Photo by Andy Art
Community Music is a church-planting movement that began in 2001, known as NewThing. They released three EP’s, including:
- Love Over Fear (Live) (EP, 2017)
- I Will Follow (Live) (EP, 2018)
- Make Room – EP (2021)
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Community-music-make-room-live-lyrics.
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. I strongly encourage you to consider the potential blessings and dangers of this artistâs theology by visiting Resources.
1. What message does the song communicate?
It is about complete and total surrender to Jesus. Community Faith cites a few examples of yielding, including:
- Struggles
- Achievements
- Lies
- Skepticism
- Man-made tradition and religion
- Worldly desires
Side Note: To those sensitive to massive repetition, Verse 1 and Chorus open by alternating twice., with a few repeats contained in each section. Chorus’ second iteration repeats the same section four times, with the second half a double-repeat. Bridge repeats the same four-line phrase four times with little variation. Verse 2 structures similarly to Verse 1.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
This song completely lines up with Scripture.
[Verse 1]
Lines 1-3: Community Music gives to God their successes and failures, completely yielding to Christ (Psalm 43:5, Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).
Line 4: Repeats line 3.
Line 5: Repeats line 1.
Line 6: Community Music also gives up their lies and doubts (see lines 1-3).
Line 7: Repeats line 3.
[Chorus]
Lines 1 and 2: Complete and total surrender results in much room made for God.
Line 3: Repeats line 2.
Lines 4-6: Repeats lines 1-3, with a tiny Casper the friendly ghost reference to end this section.
Side Note: Later iterations explicitly use the name of Jesus to contextualize “You”.
[Spontaneous]
Lines 1 and 2: More language indicating subservience to God and another minor Casper call.
Line 3: Essentially repeats line 1.
[Bridge]
Lines 1-3: Manmade religion and tradition are often at odds with Biblical Christianity (Matthew 15:6 and Mark 7:13). Pure and undefiled religion requires us to live unstained by the world (James 1:27). Community Music asks Jesus to migrate them from manmade to God-honoring religion and tradition.
Line 4: Repeats line 3.
Line 5-16: Essentially repeats lines 1-4.
[Verse 2]
Line 1: Repeats Verse 1, line 1.
Line 2: Community Music’s surrender results in changed desires, from self to Christ (Psalm 51:10, Jeremiah 24:7, Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26, Romans 2:29, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and 2 Corinthians 7:10).
Lines 3 and 4: Repeats Verse 1, line 3.
Lines 5-8: Repeats lines 1-4.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Unbelievers should easily interpret similarly as stated in section 1. The explicit names “tradition”, “religion”, and especially “Jesus” lend to a Christian interpretation. Community Church’s examples cited are written in plain English, avoiding Christianese language that may add confusion.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
It glorifies God that Community Church models surrender as our call to action.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Community Music’s Make Room is great. It pleads with others to submission, laying down our lives to follow Jesus. This glorifies God. Unbelievers will have little to no problem interpreting this song.
I highly recommend this song for corporate worship.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: Make Room (Live) (listen to the song)
Artist: Community Music
EP: Make Room – EP
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), Rock
Release Year: 2021
Duration: 6:50
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Comments
Cindy Bee
What do you make of the mention of doing away with religion and tradition?
âYour way is betterâ follows these lines and heavily implies that religion and tradition are worthless. Isnât Christianity a religion built upon solid biblical tradition?
It seems the en vogue trend is to vilify religion and tradition when in reality there are good and bad examples of both and what is needed is a thoughtful and biblical evaluation to determine which ones that are beneficial and which are detrimental to the faith.
2 Thessalonians 2:15
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
James 1:26-27
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world
Religion and tradition are even specifically addressed in scripture and not always negatively.
Iâm wondering if this is not a case of carelessly capitalizing on some the popular ânaughtyâ words of the Christian community in order to seem more relevant.
We have to be so very careful about intent and the way things will be perceived in music because of the way music carries lyrical sentiment past certain analytical barriers in our minds that might otherwise be caught at the gate were it delivered in spoken form.
Thanks for the review and considering these thoughts on the song.
Vince Wright
Cindy,
Thank you for your comments!
Community Music isn’t asking to do away with religion and tradition wholesale. They were talking about “my” religion and “my” tradition, which is why my commentary is directed towards manmade religion and tradition. God’s ways are better than “my” ways.
