
This was a phocesious question prompted to the audience. Jesus meets the audience exactly where they are with what they know to get His point across. He never says that he is unlike the responsible shepherds who stay with the 99 and abandon one. Jesus evokes agreement by presenting an event and response that all those listening would have in order to get His point across. Without the audience understanding the example, the point is invalid. Which is where I feel like we have arrived with this song. The point of the parable has nothing to do with the pursuit. Take a look at the words of Jesus:
Luke 15:5 “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Notice that Jesus’s focus isn’t on the pursuit, but the result and response by Heaven. Notice that Jesus also places the action of repentance on the sinner. Also, notice that the joy comes from the reconciliation to God. Also, notice that the 99 are righteous people who do not need to repent. Which brings me to the part of this song that a HUGE exception to Gospel truth.
It (God’s love) chases me down, fights til I’m found, leaves the 99.
The song is saying that God’s love leaves you once you been justified in righteousness through Jesus Christ. According to the song God’s love pursues you with a reckless abandon (meaning there is a possibility that the love of God can be destroyed in this pursuit and not able to sustain eternity…) until you are found. Then God’s love leaves you to pursue someone else. This is the opposite of the Gospel.
Amen
This is probably the best response that I’ve read. Having been a bible college student in the past (certainly not an expert), I was made aware of many theological opinions, debates, a few controversies. For many of my early years (I’m 63 now) I slouched toward the ‘legal’ side of scripture. I still see that propensity in me (thanks Adam). Now I lean more toward the grace side. I’ve read other articles but avoided commenting. My wife keeps telling me that I cannot change some people’s perception, and to avoid ‘getting in to it.’ But had to at least reply to Matthew as a great post/response to the legalistic issue the criticality of the ‘Reckless…’ song. So many articles’ authors state that they get the intention of the song’s author, but nonetheless launch in to the criticism of it not being neat and tide (religious) and some other articles (not here) becoming sanctimonious. That is sad. I understand the author’s intent and I’m ok with it. The song Reckless Love is wonderfully unreligious, and has been a source of great ministry to many in the body of Christ. But it definitely has upset apple carts for some people. I love out-of-the-box presentations and/or encounters that our Lord set forth or let happen, especially with regard to the Pharisees. It’s a song. Cory Asbury isn’t twisting scripture. He is not saying God is reckless. He is expressing God’s love as reckless in man’s (s’) point of view and also the legalist’s point of view. Often times our Lord set forth principles using parables, metaphors, parallels and the like to address an issue. Things at times got messy, always irksome to the legalists. Not surprisingly, now a song writer expresses God’s love using a metaphor, then all of a sudden it’s viewed as slander or worse. There was never a controversy until legalists turned it into an issue. I recently agreed to disagreed with a friend (he’s still a friend) after a strong discussion regarding this song. I get it but still don’t get it when I hear a sanctimonius stance regulating a song title as dishonoring to the Lord. Human reason often extrapolates something as errant that was just a heartfelt expression, with a poetic license. (Good thing I won’t use ‘license’ in a song, as that would introduce yet another plethora of articles.)
Well, I do think that Matthews reply was more pleasant than mine. Wouldn’t you agree? I think so.
Oxford dictionary of reckless:
ADJECTIVE
(of a person or their actions) without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action.
Wouldn’t many consider leaving 99 sheep to find 1 to be reckless? Did Jesus care about the consequences when he willingly died for us?
I wonder, do you also have issue with the book Crazy Love?
Luke 15:4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?”
The words of Jesus tell us this is the RESPONSIBLE response, not a reckless response. He related to something people knew at the time. “Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine?”
This was a phocesious question prompted to the audience. Jesus meets the audience exactly where they are with what they know to get His point across. He never says that he is unlike the responsible shepherds who stay with the 99 and abandon one. Jesus evokes agreement by presenting an event and response that all those listening would have in order to get His point across. Without the audience understanding the example, the point is invalid. Which is where I feel like we have arrived with this song. The point of the parable has nothing to do with the pursuit. Take a look at the words of Jesus:
Luke 15:5 “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Notice that Jesus’s focus isn’t on the pursuit, but the result and response by Heaven. Notice that Jesus also places the action of repentance on the sinner. Also, notice that the joy comes from the reconciliation to God. Also, notice that the 99 are righteous people who do not need to repent. Which brings me to the part of this song that a HUGE exception to Gospel truth.
