Photo by v2osk
Starting as a student worship band, lyricist and youth pastor Mark Hall began what is now a 20-year journey. It’s hard to believe that Casting Crowns has been around that long!
I first heard their music on the radio, promoting the Sherwood Pictures film Courageous and enjoyed many of their tunes since, including Jesus, Friend of Sinners, East to West, and yes, If We Are The Body. I often hear I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day during the Christmas season, almost certainly bringing tears to my eyes.
Casting Crowns released several albums and one EP, including:
- Casting Crowns (2001)
- What If the Whole World Prayed (2002)
- Casting Crowns (2003)
- Live from Atlanta ( 2004)
- Lifesong (2005)
- Lifesong Live (2006)
- The Altar and the Door (2007)
- Peace on Earth (2008)
- The Altar and the Door Live (2008)
- Until the Whole World Hears (2009)
- Until the Whole World Hears… Live (2010)
- Come to the Well (2011)
- The Acoustic Sessions: Volume One (2013)
- Thrive (2014)
- A Live Worship Experience (2015)
- Glorious Day: Hymns of Faith (2015)
- The Very Next Thing (2016)
- It’s Finally Christmas (EP, 2017)
- Only Jesus (2018)
- New York Sessions (2019)
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.
1. What message does the song communicate?
This song is meant to challenge believers on their own behavior regarding building God’s Kingdom and obeying Christ’s commandments. Their piercing questions penetrate the heart, begging for repentance and stirring within us transformation. That the Holy Spirit will use this song to convict the Body of Christ in sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). We sometimes spend too much time ignoring the plights of others and think we have the right to judge others. Nothing can be further from the truth.
My Christian mother in a recent conversation reminded me that those who attend church are often the worst people: gossips, judgmental, and unkind to those to whom they disagree. We’ve both seen the ugly side of church, putting a big, black bruise on Christ’s eye. Casting Crowns does a great job speaking out against that ungodly behavior.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
All of the lyrics are in agreement with the Bible.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Verse 1]
It’s crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know
The word “they” refers to the body of Christ as indicated by the Chorus. Though not entirely clear, the girl described is probably not a Christian, sneaking into church hoping not to draw attention to herself. The other girls make fun of the girl who walked in, not realizing that their behavior helps shape a negative opinion about church and Christianity in the mind of this girl.
As a side note, the word “girls” in line 3 should contain an apostrophe at the end given that the girls possess their teasing laughter.
[Chorus]
But if we are the body
In 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 and Ephesians 4:1–16, the Apostle Paul likens the fellowship of the Saints to a single human body with many parts that work together, granted gifts by the Holy Spirit to equip and minister to the world.
Why aren’t His arms reaching?
Why aren’t His hands healing?
Why aren’t His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren’t His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way
Excellent questions! Why does it seem that the Body of Christ become idle, disobedient to the commandment of Christ to make disciples of all nations, as laid out in Matthew 28:18-20?
We must be careful not to become hypocritical in our thinking, blaming other believers for not taking action while lazily sipping upon lemonade, watching the latest Netflix disc that rolls into our collective mailboxes. Jesus did not take kindly to such hypocrisy, according to Matthew 7:1-6. Paul takes it much further in Romans 2:1-6, warning us that stubborn and unrepentant hearts will not escape God’s judgment. Rather, let us listen to the words of Casting Crown as a reminder that we could all do more good to further God’s Kingdom.
[Verse 2]
A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgemental glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road
This reminds me of James 2:1-7, where the Apostle James warns his audience of the sin of partiality.
[Bridge]
Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
Lest we become judges with evil motives (James 2:4) and usurp the throne of God. It is not for us to judge another person’s salvation (James 4:12). Yes, we are called to be fruit inspectors (Matthew 7:15-20), but ultimately, God judges the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
And we are the body of Christ
See commentary in Chorus, line 1.
[Outro]
Jesus is the way
See John 14:6.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Those who do not yet follow Jesus will appreciate Casting Crowns for speaking out against church hypocrisy. That is, if they understand what is meant by the “body of Christ”, an unlikely scenario.
Verse 2 specifically will catch the eyes of those who know the weight of the stares and judgments of Christians. Specifically, Muslims, members of the LGBTQ community, leftists, Democrats, and pro-choicers, among others, knows that I am talking about. Perhaps it will invoke research on the meaning of the Chorus.
Score: 7/10
4. What does this song glorify?
Fighting against the tide of popular Christian thought, Casting Crowns glorifies God by reminding His Bride, the Church, about our marching orders: to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Casting Crowns’ If We Are The Body is a great reminder that Christ followers have a long way to go, bolstering us to make Christ followers of others and bring Him glory. Though the first Verse is ambiguous, the rest agree with the Bible. Though unbelievers may not understand the phrase “body of Christ”, its second verse makes an emotional connection that may lead to further inspection.
