New Dreams
By Trip Lee
By Trip Lee
I was taught that living the good life meant
getting everything I could
but I've been shown a brand-new picture of the good life
and it's glorious
I was raised in that Lone Star state where we go hard
Can't do it small at all cause big things are at stake
My dreams as a buck was to make a large bank
Daddy told me the best, no one can tell me I can't
Be the best baller, or be the best rapper
Got a little older and went after the latter
Grind till' I shine trying to climb that ladder
Grab a couple girls cause your boy look dapper
But at a young age, I saw I had it wrong
Full of drive, but moving in reverse all along
Dreams full of pride, heart full of stone
You know I had to redefine what I grind on
Success is dangerous, if you don't do it right
He gave us everything for pointing to Him right
So toast to the King, who gave me some new dreams
Everything for His name, that's how I do things
Never knew how lost I was till I found out
That I couldn't hear His voice, it was drowned out
I was just chasing things, selfish dreams
Now I see what He has for me, it's the good life
I grew up with those dodgers and those angels
Where wings get mangled and they rock a broken halo
Success is an idol from Hollywood to Diego
No hablo, if you don't speak with the pesos
And their favorite dollar sign is too much
More greed, more lust, more taste, more touch
I had an appetite that ate from the Devil's power
With every bite ‘cause he would rise, I'm kissing my life goodbye
If I find I have a need this world cannot meet
Then I know this life is a place where my hope should not be
I've been chasing those things that are real fake
This is not a real place, this is a dream state
Functional saviors ain't hip, they're a real waste
What's the palace going to offer that a manager can't
Pain, sorrow, and empty treasures
Spite the Creator, and deem creation simply better
The world offers a lot of things but it's really lyin’
And to the Lord, the good life is really dyin’
I'm the Lord's possession so my heart's in the heavens
True Religion in my jeans, I stopped guessing
Never knew how lost I was till I found out
That I couldn't hear His voice, it was drowned out
I was just chasing things, selfish dreams
Now I see what He has for me, it's the good life
Even the sun goes down, heroes die eventually
Great careers end in the industry
Empires implode, you may go down in history
But everything will go down eventually
Look, you could stack bread, but you can't stop dead
And there won't be no comfort offered you in that bed
We all get laid out, the games get played out
In a maze headed to the grave and there's no way out
You can't outlast life it fades out fast
Death is coming for us all, everything goin' pass
So look at it from that angle, dang
My dreams gotta be bigger and greater than that
How is it persecuted martyrs in Asia
Were living out their dreams, though they was walking in danger
Their dreams were lifting up the heart of the Savior
And living in a way that shows He’s all that they wait for
Wasn't stackin' up the cake, but was walking in favor
Living a good life because they walk with their Maker
My dreams are different; you know that I've been changed now
The good life is the life that's been laid down
Trip Lee describes two very different pictures of "the good life". The good life being one that is successful and fulfilling. The contrast is made between what the World and popular culture tells you is the good life, and what the Kingdom of God declares to be the good life. Trip Lee exposes the emptiness of one and the glory of the other.
He begins with the story of his own life. The first picture of the good life that was painted for him as a young man meant "getting everything I could". This meant pursuing wealth and fame. And he worked extremely hard to achieve it.
The first picture of the good life is painted by the World. It is painted by a brush held in the hand of sin.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:15-17).
Trip Lee is changed at a young age. In God's great grace He opened up Trip Lee's eyes to see the vanity of his worldly pursuits. He saw that the motive of worldly ambition is "full of pride", which is the exact language of 1 John. And his heart was full of stone, meaning it was hardened to the things of God.
"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26).
So Trip Lee finds that he now has new dreams and ambitions. "He gave us everything for pointing to Him... Everything for His name". Portrait two of the good life is living for the glory of God.
In the chorus, the essential message is clear. I was once lost, blinded and enslaved by sin in the endless pursuit of selfish dreams (Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17-19). But God has opened up my eyes to see a brand new picture of "the good life" according to His terms.
The next verse is written by Sho Baraka. He begins with a similar story of his own upbringing. Like Trip Lee, his heart is consumed by "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of possessions".
"More... more... more" is the appetite of sin. It is never satisfied. Romans 6:19 describes the compounding nature of sin's desire, "For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness...". A sure mark of sinful lust is that it never has enough. It is always craving more.
"If I find I have a need this world cannot meet, then I know this life is a place where my hope should not be." One of my favorite lines in the song declares a profound truth - we were not meant to be fulfilled by the things of the World. I'm reminded of a 60 Minutes interview with Tom Brady where he says plainly that three Super Bowl rings still don't bring the fulfillment that he longs for.
What is a "functional savior"? Jerry Bridges says, "Sometimes we look to other things to satisfy and fulfill us—to ‘save’ us. These ‘functional saviors’ can be any object of dependence we embrace that isn’t God. They become the source of our identity, security, and significance because we hold an idolatrous affection for them in our hearts. They preoccupy our minds and consume our time and resources. They make us feel good and somehow even make us feel righteous. Whether we realize it or not, they control us, and we worship them. (Bridges & Bevington, The Bookends of the Christian Life, p. 72). Consider Philippians 3:18-19.
"What's the palace going to offer that a manger can't". See Hebrews 11:24-27.
"Spite the Creator and deem creation simply better". See Romans 1:25.
"I'm the Lord's possession so my heart's in the heavens". See Colossians 3:1-17.
Trip Lee makes a statement that is as plain as anything in the universe - "everything will go down eventually". There is the unavoidable reality that all things in this life are temporal. The most unsettling and immanent implication of this truth is that my own life is on a one-way track to death. Or as Trip Lee says, "In a maze headed to the grave and there's no way out". Contemplating the reality of the unavoidable end of life is sobering and forces you to answer some really hard questions. For the Christ-follower however, this reality is not terrifying and unsettling, but full of glory. Consider 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. In light of this, what is our focus? Where is our treasure? See also Matthew 6:19-21.
Realizing that everything in the world will come to and and and be destroyed by rust or eaten by moths forces my ambition and desire beyond the temporal to the eternal. I am meant to desire much much more. "My dreams gotta be bigger and greater than that."
Trip Lee then goes immediately into an example of the paradox of true Christian joy. Persecuted Christians in Asia are experiencing the fulfillment of their dreams and the fullness of joy in spite of great danger and loss. How? "Their dreams were lifting up the heart of the Savior, and living in a way that shows He's all that they wait for."
They aren't accumulating worldly wealth, but living in the joy of knowing Christ as their Savior and walking in relationship with their Maker. Jesus says in Matthew 10:39, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it". The good life is the life that has been lost, or laid down for the sake of Christ. Consider also Philippians 3:3-9.