Photo by Morgan McDonald
Maverick City Music is a collective that acts as a congregation that sings together. They released six EP’s and three albums, including:
- Maverick City Vol. 1 EP (2019)
- Maverick City Vol. 2 EP (2019)
- Maverick City Vol. 3, Part 1 (2020)
- Maverick City Vol. 3, Part 2 (2020)
- You Hold It All Together (EP, 2020)
- Maverick City Christmas (EP, 2020)
- Move Your Heart (EP, 2021)
- Jubilee (EP, 2021)
- Como En El Cielo (Spanish, 2021)
Also, check out my reviews of The Story I’ll Tell, Man of Your Word, Promises, Refiner and You Keep on Getting Better.
UPPERROOM is a church-based band hailing from Dallas, Texas. They released twelve works, including:
- God You Are (2014)
- Live from Upper Room (2016)
- Made for More (2016)
- Center of Your Love (EP, 2017)
- Moments (2018)
- Moments II (2018)
- Moments: Color 003 (2019)
- Moments: Design 004 (EP, 2019)
- To The One (2019)
- Santo Espíritu (Te Amamos) (2020)
- Land of the Living (2020)
- Arbor (2021)
Also, check out my review of Surrounded (Fight My Battles).
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Maverick-city-music-and-upperroom-getting-ready-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?
This song celebrates the second coming of Christ. We are grateful to receive an invitation to participate in the biggest, most extravagant wedding feast known to man. We Christians who come from all walks of life will be united with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! In this ceremony, we will bow down and worship Jesus. Even unbelievers will bow the knee, though they aren’t invited to this wedding. This event cements the closing of all prophecies contained in the Bible.
In the meantime, we must tell others about Jesus, whether through speaking or song. We must tell others about what He did for us, including His faithfulness to us. We must prepare our hearts for Christ’s triumphant return, where we will feast our eyes on His splendor and holiness.
Side Note: To those sensitive to massive repetition, this song contains the following in order:
- Refrain repeats itself four times.
- Eight “we’re getting ready” in Pre-Chorus.
- 25 more “we’re getting ready in Post-Chorus.
- Refrain shows up again, three times instead of four.
- Bridge contains “King Jesus, He is faithful” 16 times.
- Outro repeats “we will see you” 19 times and “We know what happens at the end” 7 times.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
The entire song aligns with Scripture.
[Verse 1]
Lines 1-4: Based on Revelation19:6-9. we are invited to become part of the bride of Christ, one with Him (Ephesians 5:22-32 and Revelation 19:7-9). It is here that we worship Jesus.
[Pre-Chorus]
Once Jesus comes back and establishes the new heavens and earth (Revelation 21:1), all prophecies contained in the Bible would be fulfilled. This is based on God’s timing, not ours (2 Peter 3:9). Much like John in Revelation 22:8, we will bow down and worship at the feet of Christ.
NOTE: The second instance of Pre-Chorus has the same message as Verse 2, lines 3 and 4.
[Chorus]
Lines 1-4: The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalms 19:1-2). In the same way, we should act to glorify Him (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17-23, and 1 Peter 4:11), prepared for Jesus’ second coming (Matthew 24:43, Matthew 25:1-13, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10, and Revelation 16:15).
[Post-Chorus]
Lines 1 and 2: According to Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11, every knee will bow and confess Jesus as Lord. That includes people of varying worldviews, including Islam, Buddhism, Paganism, and various Atheist belief systems.
[Verse 2]
Lines 1 and 2: A reasonable reaction when witnessing Jesus come back (Matthew 24:43, Acts 1:9-11, 1 Corinthians 11:26, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10, and Revelation 16:15). The flaming eyes come from Revelation 19:12.
Lines 3: Every knee will bow and tongue confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11).
Line 4: Revelation 19:12 also speaks of many crowns on Jesus’ head, presumedly placed there by us.
[Interlude]
Lines 1 and 2: Borrows from Casper the friendly ghost as build-up language.
[Refrain]
Lines 1-4: By singing and telling others about Jesus’ faithfulness and the source of our hope (Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 5:1-8, Romans 8:24-39, Romans 15:13, 1 Corinthians 15:54-58, and 1 Peter 1:3-6), they fulfill the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Also, Jesus is a King (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:10, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-6, John 12:15, John 18:37, 1 Timothy 6:13-16, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16).
Lines 5-16: Repeats lines 1-4.
[Bridge]
Lines 1-16: Repeats Refrain, line 3.
[Outro]
Line 1: See Verse 2, line 1.
Line 2: Repeats line 1.
Line 3: Another Casper reference.
Line 4: Yes! See line 1.
Line 5: Repeats line 4.
Line 6: Repeats line 1.
Line 7: Maverick City Music and UPPERROOM love Christ’s beauty (1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 27:4, Psalm 29:2, and Isaiah 28:5-6).
Line 8-22: Repeats various portions or points in lines 1-7.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
This song combines everyday language with Christianese to make its points. Unbelievers will probably conclude the following:
- It’s a Christian song, based on explicit references to “Jesus”, “Lamb”, “prophecies”, “Hallelujah”, and “God”.
- It speaks of Jesus’ second coming, where Christians will see Him.
- Christians are invited to a wedding involving God and unbelievers will probably not receive an invitation.
- Christians are preparing for this wedding.
- Christians believe Jesus is worthy of praise.
- Christians tell others about Jesus.
- Jesus is a King.
- Jesus is faithful.
It’s hard to know if unbelievers know that its Biblical bride language describes our personal relationship with Jesus. My guess is probably not. Yet, without this central point, they should comprehend much of this song.
Score: 6/10
4. What does this song glorify?
This song glorifies God by calling us to worship Christ and spread His fame to everyone.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Maverick City Music & UPPERROOM’s Getting Ready is Biblical. It showcases elements surrounding Christ’s second coming, including the bridegroom, wedding feast, and worship. We Christians are invited to join and worship Him. This song calls us to proclaim to others Jesus’ faithfulness, bringing glory to God. Unbelievers will probably miss its central wedding message; However, much of this song will be understood by them.
While it could be used for corporate worship, it’s hard to recommend it when I don’t prefer its massive repetition.
Final Score: 9/10
Artist Info
Track: Getting Ready (listen to the song)
Artist: Maverick City Music & UPPERROOM
EP: You Hold It All Together
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2020
Duration: 9:20
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Updates:
05/01/2021 – The original review did not properly address Post-Chorus, particularly, “every creed”. Thanks to Caleb for finding it!
Comments
Caleb
I was excited to see that you had covered this song, because there is a word in the 2nd prechorus that makes me uncomfortable. But the 2nd prechorus wasn’t specifically addressed. It’s clear in the 2nd prechorus they are referring to Revelation 7:9, but they add the word “creed” in there. I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt here, but they seem to be communicating that people from every creed will be bowing before the throne. I know this word could be defined in different ways, but the most common definition of creed is that it is a religious belief.
Vince Wright
Caleb,
Thank you for your comments!
I updated my review to better address this line. To put it succinctly, see Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11, which says that “every knee will bow” to Jesus.
-Vince Wright