Let this song remind us to become obedient servants of God. After all, it is our love for one another that will demonstrate we are Jesus’ people (John 13:35). It is kindness that will lead them to repentance (Romans 2:4).
Final Score: 9.5/10
Artist Info
Track: If We Are The Body (listen to the song)
Artist: Casting Crowns
Album: Casting Crowns (2003 edition)
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2003
Duration: 3:58
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2003 My Refuge Music (BMI) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Be Essential Songs (BMI) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Updates:
06/19/2020 – Reworded intro to include an unnumbered list of albums and one EP that was not included in my initial post.
05/10/2019 – Commentor Timothy King pointed out an error within the lyrics. I copied them from the Genius website, which contains a mistaken apostrophe that perhaps attempts to correct Casting Crowns’ grammar. Timothy is correct in that “girl’s” should be “girls”; however, Casting Crowns still has incorrect grammar. It should say “girls’.” The girls possess their teasing laughter.
Regardless, Timothy offered a correct analysis based on this word change, causing me to update my review for section 2 and changing the overall score from 8.5/10 to 9.5/10.
Comments
Steve Kuhn
Great review Tastywallet. I played the video (thanks for the link) and really like the song. I get your analysis of the beginning of the song. Not sure what they were going for with the girl and her actions. I didn’t seem to fit the overall message of the song – that is, we are the body of Christ, and we don’t always do a good job of showing it to others. Anyway, I have added the song to my playlist. Thank you.
tastywallet
Steve,
It’s nice to talk with you again! I agree with you regarding the video. I am glad you liked the review!
-TastyWallet
Timothy King
I’m a bit confused. I love the review! Very informative. However – In your first section where you start to evaluate the words to the song, in particular: “The girl’s teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know” – and your analysis of this:
=============================================================
Though not entirely clear, the girl described is probably not a Christian, given her rude behavior and desire to conceal herself. It is also not clear how her laughter “is carrying father than they know”
=============================================================
I noticed you used posessive, indicating laughter belongs to the girl who walked in who tried to conceal her face and is doing this based on her rude behavior.
On CCLI, there is no posessive ownership. It’s simply “girls”. this is what I see in this statement of the song – that is a bunch of girls – or several girls.
I interpret it as simply, a girl walks into the worship service. Who knows WHO she is? She sits down, anywhere, the song doesn’t say where. it’s possible she has tattoos. it’s possible she’s dressed scantilly. However – obviously, there is something about her that catches the attention of some of the other girls. Perhaps this girl who slips into worship and sits down is of the same age as these other girls who are already in church.
Perhaps the girls who are laughing have been a part of that congregation for a long time, and obviously feel comfortable enough to laugh at this “newcomer”.
BUT, I see the “girls” as girls who already go to that church who are laughing at the “girl” who came to that church, sat down, notices she’s being laughed at, and is humilitated, and perhaps too embarrassed to get up and leave – so obviously, she’s dealing with a LOT. Therefore, the laugther by these other girls are doing MORE DAMAGE than they think, by simply snickering, laughing, eyeing, whatever.
Clearly, the girls who are doing the laughing could be Christians OR could NOT be. You point out, later, according to scripture, we are NOT to be the judge of who is and who isn’t a Christian – That’s up to God to do. However, based on these girls’ behavior, there obviously is a lack of “fruit” bearing love in their behavior.
I’m not sure if I’m explaining myself that well. BUT, that’s my take on that first section. Your review makes it appear that the girl coming into worship is laughing at other people. I think it’s the church members laughing at HER. Hence the title of the song “If We Are the Body” – having the emphasis on how WE treat OTHERS – Not how OTHERS treat US.
LOVE this tool, the Berean Test.
Tim
tastywallet
Timothy,
Thank you for your explanation! I copied the lyrics from Genius. Here it says “girl’s,” used in the singular possessive rather than the plural “girls.” I checked other websites (I could not get into CCLI without registering) and noticed that they all say “girls;” therefore, Genius has it wrong. What an amazing difference a simple apostrophe makes to the entire context of the song!
I believe Genius was attempting to correct the punctuation in the original lyrics. It should say “girls’,” because it is still used in the possessive and plural. Used in this sense, I agree with your analysis. This fits well within the theme of our failure to live up to Christ’s example. I updated the review.
I am glad you love this tool!
-TastyWallet
Timothy King
Praise God! Thank you so much, TastyWallet! Your site is AWESOME! Love it and am excited to see it expand and grow. Your site was introduced to our worship team, last night. I couldn’t wait to get home and check it out. It’s good for the younger generation and everybody, for that matter, to understand, it’s NOT just about how “cool” (that’s so 70’s) the song sounds, in that we need to check against scripture and content. I, too, have had my eyes opened regarding “Friend of God” – and also “Days of Elijah”…. Again – thank you for your insights and initiative to take this project on. Blessings, my friend!
tastywallet
Timothy,
Thank you for sharing this information with me! I am happy that you are excited about my content and humbled by your kind words. If you find anything else amiss, let me know!
-TastyWallet