Cory Asbury's Overwhelming, Never-Ending, Reckless Songwriting
Just when I think you couldn’t get any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!
Sorry, wrong quote. Or maybe it’s the right quote in the wrong context. Or maybe I just need to tweak the second half.
Just when I think Cory Asbury couldn’t get any dumber, he went and released a new single… and totally proved what I’ve been saying for years.
Good for Nothing, seriously
I’ll start by simply quoting the chorus of Asbury’s new single, “Good for Nothing.”
Good for nothing
Like Nazareth, where the Son of Man was born
Good for nothing
Like two fish in the hands of a little boy
"Good for nothing”’s what they said He was, driving nails into His hands
He’s been to the grave and back
I guess He didn’t do all that
Good for nothing
I suppose we’ll go in reverse order with the issues, so we don’t miss anything.
"I guess he didn’t do all that” is lazy, try-hard sarcasm.
“He’s been to the grave and back” is true, full stop.
They did not say Jesus was good for nothing as the reason for killing Him. They accused Him of blasphemy, understanding that He was claiming to be God incarnate (Matt. 26:65, John 5:18).
The two fish the boy brought that Jesus multiplied weren’t good for nothing. They were created by Him and for Him (Col. 1:16).
Do I have to refute the next line? I can feel my brain cells pleading for mercy already.
Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, not Nazareth. Yes, Nathanael asked if anything good can come from there (John 1:46), but no one in that account implies Christ’s birthplace. But, hey, it flows better, right? It fits the perception of being good for nothing, right?
Well, no. Both Bethlehem and Nazareth contain three syllables with identical emphasis on the first syllable. The poetic flow is identical.
And Bethlehem was prophesied as not being all that much, maybe even good for nothing:
But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity. - Micah 5:2
Any and all arguments against Bethlehem and for Nazareth fall on their faces in rapid succession like those Instagram reels of skateboarders wiping out. I’m honestly dumbfounded that his conversation has to be had.
Karens of both sexes
Any time I go after guys like Asbury or Stephen Furtick or Bethel, the Karens of both sexes come out of the woodwork to condemn me for being condemning and to judge me for being judgmental. It’s become a bit of a tradition at this point, but for a song with five(!) writers, I can only come to one of three conclusions.
Cory Asbury thinks his listeners are stupid, and they’re not. This is where roughly half of the YouTube and social media comments are encouraging. He’s getting roasted for this.
Cory Asbury’s listeners are stupid. This is where roughly half of the YouTube and social media comments are discouraging. He tugged on some heart strings and there really are people who think this song is amazing.
Cory Asbury is stupid, along with his writers. Remember, this is the guy who not only wrote “Reckless Love” but then defended it by basically espousing the heresy of Open Theism, where God doesn’t know the future and can’t do much to actually effectuate His own plans. Asbury has never shown a penchant for being biblically astute.
But if we’re being honest, that’s par for the course in the K-Love/HIS Radio/CCM world. They’re not out to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12). They’re out to make a paycheck by making anxious soccer moms feel a little bit better about spilling a few drops of their drive thru Starbucks in their minivans, but it’s only in a therapeutic, deistic way, not in a sympathetic high priest who has passed through the heavens way (Heb. 4:14-16).
Artists, if we can call Asbury one, follow market trends just as much as Apple and Nike. They’ll stop putting out slop when we demand better from them. Until then, we can expect them to put out music that’s good for nothing.
Consider this my call to action to flood his socials with comments.