Photo by Jennifer Burk
Israel Houghton started his career in 1997 with the release of his first album Whisper It Loud, credited as Israel & New Breed. He has released a total of 13 albums, including Real, A Timeless Christmas, and The Power of One. Many of them live, including Live From Another Level, Alive in South Africa, and A Deeper Level.
Houghton received several awards for his work, including eleven Dove, six grammy’s, and two stellar.
This requested review is for the popular and world-famous song friend of God from Live from Another Level.
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Israel-houghton-friend-of-god-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.
1. What message does the song communicate?
The message is simple: God’s undeserved love is amazing, calling His followers friends. However, Houghton does not explain why. Of course, we know the answer from Scripture: it is Christ’s sacrificial love for us that provides rationale for His adoration (Romans 5:6-8). If we’re going to sing about how great God is, the least we can do is tell Him why.
The message that we’re God’s friend is too simplistic, giving people the wrong impression that we can be God’s friend on His say so without conditions, compounding the issue at the end of Verse 1. See section 2 for a detailed explanation as to why this is erroneous.
Houghton gives us two attributes of God, namely, that He is Almighty and the Lord of Glory. He is also correct that God’s love is undeserved.
Score: 5/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
Some of it agrees with the Bible. As mentioned in section 1, there is a lack of explanation at the end of Verse 1 as to why God’s love is awesome and unexplained rubric for God calling us friend.
I added the designations “Verse 1” and “Bridge”, to section off stanza’s not specified in the link provided.
[Verse 1]
Line 1: References Psalm 8:4.
Line 2: Same point as line 1 worded differently.
Line 3: Rhetorical question already answered in line 1.
Line 4: Indeed how is God’s love amazing? Houghton does not answer this question.
[Chorus]
Lines 1-4: Based on John 15:15, Jesus declares His followers as friends. Houghton forgot to tell us that there are conditions:
- We must obey Jesus (John 15:14),
- He commands us to love one another (John 15:12), and
- He called us to bear fruit (John 15:16).
Without conditions, Houghton leaves his audience with the false impression that we may become buddies with Jesus without cost. This is contrary to Luke 14:25-33. Yes, salvation is free to us, but it too had a cost (Romans 5:6-8). So does following Jesus. Yes, God wants to become friends with us, but what is friendship without boundaries?
[Bridge]
Line 1: There are 48 references in the Old Testament and 10 in the New Testament that describe God as Almightly. Psalm 24:7–10 describes God as the King of Glory, a fine substitution for Lord of Glory.
Line 2: Derivative of Chorus, line 1.
Score: 5/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
The main thrust of Houghton’s message is that Jesus calls me friend. As mentioned in sections 1 and 2, Jesus lays out qualifications for His followers to earn that title, unidentified in this song. What will those who do not yet follow Jesus make of this? Most likely, that they too can earn the title “friend” without transformation.
Score: 3/10
4. What does this song glorify?
While Houghton attempts to glorify God, given what I have written earlier, it is difficult to find it. I’ll give some brownie points for describing His attributes and declaring that His love is unearned.
Score: 5/10
Closing Comments
Israel Houghton’s Friend of God has had a lasting emotional impact on those who hear it. From a biblical perspective, while it correctly identifies His undeserved favor and names two attributes of God, it also lacks explanatory power in why we’re God’s friend, giving false hope to the unhealthy idea of friendship without rules. It’s hard to see how God can be glorified in that.
If you want to listen to this pre-knowing the truths that Houghton fails to explain, I have little issue with that particular usage. It is great to be reminded that believers are His friend, providing emotional benefit. Yet, it should be avoided at all costs for evangelistic effort.
Final Score: 4.5/10
Artist Info
Track: Friend of God (listen to the song)
Artist: Israel Houghton
Album: Live from Another Level
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2004
Duration: 6:34
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Updates:
03/24/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement. I also increased the score for sections 1 and 4, raising the overall rating from 3/10 to 4.5/10.
Comments
Kavish
Firstly brother, thank you for this website which has been a great tool for me in selecting songs for our worship gatherings.
I usually don’t leave comments here but I feel compelled to in this instance.
I agree with most of what you say, except the ratings.
1. What message does the song communicate?
The message the song communicates is that “God” calls “us” His friends, not the other way around. We see the same in Isaiah 41:8, God is the one calling Abraham His friend and not the other way around. This is a very important distinction. Must we earn friendship with God? Must we toil to deserve it? Is that what Jesus meant in John 15:14? If that were true then hating ones parents being the foremost condition for discipleship(Luke 14:26) would disqualify all disciples from that title! Doesn’t John 15:15 also say that Jesus calls us his friends because He gave us everything He learned from the Father? Is salvation free but friendship at a cost? When I stumble every day do I retain my salvation by grace but also simultaneously lose my friendship with Christ? As far as the lyrics go, for a believer, I don’t think this song creates any contradiction in the theology of grace, salvation or our relationship to God!
