Photo by Pablo Heimplatz
Elevation Worship is a church-led band that was created in 2007.Ā They join Bethel Music and Hillsong as the ābig threeā that has the biggest reach in modern Christian music.Ā They releasedĀ many albums and EPās.
They also wonĀ nine awards, including two Billboard for Top Christian Artist (2021) and Top Christian Song (Graves into Gardens, 2021), and two GMA Dove awards for Spanish Language Album of the Year (Aleluya (En La Tierra), 2020) and Worship Recorded Song of the Year (The Blessing (Live), 2020).
Also, check out my otherĀ Elevation Worship reviews.Ā
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Elevation-worship-more-than-able-lyrics.
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!Ā ReadĀ About the Berean TestĀ andĀ Evaluation CriteriaĀ prior to reading this review.Ā IĀ strongly encourageĀ you toĀ considerĀ this artistās theologyās potential blessings and dangers by visitingĀ Resources.
1. What message does the song communicate?
Though Elevation Worship started to drift into doubt, seeing more and more that the Lord has done rekindled and bolstered their faith. They are different people, receiving God’s undeserved favor and being useful to God.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
It perfectly lines up with Scripture.
Side Note: The lyrics linked above do not contain all the spontaneous things sung throughout the recording of this song. I went through them and only heard fillers such as Casper the friendly ghost calls, “yes”, and extensions of lyrics already stated without adding any new ideas worth examining.
[Verse 1]
Lines 1-6: These are rhetorical questions that have an obvious answer: doubt. According to James 1:6-8, the doubter ought not to expect anything from God in their unstable, double-minded ways. We see this in Peter when he walked on water in Matthew 14:22-33. We also see Peter doubting Jesus in fear for his life in Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62, John 18:15-18, and John 18:25-26.
[Chorus]
Line 1: Nothing is impossible for God (Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:17, Jeremiah 32:27, Zechariah 8:6, Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, and Luke 1:37).
Lines 2-4: Repeats line 1.
Line 5: This is Elevation Worship’s conclusion, as evidenced by lyrics that follow Chorus.
[Verse 2]
Lines 1-4: Elevation Worship was not so far gone in denying their Lord that it would be impossible to renew them to repentence (Hebrews 6:4-6).Ā I stated in Verse 1 that Peter denied Jesus.Ā However, he also saw the Risen Lord in John 20:20, which renewed his confidence in Jesus.Ā We know that it stuck because after Jesus ascended, Peter gave his first plea to repent and trust in Jesus in Acts 2:14-36.Ā There is no record of Peter denying Jesus again.Ā Much like Peter, Elevation Worship had to be reminded of God’s might and power by seeing more of it for themselves, whereas they probably did not see it in the same way/magnitude as stated in Verse 1.
[Bridge]
Lines 1-4: This is the kind of faith that moves mountains (Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, and Mark 11:23).Ā There is a direct connection between trust in God and God moving, as evidenced by Jesus’ lack of miracles in His hometown due to their lack of faith (Matthew 13:58 and Mark 6:5-6).
Side Note: This repeats two more times.
[Refrain]
Line 1: See commentary in Chorus, line 1.
Lines 2 and 3: Repeats line 1.
Line 4: Repeats Chorus, line 5.
Side Note: This repeats two more times, followed by two more repeats of the final line.
[Verse 3]
Line 1: Elevation Worship is not the same as they were (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Line 2: See Verse 2, lines 1-4.
Lines 3-5: Elevation knows that they were deceitful above all other things (Jeremiah 17:9) and are now adopted sons and daughters of the Most High (John 1:12-13, John 14:18, Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:23, Romans 9:1-8, Galatians 3:26, Galatians 4:5-7, Ephesians 1:3-14, Ephesians 2:11-22, Hebrews 9:15, and 1 John 3:1-3).Ā They also know that God’s goodness and grace bestowed upon them is undeserved (Genesis 15:6, Exodus 33:19, Psalm 32:1-2, Romans 3:21-24, Romans 4:3-8, Romans 5:1-2, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 5:15-21, Romans 6:14, Romans 8:1-4, Romans 9:14-16, Romans 11:5-6, Galatians 2:21, Galatians 3:6, Galatians 5:4, Ephesians 1:7, Ephesians 2:4-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:16, Titus 2:11, 1 Timothy 1:15-16, and James 2:23).
Lines 6-8: It was faith that carried Elevation Worship to where they are now (see line 1 and Bridge, lines 1-4).Ā They cannot deny Him again (See Verse 2, lines 1-4).
