Recently Jon Acuff - writer of "Stuff Christians Like" which is pretty darned amusing - had a guest poster who talked about the words "Sloppy Wet Kiss" in the song. Now, when I first read it I thought he was just being funny. I didn't realize (uncultured Christian that I am) that there actually is a version that talks about heaven meeting earth like a sloppy wet kiss. I heard it today, and it really just... hit me the wrong way.
Now... I don't care about the actual words "sloppy wet kiss" in a worship song. If that's how the writer of the song feels about heaven meeting earth - power to him. For me... I mean... sloppy wet kiss? That makes me think of an absolutely terrible kisser who slobbers all over your face or a dog that bounds across the room and licks your face everywhere. There's nothing at all romantic - to me - about a sloppy wet kiss. Nasty. When I think about how much God loves me, the last thing I want to think about is nasty, disgusting salive all over my face. I'd prefer God NOT love me like a sloppy wet kiss. Romantic, pretty, unforeseen kiss - sure. But not sloppy bad kisser dog slobber.
What are your thoughts? Here are both versions so that you can compare:
David Crowder Band version
John Mark McMillan version
3 comments:
haha! I love this post. I have to agree with you. Unforeseen kiss is a much better line. I have trouble relating to songs that are too 'romantic' with their wording when it comes to God, so even the unforeseen kiss is a little much for me. BUT, I really like this song. I feel connected and grateful to God for what he's done for me when I sing and play it. :)
The songwriter has been quoted as saying, "The idea behind the lyric is that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth converge in a way that is both beautiful and awkwardly messy. Think about the birth of a child, or even the death of Jesus himself. These miracles are both incredibly beautiful and incredibly sloppy (“gory” may be more realistic, but “Heaven meets earth like a gory mess” didn’t seem to have the same ring)."
...Though my personal sentiments are pretty close to yours. ^_^;
I have no problem with that line. Is Jesus not incredibly affectionate towards us? I just think people can get too legalistic about stuff like that. As long as your heart is in the right place, who cares?
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