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
All of it. By your own inspection, every line of the song can be traced to some or the other scriptural truth. Your chief complaint is that the song does not explain the conditions for friendship with God. How does this lower the score for “How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?”. Not every song is meant to be a theological treatise. And if nitpicked enough, the same critique of omitting something can be found in every single song. A rating of 5/10 implies 50% of the song is in direct contrast to the scripture, which I don’t think is the case here.
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Though I agree partially here, we must remember, sanctification is a by-product of salvation, not a pre-requisite. When we evangelize, we don’t start with the qualifications for friendship and the conditions of discipleship, instead we start with the free gift of salvation, that even though someone is a sinner God is no longer going to call them an enemy, but a friend. (Rom 5:10)
4. What does this song glorify?
I feel the entire onus of the song rests on God calling us His friends even though we don’t deserve it. How does this glorify anybody else but God? I do not agree with the rating here.
Regarding your closing comments, I agree this song was probably not meant for evangelistic effort, but does that disqualify a song for corporate worship in the gathering of the saints? This song might not be meant for evangelistic effort, but maybe it is meant for the believer who is already saved and is struggling with his walk with Christ. Meant to remind him that he is a friend of God, not because of his works but because of the grace of God. Meant to remind him that he is not alone in his struggles, that God is with him, that God is his friend. Meant to remind him that God is not a distant deity but a close friend.
In conclusion, I feel the ratings are a bit harsh and do not reflect the true nature of the song. I would suggest a re-evaluation of the ratings.
P.S : I write my above critique in love and humility, praying the Holy Spirit would guide us all into all truth.
Scott
The reviewer’s biggest complaint is that this song “should not be used for evangelism!”. OK…but is the implication that the spiritual discipline of the corporate worship of the Body, the church, always be steered towards an evangelistic effort? To be planned, chosen and presented with the non-believer in mind, rather than the follower of Christ? I would say, no. Worship is for the believer. Songs that speak truth about aspects of our relationship with God should not be penalized because they don’t have the gospel message tacked on as a concession to non-believers who happen to be in their midst.
If we take the classic hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” and try to asses it’s worth in this way, the same critique would apply. It is FILLED with statements of who God is, how we should behave and what we should do…with no explanation of how we come into that understanding or relationship, no gospel message.
Granted, if I were to offer my own critique of “Friend of God”, it might be somewhat similar – a phrase of confirmation of the reason for that friendship would be welcome. But, not necessary. The musical purpose of the song was to have a simple, memorable short message on a single truth, celebrated. In the context of a larger worship experience with the body, this song is a joyous statement of scripture, Psalm 8.
You said, “If you want to listen to this pre-knowing the truths that Houghton fails to explain, I have little issue with that particular usage. It is great to be reminded that believers are His friend, providing emotional benefit.” You should have stopped there and given it a higher rating, Brother! 🙂
Vince Wright
Scott,
Thank you for your comments!
My chief complaint is about people being a “friend of God” without conditions. The lack of evangelistic effort is an off-shoot of that primary issue.
-Vince Wright
David
Along with your excellent comments an additional point might be that if we are going to claim friendship with God we need to also recognize that it’s not a friendship of equals. He is our friend, but he is also our Lord. “Buddy Theology” is not scriptural.
Melvina Haynes
Since believers are singing this song together in church, I see it as an expression of awe at the grace of God. Believers know that we were once enemies of God on the way to hell.
Neal Cruco
Vince,
It is true that this song says nothing about how one becomes a friend of God, and for that reason, it shouldn’t get a good “outsider” rating. But why does that lead you to score it so low throughout? Why do you think that this absence will lead people to believe that they can become a friend of God without transformation? Perhaps it is merely a difference of opinion, but I do not see a logical connection there. It seems to me that this song would leave unbelievers asking “how does someone become a friend of God?” and not “I can become a friend of God without transformation”. That then opens the door for a Christian to explain the Gospel.
Vince Wright
Neal,
Great question! The logic is that people tend to be lazy and take the easy way out. It is easier to say “I am a friend of God” without transformation than to say “I am a friend of God” and do what He says. Especially when there’s little to no challenge to become different.
I hope that makes sense.
-Vince Wright
Wade Lineberger
I was pleasantly surprised that you panned this song. My spider sense was tingling when this song was introduced to our team a few months ago. I wasnt sure why, but you expressed it very well.
Its catchy. It really pops with all kinds of musical dynamics. But it’s message is sloppy, at best. Bzzzzzt! Let’s sing something else.
tastywallet
Wade,
Thank you for your comment! On a personal note, I remember enjoying this one years ago, but that was a time when I claimed to be a Christian because I believed God existed. How ignorant I was!
-TastyWallet
thoughtsmeander
Hi! Just spotted typos in the Closing Comments. (“it correctly identifies…” “it lacks explanatory power”)
While I don’t have anything against songs that use a lot of repetition, I do agree with you. The repeated lines could have been used to explain.
tastywallet
Thoughts,
Thanks for your comment and grammar correction! I repaired it.
-TastyWallet
Jonathan
Good review!
tastywallet
Jonathan,
Thanks!
-TastyWallet