It seems bizarre in retrospect that this song made it into the canon of acceptable music in so many fundy churches. Here we have a contemporary song sung in an “emotional style” by a singer with long hair who eventually came out as gay — all things that should have completely made this song off limits. Yet none of these anathemas stopped fundies all over the country from cleaning up this song and featuring it in their missions conferences.

I think the redeeming quality that made fundamentalists want to give this particular musical selection a pass was simply that this is an extremely man-centered and guilt-inducing song. Essentially it’s telling you that if you give your last five dollars in the offering plate RIGHT NOW then people will come up and thank you when you get to heaven. Otherwise it will be YOUR FAULT that they aren’t there.

If you ever want to send former fundy missionary kids running screaming from a church service just have someone get up and sing this as a special.