It (God’s love) chases me down, fights til I’m found, leaves the 99.
The song is saying that God’s love leaves you once you been justified in righteousness through Jesus Christ. According to the song God’s love pursues you with a reckless abandon (meaning there is a possibility that the love of God can be destroyed in this pursuit and not able to sustain eternity…) until you are found. Then God’s love leaves you to pursue someone else. This is the opposite of the Gospel.
You need to consider the rest of the passages surrounding leaving 99 to find the one in order to comprehend it correctly. Leave no man behind.
I’ve heard this song often on Christian radio and was troubled in the spirit every time I got to the “reckless love of God” part… in singing along I realized that I had subconsciously replaced “reckless” with “relentless”… glad to hear I’m not the only believer that doesn’t see anything reckless about the perfect love of our Father : )
I think the writer explained what he meant when he wrote the song. He was conveying the thought that no matter the mess we are in He loves in the midst of it all. He doesn’t care how some would perceive Him loving someone in their worst. That’s how the artist defined reckless.
It’s not that serious, we can rejoice God’s love is amazing and unconditional
I understand and see it from both points of view. But I also believe that the Most High knows our hearts when we sing this in a worshipping spirit. Maybe priceless would have been a better word.
I understand and see it from both points of view. But I also believe that the Most High knows our hearts when we sing this in a worshipping spirit. Maybe priceless would have been a better word. Simon the zealot tried to buy the Holy spirit from Peter in Acts. It’s most certainly can’t be brought.
I understand and see it from both points of view. But I also believe that the Most High knows our hearts when we sing this in a worshipping spirit. Maybe priceless would have been a better word. Simon the zealot tried to buy the Holy spirit from Peter in Acts. It most certainly can’t be brought at any price. Also only 2 syllables.
I see it differently. I do not think that it necessarily means that it is reckless on His part. In Our (or the Pharisees) perception of his love, we might find him to be somewhat reckless. (Risking reputation while dealing with the woman at the well…risking reputation at Matthews House with the tax collectors and sinners…Leaving his 99 in someone elses care while searching for the one.) Just a thought.
I believe that the word reckless fits the entire song, so as to describe how God love and will love us. I take it personally. The same way I want to describe His love as unconditional. If I’m to express my love to my Creator I should also be reckless to forget who I am and how my action will affect me or the people arround me.
God’s love cannot be boxed by human’s definition at all. It’s beyond our understanding. And if Reckless in this song will describe it in a much bigger, wild and strong way…surely I’ll use it.
World view. God warns us about this. Can’t change definitions of negative words to fit in to what you want. Just a thought.
So… Your world view of the definition is negative, and only that world view is acceptable?
Reckless doesn’t have to be negative. The first definition at Dictionary.com is: “utterly unconcerned about the consequences of some action”. That isn’t negative.
I loved that he used the word Reckless, it fits in perfectly and he described it perfectly. When you truly feel Gods love and cannot understand the logic in him loving sinners you will also understand exactly what this song means with the exact words used. I’m so glad that someone mentioned it’s a love far beyond our human understanding and when we seek it daily we get a new glimpse of his never ending, unfailing, reckless love… Our Father loves us more that we can ever describe with words. The world may view loving sinners as Reckless yet he gives himself away over and over again for the off chance that we may love him too but never forcing us to. Always giving us the free will to decide, yet loving us anyways! If the word reckless were to take on a new meaning this song sure does explain it to the T?. I love this song just as it is and Jesus loves us just as we are.
I find God’s love intentional not reckless (not knowing or caring what the consequences of your actions). Not God at all.
If there was concern for the consequences, wouldn’t things have changed when Jesus prayed “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.“? They knew, and still Christ went to the cross for us.
Where did you get the Spurgeon quote? I am writing a final paper on envy and love and that quote would go perfect in there somewhere.
Thank you so much for this post. I went online in search of an explanation for my thoughts as it is difficult toget this song out of my head. Although I always get stuck after saying reckless.
