Songs Of Our Faith Part 6
Take Me Back
By: Andrae Crouch
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12:1; 2 Peter 1:10; Revelations 2:1-5
Introduction:
This morning I will be focusing on a song that was recorded when I was fourteen years old. The song is by the Rev. Andrae Crouch and is titled “Take Me Back.” Unlike the songs I have reviewed to date, this song was recorded at a time when I was active in our Church choir and a new community choir that had been formed in our city. I first learned the song while at Church camp one summer. While I did not reflect on what the song was saying at the time, I liked the song because of how it flowed. I could relate to the song on some level as a teenager. The song contains a very simple request; for Christ to take us back to that place (spiritually and emotionally) where we first received Him. The song is not talking about when we were first baptized (in some cases baptism occurred prior to the person having a full understanding of what it meant to accept Christ), but when we came into the full knowledge of Him and made the decision to accept Him. Let me share with you some background information on the author.
I. About The Author
Andrae Crouch was born July 1, 1942 in San Francisco, CA where his parents managed a dry cleaners. His father, Benjamin Crouch also had a street ministry; ministered in hospitals; and in prisons. When Andrae was eleven years old, his father was invited to preach at a small church in a farming community. This church did not have a pastor and his father was asked to take over as pastor of the Church. That first Sunday his father asked Andrae to come down front and he asked him, “Andrae, if God gave you the gift of music to sing and play for Him, would you do it for His glory all your life?” Andrae answered, “Yeah Daddy.” A couple of weeks later while the congregation was singing he asked Andrae to come down. He told him, “If you’re gonna play, play.” Andrae found the key and began to play the piano. As he got a little older he began to write songs and lead a choir.
Crouch first group, the Church of God in Christ Singers, was formed in 1960 and included Billy Preston. This group was the first to record the song “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power.” Between 1993 and 1994, his father, mother and older brother all died. After his father’s death, Crouch took over as Senior Pastor Senior Pastor at Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ in Pacoima, California, the church founded by his parents. He serves alongside his twin sister, Sandra. He was nominated for an Oscar for his song “God’s Trying To tell Me Something” from the movie “The Color Purple.”
He recorded the song “Take Me Back” in 1975 and won a Grammy for the song as the Best Soul Gospel Performance the same year. I do not have any specific circumstances for why he wrote this song so I will be giving you my interpretation of it based on why this song speaks to me. Let’s begin with the chorus which opens the song.
II. Chorus
The chorus to the says: “Take me back, take me back dear Lord, to the place where I first received you. Take me back, take me back dear Lord where I first believed.”
When I hear this song I think about when I first received the Lord. My mind does not go back to August of 1968 when I attended a revival meeting at our Church. I told you how my cousin Robbie and I were the only two who were not “saved” so we had to sit on the mourners’ bench so the evangelist could “preach to us and get us saved.” I was seven years old and Robbie was probably five or six at the time. When he opened the doors to the Church (an opportunity for those who are not saved to accept Christ and get saved), I looked at Robbie and told her I would go if she went, so we both went up to get saved from our sins. We were baptized a few weeks later. This was the moment from the Church’s viewpoint that I got “saved” but at seven years old there was a lot that I did not understand about being “saved.” When I came to understand what it really meant to accept Christ in my heart, I did it privately. I did not go back before the Church to get “re-baptized” as I knew I was saved. I do not recall the month or the day that I accepted Christ, but what I do remember is the decision that I made that if I was going to follow Him, I would do it to the best of my ability. This is what I reflect on when I hear the course of this song – when I first believed.
The song is placing a request before Lord to take us back to where we first believed in Him and accepted Him. We are told later why this request is being made, but let me point this out. When a person first accepts Christ with an understanding of what they are doing, there is a level of excitement and expectation that comes with it. The new convert begins to look forward to what Christ will do in their life. However, for some, after going through years of serving Christ, the excitement and expectation begin to fall as they get into a routine of service. It gets to the point that there is no longer any expectation and the person is just going through the motion while knowing that spiritually they are in a weak place. This is what comes across to me in this song.
King Solomon captures this idea really well in the book of Ecclesiastes. He wrote the following words in Ecclesiastes 12:1: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them.” Solomon puts forth the request that we should remember God in our youth while we can still be of service to Him. He goes on in verses two through seven to describe old age and what happens when a person ages. He describes in detail the affect of old age on the body, physically and emotionally. He describes how some things that was once pleasurable is no longer. Finally he describes the death in old age and the spirit returning to God. Before all of this (verses two through seven) he exhorts the young to remember God. This song makes a similar request, but I will explain more as we go through why this request to “take me back” is being made of the Lord. Let’s examine the verse.