I hope this clarifies things.
-Vince Wright
Shaina
I agree. thank you so much Vince.
Jason Henry
This clarification is super helpful! I was hung up on this line as well, since I don’t necessarily want to feed into the “tradition bad” mindset. I’m still a little hesitant, because I think a lot of congregants will miss the pronoun “my” and follow the same line of thinking that all religion and tradition are bad, but this at least gives a good avenue for explaining before singing the song.
Madison Herrell
What’s your take on “I will make room for you, to do whatever you want to.”
My discernment alert went off the second I heard it. God doesn’t need our consent to work in us. And really it’s not us who decides to make room for Him, that work comes from the Holy Spirit prompting us. Not one is good. No one seeks God. (Romans 3:10-12)
I feel like this verse puts us in a place of authority over God. That’s it’s not up to him, but us to allow Him. I don’t feel it’s biblically accurate at all.
Vince Wright
Madison,
Thank you for your comments!
I think that Community Music surrenders their desire and will so that God can work in their lives (Psalm 43:5, Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6). You’re right that God doesn’t need our permission to work.
I can see why you say that this sounds like our authority over God. It sounds as though God needs our permission to do what He wants. However, the opening lines of Verse 1 makes it clear to me that this line is about surrender. It also says in Spontaneous that “We surrender all”. Not in part, but the whole. It’s the added context that prevents me from agreeing with you.
-Vince Wright
Steve Barhydt
Madison,
This is a song about personal surrender. You say “God doesnât need our consent to work in us”,
Yes! and No!
Even though God is omnipotent and sovereign over all things, He has given us a choice in allowing Him to work.
The following scriptures make this clear…
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ESV (emphasis mine)
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore CHOOSE LIFE, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.â
Joshua 24:15 ESV (emphasis mine)
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, CHOOSE THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.â
1 Kings 18:21 ESV (emphasis mine)
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, âHow long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, FOLLOW him; but if Baal, then FOLLOW him.â And the people did not answer him a word.
Romans 11:22 ESV (emphasis mine)
Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, PROVIDED THAT YOU CONTINUE in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
In the above scriptures (and more could be added) there is a choice given BY GOD between following God and not following Him (and a consequence to that choice.)
In the following scripture we find that God does not always get His way…
Matthew 23:37 ESV (emphasis mine)
âO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and YOU WERE NOT WILLING!”
Ezekiel 22:30-31 KJV (emphasis mine)
And I SOUGHT for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I FOUND NONE.
Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
2 Peter 3:9 KJV (God desires that ALL come to repentance, but we know that not all do)
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
As you have probably surmised, I am a believer in the free will of man. (âFree willâ meaning that there is a real choice between good and evil and that both are available to be chosen at any given time.)
God is absolutely sovereign, and, in His sovereignty, He has given me the power (and the responsibility) to choose or reject Him.
This is true in salvation and in sanctification. This song is about sanctification and, as such, our responsibility to open ourselves to the Holy Spiritâs rule in our lives.
James 4:7-10 (KJV)
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Who does the âsubmittingâ and the âhumblingâ? According to James, we do! (“Yourselves”)
There is coming a time when all who have not humbled themselves will be humbled (Philippians 2:10-11) I don’t plan on being in that group!
Romans 3 has nothing to do with surrendering to God being a choice that we have to make so I’ll not spend anytime refuting it other than to say that throughout the Bible there were those who did seek God and God commanded us to seek Him (Isaiah⏠â55:6-7⏠,2 Chronicles⏠â20:3⏠â, ââPsalms⏠â9:10⏠,2 Chronicles⏠â11:16⏠,Zephaniah⏠â2:3⏠,Acts⏠â17:26-27⏠â, âPsalms⏠â83:16⏠, Romans⏠â2:6-8⏠)
In summary, I want to make it abundantly clear that I believe that God is completely sovereign and can do whatever He wants.
What He wants , however, is for me to willing, in love, allow Him to work in my life. That is what this song is saying.
Exercising the authority and responsibility that God has given to us takes no authority away from God.
Lois Konzelman
Jonah had to surrender to God before God could use him in Ninevah. He went in the other direction to avoid doing what God wanted him to do. So, no, God does not need our permission but He wants us to surrender our will and let go of anything that gets in the way of doing His will. That is what this song is about.