I enjoy searching for definitions for better explantion, especially when reading the bible.
I think that has heightened my discernment for words in general.
I recently went down a rabbit hole for a series that my friends were crazy about ‘savage Jesus’ – my heart couldn’t handle my Jesus being described as savage.
And like you said people would say its just a word, but words carry so much weight especially when we try to express and share the Sovereignty of our Lord.
Sorry for the long reply, thank you for your obedience and love in unpacking this.
I think of Gods love as reckless in the sense He loves with out regard for the outcome. In that while we were yet sinners He died for us. Knowing not all will respond to His love yet He loves without reservation. Qualifies as reckless in my book.
He absolutely regards the outcome. He absolutely considers the cost. He absolutely was concerned with the price he must pay. The beautiful truth, that the author so well described, is that He paid that price anyway. Deliberately, consideringly, intentionally, with full knowledge and purpose…on purpose.
I agree with everything Brian says here. That isn’t counter to what Owen says, though, as many seem to believe. Those things are not exclusive of each other!
To be “concerned with” the outcome would mean that the decision made was based on the probable outcome – in this case, that would have meant that since God *knew* Christ would die, he would not have sent Him. He would have “taken this cup” from him, but carried on with the plan. The fact that he did made it reckless – not a negative, careless version of reckless, but an “in spite of the facts” reckless. You could even say that it was because of the final outcome that outweighs the temporary, but horrific, consequences that Christ would endure. That still leaves the immediate action and consequences reckless. Deliberately and intentionally reckless.
For me, the writer is totally right! What manner of person doesn’t care about how much evil you deserve to still allow you through all the seasons of life, allows you pass exams, make progress, stay alive, make you worthy of his spirit, convicts and forgives at the same time. The writer implies that judging from the human perspective, His love isn’t following any rules or looking to see who deserves it and who doesn’t. He just isn’t mindful that I might sin again, he loves me too much.
I’m from the 1970’s Jesus music movement days. We were slammed for our sound, songs, and look. Levis, long hair, electric guitars. Oh youth! Moving forward we had strong praise and worship with annointed scripture songs and beautiful song melodies and lyrical content in the 70’s, 80′ 90’s and early 2000’s. I am certainly biased. God is the Judge. That’s His job. Jesus told His disciples to leave alone the people that they disagreed with. They were either for or against Him. That is my intent. If I want better music and lyrical songs then I should do my best to write them. That is my pursuit. My music is mostly not the sound of gospel music. It is the music that I believe God wants me to do. It is the good news of the Gospel message. My song is “His Mark” He left “His Mark” in my heart. I want to leave “His Mark” on others. I hope that today’s young people are “God seekers.” They will face Him for their choices. His Word is the best place to write from. I must be cautious, discerning, wise, and certainly led by the Holy Spirit in putting my own words in place of His Word. I welcome you to check me out at: patrickasher.net.
Reckless: An action without thought of consequences.
The only negative consequence I could think of for this kind of love may be the danger of someone taking it with licence. But, that’s never happened… right?
I use to ignore this song anytime I come across it, until it was sang in my church yesterday, I couldn’t hold myself than to do a video record… I can’t really explain the love of God in my life, he loves us to the deepest….
There’s no mountain or circumstances that God won’t break down to reach us, he’s love to mankind is ultimate, he is so kind to us and above all, he is good to us at all times. He is a good God.
God bless Asbury
“The glory of God’s love is that he knew exactly what it would cost…
…and he did it anyway.“
THIS is actually the very definition of “reckless” – taking an action in spite of the consequences. This little bit here proves the validity of the song perfectly! It does NOT have to have a negative connotation.
See first definition at Dictionary.com: utterly unconcerned about the consequences of some action. He knew, but wasn’t concerned, and did it anyway!
‘Intentional’ can also have negative connotations – the same for ‘relentless’, ‘calculating’ and other suggested substitutions. And I do understand the author’s distinction between characterizing God Himself and characterizing the ‘love of God’. Will God, in His great love, roll over entire civilizations to bring His love to the world in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ? Might the author not have a point there. Did Paul have a point in speaking of the ‘foolishness’ of God?
