The Belonging Co. (Feat. Kari Jobe) – The Dove

Somehow I managed back-to-back The Belonging Co. reviews!  But, here we are.  Y’all already know about them from my previous reviews, so I’ll skip right over this section and move onto the good stuff.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/The-belonging-co-the-dove-live-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 Belonging Co. hungers and thirsts for more and more of the Holy Spirit.  He had a hand in creating the world, where man was initially in perfect union with God.  Corruption, temptation, and lawbreaking spoiled it, which was rectified with Jesus’ shed blood on the cross.  The Holy Spirit is sought out, who testifies to Jesus, the Truth, and embodies living water.  The Belonging Co., alongside the rest of us, wishes to possess more and more of the Holy Spirit.

My only gripe is the idea that the Holy Spirit is searching for Jesus.  It suggests that the three persons of the Trinity separated from one another, which isn’t true.  The three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, have always, and will always, experienced perfect union, oneness, and closeness with one another.  While some disagree with this, pointing to the time between Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit isn’t shown to be seeking Jesus during this timeframe.

Score: 8/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Almost the entire song is in agreement with the Bible.  The only part that isn’t is Verse 2, lines 4-6.  The Holy Spirit isn’t looking for Jesus.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: This borrows from Genesis 1:2, with the dove aspect from Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, and John 1:32.

Line 2: The Belonging Co. is crediting the Holy Spirit for His part in speaking the heavens and the earth into existence, based on the “and God said” portions of Genesis 1:3-30, especially the plurality of “us” and “our” in Genesis 1:26.

Line 3: Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) without shame (Genesis 2:25).

Line 4: This state of perfect union with God is where we are meant to be.

[Chorus (1)]

Lines 1 and 2: The Belonging Co. Desires more Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Verse 2]

Line 1: After Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3:6), wickedness was so great on the earth (Genesis 6:5), that He flooded it (Genesis 6:17).

Lines 2 and 3: Noah sent a dove to look for signs of life.  The third time, it did not return (Genesis 8:8-12).

Line 4-6: At this point, it is obvious that the “dove” spoken is the Holy Spirit, which uses part of Noah’s account to make a point about the dove finding Jesus. However, the Holy Spirit isn’t looking for Jesus like Noah’s dove was searching for land. He was there at the beginning, conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35), and was the source of Jesus’ power during His three-year ministry (Mark 3:22-30 and Matthew 12:22-32). However, Christ is indeed the Vine (John 15:1) who gives us eternal life (John 3:16).

[Chorus (2)]

Line 1: Holy Spirit is truth in the sense that it testifies about Jesus (John 15:26) who is the truth (John 14:6).  The Spirit is, according to John 7:37-39, living water.

Line 2: Repeats Chorus (1), line 2.

Line 3: The Holy Spirit is called helper in John 14:16-26, John 15:26, and John 16:7-13, and Romans 8:26-27. As for healer, I made the case Scripturally for the Holy Spirit as Jesus’ power in my commentary on Verse 2, lines 4-6. Since some of those miracles involve healing, it seems appropriate that the Holy Spirit could be called “healer”.

Line 4: Repeats line 2.

Lines 5-8: Repeats lines 1-4.

[Interlude (1)]

Line 1: Introduces Bridge.

[Bridge]

Line 1: The upper room is the place Jesus and His closest disciples ate during Passover the night He was betrayed (Matthew 26:1-29, Mark 14:12-25, Luke 22:7-20, and John 13:1-38). The Belonging Co. desires all of us to have this closeness with the Holy Spirit.

Line 2: See Chorus (1), line 2.

Line 3: This is the subject of this song.

Lines 4 and 5: Borrows from Acts 2:2.

Line 6: Repeats line 3.

Line 7-18: Repeats lines 1-6.

Lines 19-22: Repeats line 3.

[Interlude (2)]

Lines 1-3: Essentially repeats portions of Bridge, line 3 alongside affirmation.

[Verse 3]

Lines 1 and 2: The Belonging Co. recognizes that they received God’s undeserved favor based on Christ’s sacrifice (Luke 18:9-14, Acts 13:39, Romans 3:20-30, Romans 4:1-7, Romans 8:3, Romans 9:16, Romans 9:31-32, Romans 11:6, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 2:21, Galatians 3:10-12, Galatians 3:21, Galatians 5:2-4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 3:3-9, 2 Timothy 1:9, Hebrews 6:1-2, and James 2:10-11).  He is also known as the Slain Lamb (Isaiah 53:7, John 1:29, John 1:36, Acts 8:32, 1 Peter 1:19, Revelation 5:6-8, Revelation 5:12-13, Revelation 6:1, Revelation 7:9-17, Revelation 12:11, Revelation 13:8, Revelation 14:1-10, Revelation 15:3, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:7-9, and Revelation 21:9).

Line 3: The Belonging Co. asked to be bathed in the blood of Jesus for spiritual cleansing (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:22, 1 Peter 1:2, and 1 Peter 1:18-19).

Line 4: Jesus lives within The Belonging Co. (Romans 8:10, 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, Galatians 1:15-16, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 4:19, Ephesians 3:17, and Colossians 1:27).  As does the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:16-19, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14).

Lines 5 and 6: Repeats/essentially repeats line 4.

[Interlude (3)]

Lines 1 and 2: The Belonging Co. summons Casper the friendly ghost.

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats/essentially repeats Bridge, line 5.

Line 5: Essentially repeats Bridge, line 4.

Line 6: Essentially repeats Chorus (1), line 2.

[Outro]

Lines 1-6: Repeats Bridge, lines 1-6.

Line 7: Repeats Bridge, line 3.

Line 8: Kool-Aid Man’s signature catchphrase.

Line 9: Repeats Bridge, line 3.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will see it’s obviously Christian. It speaks of creation, God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, the Lamb, washed by the blood, and a host of other obvious Christian terminology.

As for their interpretation compared to my written summary in section 1: There is much Christianese in these lyrics.  Sin is said to have “spoiled” creation, which makes it more than just mere mistakes.  I’m uncertain if they will know what the “upper room” is or that the Holy Spirit is associated with doves.  However, they will almost certainly conclude that Christians want Him!

Concerning the Holy Spirit’s quest to find Jesus: I doubt that unbelievers will know that this is a problem.  They will probably just assume it’s true and move on.

Score: 7/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies Jesus as the Savior whose death on the cross brought about our relationship with the Holy Spirit and an earnest desire to seek Him. It glorifies the Holy Spirit as the loving Helper who testifies of the Son. It does not glorify the Holy Spirit when The Belonging Co. sings that He was looking for Jesus when He doesn’t do that.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

The Belonging Co.’s The Dove is mostly good.  It calls us to desire the Holy Spirit, who helped bring about creation, helps and heals us, and testifies concerning Jesus and Christ crucified.  These bring Him glory.  However, it is untrue that The Spirit seeks for Jesus.  Unbelievers should be able to piece together The Belonging Co’s core message, even if some of the details are fuzzy.

If the Holy Spirit seeking Jesus could be removed/addressed, then I’d be more willing to recommend this for corporate worship.

Final Score: 8/10

Artist Info

Track: The Dove (Live) (listen to the song)

Artist: The Belonging Co. (Feat. Kari Jobe)

Album: Pneuma (Live)

Genre: Rock

Release Year: 2023

Duration: 9:56

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.