As a musician and a worship leader people often ask me where my opinions lie in regards to the theology of a particular song. This usually happens for one of two reasons, either the person is genuinely interested and is seeking to form their own opinion, or they have already formed their own opinion and are looking to challenge mine. Recently the song of choice has been Reckless Love by Cory Asbury.
This song has been getting a lot of criticism on the basis that God’s love can’t be reckless because he is always in control and he always works for our good. Whilst this is true, I don’t know if this is what the writer of this song is trying to convey.
The underlying focus of this song is pinned on the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15) with the concept being that though we may find ourselves lost, hurt and in despair God’s love for us goes beyond that. If we consider God’s love from this perspective then there is a recklessness to God’s love.
In rural communities in Jesus’ day shepherding was a different kind of role to what we perceive it to be today. There were often no pens for sheep and no fields with boundaries to protect them or contain them. Instead shepherds would guide their flocks from grassland to water back to grassland.
Shepherds also had a close connection with their flocks, they knew each sheep in their care by sight and if one of them was missing then they would notice. Loosing a sheep was quite a dangerous prospect for a shepherd. He would have to leave the flock to graze in one place and then go after the lost sheep hoping that his flock would be okay.
This was a dangerous task primarily because there was the risk that the sheep was missing because it had been killed and the animal who had done it could still be near by (think of King David as a shepherd boy fighting off lions and bears). The shepherd was not only risking his flock but also his own life by going after this one sheep.
When we compare God’s love for us like that of a shepherd for a lost sheep we can see that actually there is a recklessness to God’s love. To go after the one sheep and to risk your own life and the flock doesn’t make any sense. In fact I would say it is reckless behaviour.
So I would say that I have no issue with this song for this reason… if I were feeling lost, hurt or broken what sort of God would I want in that situation? I want a God who is bigger than my issues, a God who loves me so much that he is willing to risk everything else just to come and find me. I would want a God who seems to be recklessly in love with me.
