Please follow the link to look at these lyrics.  The song is short.  

http://www.christian-lyrics.net/sanctus-real/lead-me-lyrics.html#axzz0o4eYct4z

I find it very sad that the song puts the wife and the children in exactly the same place-- both seeking leadership from the man.  There is absolutely no difference that I can see between the way the singer expects to relate to his wife, and the way he expects to relate to his children.

At the end he asks God, "Lead me, cause I can't do this alone."  The words of Genesis 3 come back to me, "It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make him a partner who will be his strong aid." (my translation!  )

God didn't mean for the man to "do this alone," or even with God's leadership alone.  God gave the man a woman to co-lead beside him, knowing the man couldn't do it alone!  And God told the woman after the Fall that this was going to get screwed up:  that the man would take dominion over her as well as the animals-- effectively rendering the man alone again, as was "not good" for the man!


Why does the man insist on asking God to supernaturally fill a need that God has already given provision for? Maybe God is saying, "Why are you asking Me for provision that I've already given?  I gave you a woman!  Listen to her, and let her lead beside you!  I never intended you to do this alone!"

Sigh.

Oh, that makes me sad!!!  All the sadder b/c this will reach many young women as a cool Christian-pop-culture thing even if they don't read those abominable dating books.  urgh

"Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't"

That's what Christians are supposed to say to God, not to a human.

This is sad.    That the protagonist of the song would feel so alone, when like you said he has a perfectly fit rescuer right there, and she feels alone too since they are both trapped in the roles that they think God tells them to play.

I also thought it was a pretty lame song-writing device to have the same chorus sung to both the wife and children.

Like much Christian pop music, theology is lacking.  As JLP pointed out, God is to be our strength.  And honestly I think the real "love of my life" is Jesus, not my husband.  I love my husband, but I love Jesus more. I hope he loves Jesus more than he loves me (or we could be in for a world of hurt someday...)

Well, on the bright side, like most pop music it will be forgotten pretty soon after it drops off the charts, so there's some hope there...

Oh, thank GOODNESS! I've been searching ALL over the place for others who find this song slightly sad and disturbing. I do not like how he seems to be relating to his wife and children on the same level. Thank you, thank you....for your sanity. God bless!

Good to have you, MeleahR!

I've not listened to Christian radio in eons, as I am not a fan of the local station.  Can anyone tell me if this is one of their singles getting lots of airplay.  I'm sort of scared to know...?

Thanks Deborah!

It's was (may still be) the number 1 Christian single on the radio. I hear it play nearly twice a day - on the way to work, and on the way home. I usually turn it off when it plays because it bothers me so much.

Heh.  They don't play it nearly so often in Oregon.  I hear it once or twice a week.

This is the sell job of the non-egals. The man leads and the woman gets what she wants (supposedly).  And for some it might be true.

Sigh.  I suspect it would not be better in Tennessee, then : (.

Thanks.

A good friend just posted this song on FB w/ a tagline to all the husbands and daddies, and folks are chiming in about great it is.  I'd so like to say, "Doesn't it bother you a bit that the wife is compared to a child?" but probably really can't shouldn't.... 

Bummer....I wonder if the confusion is ,in part, that women would like for husbands and daddies to be involved in a meaningful, emotionally attentive and connected way.....not really leading, just company and loving meaningful involvement in the journey.  It would be good for both husband and wife to lead by example for their children.  I hope someone writes a different song along those lines.

I think that's exactly what the motivation is, ls.

But it's also programmed into many church women to determine and frequently speak that "Every woman is born craving a man to lead her."  They are taught they should believe this and so embrace it and speak it.

When I'm in a relationship where I really can challenge this, it usually falls apart upon challenge really.  It's sort of like cliques I think where everyone talks alike.  But I think it also is deep in many women's psyche's from childhood from the way that a particular cultural gender norm is programmed.  Science shows us this varies by culture.  But it can seem very much part of an identity when you've subtly absorbed it all your life.  That's my take.

I know my grandmother was taught that from birth. It wasn't those excate words, but pretty darn close.