But What Does It Mean?

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

It always frustrates me when I wonder what a lyric to a particular song means and I try to search out the answer from the artist, generally somewhere on the internet. The typical answer is something like this: "It means whatever you want it to mean," or "I don't like to answer that question because I don't want to limit the song to a certain meaning. I want people to be able to interpret it however they like." This suggests that the artist would like their lyrics to speak to everyone and that the meaning changes based on the listener and their particular needs. 

But that drives me crazy! I don't care what I think a lyric means, or that it means something different to everyone, I want to know what the musician intended. What was the context for the song? Why did they write it? There was obviously a reason!

(That's why I appreciate Sleeping at Last. They frequently write on where lyrics and ideas for their songs are born, and I am thankful! For example, the line "hold your breath and count to 28" isn't just random and means whatever I want it to mean as a listener. The line is referencing an elevator ride to the 28th floor that emphasizes how uncomfortable we are when we get on elevators with strangers and there is that awkward silence as we count down the floors till we get off.)

Taking this one step further the same principle applies to the Bible. Have you ever been in a Bible Study where you have read a passage and then gone around the circle sharing what the passage means to you? We have to be careful here because Scripture doesn't mean whatever we want it to mean, or whatever we're feeling at the time, as if it was written in order to meet our felt-needs.

The question we should be asking is what did the author of a particular passage, divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, intend for his words to mean? There are a lot of factors involved in that discussion, but that is what we're after--what is the author's intention in his original context? With that being said, while there is one interpretation, there are many applications, and that's where we can do our best to apply the meaning of the text to our lives in 21st century America. But those applications should always flow naturally from the meaning of the text.