[Tag]
Line 1: Although the Genius link says “You’re”, the first iteration says “He’s” first.Ā He puts Elevation Worship to work (Psalm 90:17).
Line 2: Repeats line 1.
Line 3: This is so, because Elevation Worship hasn’t died yet.Ā Even then, their story doesn’t end, as they will live eternally with God (Mark 10:29-30, John 3:15-16, John 3:36, John 4:14, John 5:24, John 5:39-40, John 6:27, John 6:40, John 10:28, John 17:3, John 20:31, Romans 5:21, Romans 6:22-23, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Galatians 6:8, 1 Timothy 1:16, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 2:11, Hebrews 5:9, 1 Peter 5:10, 1 John 2:23-27, 1 John 5:10-13, 1 John 5:20, Jude 1:20-21, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 7:16-17, and Revelation 21:3-4).
Line 4: In the first iteration, this switches from “He’s” to “Your”.
Side Note: Although not stated in the Genius link, this section repeats two more times, though the first two lines repeat the fourth line.
[Outro]
Lines 1 and 2: Repeats Chorus, line 5.
Side Note: Chorus repeats a few more times, replacing “You are” with “God is”.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Those who are not yet Christians will think this song speaks Christianity because of words and phrases like “faith”, “the Lord”, and “anything is possible”.Ā They will likely think that Christians believe God can do the impossible, which emboldens them to maintain their trust in Him.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
It glorifies God as the One whose acts brought Elevation Worship back to faith.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Elevation Worship’sĀ More Than Able is God-centered.Ā It reminds those who need a gentle nudge that God is not aloof, willing and able to take back those who drift in their faith.Ā His miracles and acts restore their faith, bringing Him glory.Ā Unbelievers should conclude similarly with relatively little difficulty.
Although not my cup of tea, this song is suitable for corporate worship for those who need to rekindle their faith.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: More Than Able (listen to the song)
Artist: Elevation Worship (Feat. Chandler Moore & Tiffany Hudson)
Album: CAN YOU IMAGINE?
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2023
Duration: 9:59
Agree?Ā Disagree?Ā Don’t be shy or have a cow!Ā Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Comments
Mikey
Hi team, Iām rather shocked on the score for this song. But maybe I am missing something so would love to hear your thoughts. This song to me has a few red flags and all together portrays a word of faith doctrine in my opinion.
1. āCan you imagine with all of the faith in the room, what the Lord can doā – this line is repeated many times and is really the heartbeat of the song. And scripture shows us this is a complete backwards way of looking at the Lord in relation to our faith. Itās not the intensity or the amount of faith that moves God. The Lord moves regardless of how much faith we have (we donāt move God he moves us), and this lyric really breeds the need for self-righteousness for God to move. Really diminishes the Lordās sovereignty.
2. After this lyric itās followed by āAnd itās gonna happenā which from my understanding is in reference to the fact that the Lord will accomplish the miracle we are looking for and asking for. Since the song is all about how the Lord is able to miracles and that we shouldnāt doubt his ability and power (all very true and I like these lyrics) but then when it says āitās gonna happenā this again is a complete misrepresentation of prayer. We are not guaranteed to get our prayers answered the way we want them. We must trust in the Lordās sovereign plan that he has foreordained before the foundation of the world. (Isaiah 46:10)
Thoughts? Overall think this song is a song that perpetuates the word of faith doctrine. Whether that was the intention or not, it takes a lot of theological gymnastics in oneās mind to be able to sing this song with the true character of God in mind in my opinion.
Vince Wright
Mikey,
Thank you for your comments! It’s just me, running this site by myself. I don’t yet have a team!
1. I noticed that Jesus didn’t do many miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith (Matthew 13:58 and Mark 6:5-6). I agree with you that God doesn’t need our faith to perform miracles. After all, creation itself is miraculous and was completed in five days in Genesis 1 before man came around in day 6! However, Jesus’ lack of miracles in His hometown tells me that God is more willing to do things with faith than without.
2. I can see it both ways. On the one hand, yes, you’re right. Prayer doesn’t guarantee that God will respond in the way that we expect Him to. On the other hand, “It’s gonna happen”, as I understand it, is that miracles will happen. It may not be you or me, but someone will experience one. However, I can understand that, especially from an unbeliever’s perspective, people will see this as guaranteed prayer. So, I’m at least willing to deduct a few points in the third section for this.
-Vince Wright