III. Verse One
The only verse of the song says: “I feel that I'm so far from you Lord, but still I hear you calling me. Those simple things that I once knew, their memories keep drawing me. I must confess, Lord I've been blessed, but yet my soul's not satisfied. Renew my faith, restore my joy, and dry my weeping eyes.”
In this verse we gain an understanding of what had happened. The person feels as if they are far from the Lord while yet still being able to hear Him calling them. Have you ever felt that you had drifted away from the Lord? I know that feeling. When you find yourself in a place and you wonder how you got there you too will know it. Through all of it, I could still hear the Lord calling me. Peter said this in 2 Peter 1:10: “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.” When I was farthest away from God, I had lost my diligence in ensuring that my faith was confirmed by how I was living. What is important in this verse is the fact that he says that if we practice those things which we’re supposed to be doing, we will not stumble. When I stumbled, I could still hear God calling me, softly and tenderly, bringing me back home.
The verse also says that the simple things that had been learned years before, (those memories that were still locked within their minds) were drawing them back. Remember was Solomon said in Proverbs 22:6? He said “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” This does not mean the child will not grow up and make mistakes, it means that what was placed in them remains. The memories keep drawing me!
The verse goes on to say that they have been blessed and yet their soul was not satisfied. Remember the wise counsel from Solomon in Ecclesiastes where he talks about the vanity of riches? If you do not recall it, read chapter two as a starting point. The song confesses that while the person has been blessed, their soul is not satisfied. I can imagine that the blessings that could be talked about here are the material things that bring us temporary pleasures, but very little if any spiritual satisfaction. In a plea of desperation the song asks the Lord to renew their faith; restore their joy; and dry their weeping eyes. This is a large request. The request is for what they had when they first got saved. They are seeking what they had lost. It was not a request for material things but for something spiritual and very personal. Let’s look at the “bridge” in the song.
IV. The Bridge
The bridge says: “I tried so hard to make it all alone, I need your help
just to make it home.” The bridge confesses what we have all possibly tried to do at some point in our faith walk – make it on our own. I know that I have looked at others and have said if they could do it then so could I. However, I was looking from the outside in so I do not know the specifics of what they had to deal with internally to get to the other side. Imagine with me someone playing basketball on a court across the street from their own home. They fall and twist their ankle. They try to walk home but the pain is much too great so they allow their friends to lift them and take them home. This is the image I can see with this song – someone trying to do it on their own but in reality needing help to get home.
V. My Thoughts
This song reminds me to never forget what I have with Christ or what I am to do for Him. When John received his revelation from Jesus Christ which was recorded in the book of Revelations, there was a specific message that Jesus spoke to seven Churches which is applicable for everyone today. In meditating on this song, I am reminded of the message that Jesus spoke to the Church of Ephesus. This is what He said to them: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent.” (Rev. 2:1-5)
I want you to consider what was said in the fourth verse and the first part of the fifth verse. It says “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first…” When I hear this song I think about when we have been in a relationship with someone for a long time and it becomes routine. We develop a system of interaction with each other and some of the surprise is gone. For a Christian, sometimes this takes the form of “going through the motions.” We have been so blessed that we do not keep those blessings before our eyes. We lose sight of where God has brought us from because we are so focused on where we are trying to get to. In these verses, Jesus reminds the church at Ephesus to return to their first love – Him. He reminds them to rekindle the flame they once had for Him and begin doing the things they used to do. In other words – go back to the beginning.
If you have forgotten what you have with Christ – Go Back! If you cannot remember the blessings that He has provided you in the midst of your circumstances – Go Back! If you no longer find joy in talking about Christ and sharing your walk with Him – Go Back. If you no longer have a desire to spend time with Christ, one on one - Go Back! If man’s religion has made you forget that God is a personal God and knows you intimately – Go Back! If worshipping and praising God with others bore you – Go Back! If you’re struggling with this life – Go Back!
Go back to that place where you first received Him and were excited. Go back to that place where you expected God to do something in your life and praised Him continuously when you realized He did. Go back to that place where you were so in love with Him that you were not ashamed to be associated with Him. Go back to that place where worship meant something to you. Go back to that place where you first received Him.
I am going back! Will you join me? May God bless and keep you is my prayer.
Take Me Back
By Andrae Crouch
(Chorus)
Take me back, take me back dear Lord
To the place where I first received you.
Take me back, take me back dear Lord where I
First believed.
(Verse)
I feel that I'm so far from you Lord
But still I hear you calling me
Those simple things that I once knew,
Their memories keep drawing me.
I must confess, Lord I've been blessed
But yet my soul's not satisfied.
Renew my faith, restore my joy
And dry my weeping eyes.
(Repeat Chorus)
(Bridge)
I tried so hard
To make it all alone
I need your help
Just to make it home.