I have to agree with the posts that suggest reckless is not he best word. IMHO what Jesus suffered was exactly the opposite of reckless, in fact, it was very intentional. He knew he was going to suffer and he absolutely knew the consequences, which was and is saving our souls and uniting us to Him.
Everyone in correct in saying that God’s Love is glorious beyond words. Everyone is correct in saying that God’s Love is intentional. And I suspect the author’s first example of “reckless” Love, the parent who would run into a burning building to save their child, is just the kind of “recklessness” the writer of this song means to refer by the use of this word, especially when we consider the CONTEXT of the other words in this song. After all, leaving the “ninety-nine” to save the “one” could definitely be considered “reckless,” especially with “wolves” and “bears” and “harsh wilderness” involved! For those uncomfortable with this word, consider that it probably could be put in “quotes” and thought of poetically (as the words contemporary worship songs often are). Our God is “reckless” in that He will suffer any cost to do us the highest good!
We should judge the song based on the author’s intended meaning, not our personal conception of the word “reckless.” Here’s a portion of what Asbury writes, “What I mean is this: He is utterly unconcerned with the consequences of His actions with regards to His own safety, comfort, and well-being… His love bankrupted heaven for you. His love doesn’t consider Himself first… He doesn’t wonder what He’ll gain or lose… He simply gives Himself away…”
Even the singer clarified the word reckless in the live version because he understood the controversy. Does this song move our spirit? Glorify God? Express our love? Bring soups to Christ? An Overiding and Overdoing YES. So get out your mind and into your hearts where spirot resides. Question who and what brings you to criticize and condemn a song filled with the love for God.
Reckless- utterly unconcerned about the consequences of some action; without caution; careless
God loves us without concern or consequences. He is unconcerned with worldly interpretations. We can be sinners and he will show us his “overwhelming” love
You see the word “reckless” and can only see the negative connotation. However it is an adjective and the definition can be interchangeable. Also hearing him explain the meaning behind this song is such a beautiful testimony in itself. This song the lyrics is perfect as is I feel reckless love is a beautiful expression because I am
Witness to God’s reckless love, grace and mercy… and I can imagine people who’ve been through some things understands the reasoning behind the word choice
As a human, I am incapable of truly understanding the love my God has for me. I lift up my praise in the only way I know how. The kind of love God gives me is not only unfathomable, but would be considered a reckless love in human terms. If that is the only way I can express how outrageous, crazy, overwhelming, and totally non human that love is, why do you or anyone else throw shade. I’m so glad that God knows my heart and he accepts my praise, even if other humans don’t approve of it or feel that it doesn’t measure up to their human linguistic standards. I love my wonderful, utmost highest creator, father, healer, friend, all-encompassing perfect merciful, forgiving and graceful Savior. I am thankful every day that he left the 99 sheep alone and came after me. You see, a human would not do that because it would be considered “reckless”, but God is not human, is he? Peace my friends, Shalom.
Sin is reckless, the devil is reckless. God is Love. God is not reckless!
I appreciate the emotion of the song and it expresses a single person’s understanding of the love of God. We do need to be careful however on how we express. I have seen many good meaning references used that are actually planting seeds of misinformation. Here are a few:
Reckless love of God – To the receiver, we can’t understand it. But in reality God’s love is not reckless, it is and was intentional, planned, ordered.
Lamb and Lion – We want to be like Christ, he is depicted in Revelation as both the “Lamb of God” and the “Lion of Judah”. He is both, but look at His life on earth, he was the lamb. The Lord said “I am the good shepherd and know my… lions?” no…
Worthy is the Lamb vs. Greatest of All Time or G.O.A.T. Here’s another one, while used with good intentions, I’ve even seen a goat icon used with the acronym. Yes, Jesus was the “Greatest of All Timer” but G.O.A.T.? Please! In the Old Testament, we are given the sanctuary service and the ultimate annual service, the Day of Atonement as the model for the plan of salvation. The Lamb of course being the type of Christ and the scape goat representing the author and true owner of the sin, sent out to the wilderness, never to be seen again, satan, as in the final judgment. Why G.O.A.T. ? Why not F.R.O.G., what you say? FROG? That’s despicable! But wait! What if I then said Friend, Redeemer, Omnipotent God, or F.R.O.G.. Frogs have always represented sin and evil spirits. The Lord separates the goats from the sheep… God’s love is intentional and planned. You see, words do matter and while our intentions are good, they are theologically unsound. They may portray our current emotion and understanding, but they are pulled out of contemporary thought in an effort to draw a crowd. Whether “reckless love”, GOAT or FROG, if we can’t draw people through the pure love of God and Jesus Christ, something is wrong. Trust the Lord, listen to the Holy Spirit, be taught by the Spirit and above all, be kind and considerate to those expressing and learning about the love of God.
Great read! My take is that you can only be reckless if you can’t know the outcome. God, being omniscient, always knows, therefore, he can’t be reckless. Also, I agree with the negative connotation of the word. Everybody who has kids gets it, especially young drivers. reckless has never been a word that could go either way and it’s always associated with a lack of judgment and it COULD have gone either way but no one new. God always knows and has perfect judgement.
Great job!
If you knew a woman that loved a man, and that man continuously dishonored her. He put his own needs before hers, he was never there when he said he would be, he prioritized other women above her, he cursed at her when he was angry, everything that ever went wrong in his life, he blamed her for.
Yet this woman kept going back, she didn’t let his behavior cause her to love him any less.
Every moment he said he needed her, she was right there.
Wouldn’t you call this woman’s love for this man…. “reckless” ?
Is this not the exact scenario God finds Himself in with His children?
On an even deeper level, do we not sometimes fear that His love for us WILL run out? Yet, He continues to be present, KNOWING the outcome. KNOWING His heart will be broken again and again.
The definition of reckless is: a person not knowing or caring about the consequences of their actions.
He knows what will happen, He knows that we will continue to let Him down but, He loves us recklessly because He cares not of the consequences.
Satan is so shrewd and again only a foolish, stupid and arrogant vessel of the Devil would write and draw wicked attention against the Love of God. These that fall for such will be destroyed by the True Love of God! Check with Isaiah by the Word. And Anyone who endorses such is a False Witness, Demon led! Repent and obey God only. The Word is NOW! Not what you think; stinking thinking leads men a d women to Hell.
Satan is so shrewd and again only a foolish, stupid and arrogant vessel of the Devil would write and draw wicked attention against the Love of God. These that fall for such will be destroyed by the True Love of God! Check with Isaiah by the Word. And Anyone who endorses such is a False Witness, Demon led! Repent and obey God only. The Word is NOW! Not what you think; stinking thinking leads men a d women to Hell.
On Watch: Satan is so shrewd and again only a foolish, stupid and arrogant vessel of the Devil would write and draw wicked attention against the Love of God. These that fall for such will be destroyed by the True Love of God! Check with Isaiah by the Word. And Anyone who endorses such is a False Witness, Demon led! Repent and obey God only. The Word is NOW! Not what you think; stinking thinking leads men a d women to Hell.
I had to go looking – late to the party as usual, but I knew there was some furor over this song. I admittedly live under a rock, but I’d never really heard Reckless Love before. I stumbled on another one of Cory Asbury’s songs that connected directly to my tear ducts and it got me wondering what he could have written that was so objectionable. You make a valid point and I appreciate the the thoughtful approach. Just my admittedly biased opinion of course, but I find it discouraging that so many people seem so intent to ferret out things to criticize about everybody and everything. OTOH, I think it’s also great that it spawns a few discussions like this one where we try to stretch our tiny, limited understanding and maybe (if we reeeeeally try) to just touch the hem of an understanding of God’s unfathomable love. I don’t care what words we quibble over, we’re never EVER going to be able to squeeze THAT into one of our tidy little theological boxes.
Yes, this song is very good. I am generally a big fan of music and even try to create music. I recently started uploading my music to Soundcloud and also found https://promosoundgroup.net/collection/buy-music-promotion/buy-soundcloud-promotion/ to promote music. These guys offer a very good approach to promoting music in an organic way and I have already chosen the right solution for me.
How about (Precious love of God)
It is disappointing to me, as a Christian, that other Christians for whatever reason feel the need to be picking nits with respect to this awesome song. I believe the message is, to our minds, God’s love makes no sense. Therefore it is reckless to our selfish minds.