The True and False Beliefs of "Evil Ways" by Santana

         You've got to change you evil ways...
         baby
         Before I stop lovin you.
         You've got to change...
         baby
         And every word that I say is true.
         You got me runnin
         And hidin
         All over town
         You've got me sneakin
         And a peepin
         And runnin around
         This can't go on
         Lord knows you got to change


I was driving in the car one day and I heard those lyrics as I was thumbing through different radio stations. Those lyrics are from a song called "Evil Ways" made popular by the band Santana. The basic premise of this song is as follows....relationship, someone in the relationship is not treating the other person right. If the person doing the wrong doing does not change, the other person is going to stop loving them.
 I like to try to figure out what the songwriters are saying. What is their view on different topics. What I found interesting about this song is how there are some biblical views in the song. I am also pretty sure the songwriter was not thinking of those views when he wrote the song.

1. There is right and wrong.
          The songwriter speaks of "evil ways". So the songwriter believes that there are good and evil ways. What I find interesting about right and wrong or good and bad actions, is that most of the time we know when we are doing wrong or bad actions but we don't always like to admit it.Another thing is, we may not always agree on what is good or bad, but we do know when we have been treated wrongly. Isn't it funny, that those who believe that God shouldn't be a God of judgment want some type of judgment done against the person who has wronged them or someone they are close to.
          We also know when someone has been good to us. We may not see it all the time but we do know when someone has been good to us, or to someone else.

     The Bible speaks of there being good and evil, and all of our actions being judged:
                     For God will bring every act to judgment,
                     everything which is hidden, whether it is
                     good or evil.   
                                          Ecclesiastes 12:14(NASB)

2. The person in the song wants the person to change their actions, and believes they can change.
          When we change from bad actions to good actions this is called repentance. The only way we are able to repent of our actions is through the power of God. How many of us have known that we need to stop an action in our life but have not been able to. Many times the reason for that is because we are using our own strength to try and quit instead of relying on God's strength to help us.

          Repentance is not just feeling bad for our actions, but it is changing our actions. Many times our actions can bring sorrow upon us, as we regret what we have done, but it doesn't lead to change. God desires to bring us to that point where we go further than just feeling bad, but come to that point where we begin to change.
          The Apostle Paul describes a situation like that to some people he wrote to who were involved in some actions that they should not have been:

     I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

     For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but sorrow of the world produces death.
                                                           2 Corinthians 7:9-10 (NASB)


3. God doesn't stop loving us.

          In this song the person doing the wrong needs to change or else the other person is going to stop loving them. This is a natural human reaction, but I am so thankful that God's love isn't limited like us humans. God has always and always will love us. That doesn't mean that we are always in a right relationship with Him, but He doesn't stop loving us. The lie that many of us believe though, is that because we have done wrong, God has stopped loving us. When we have been disobedient to Him, we need to get back into a right relationship with Him by confessing, and asking His forgiveness, and hopefully turning away from the wrong action. Just as our human relationships can be strained when we treat the other person wrong, so it is in our relationship with God. The big difference though, is that sometimes in our human relationships the other person may stop loving us, but God doesn't. In fact, even when someone has to go to hell for eternity God hasn't stopped loving them, He has simply given them what they wanted, which was an eternity away from God. They have shown by constantly rejecting God in this life, that they wouldn't want to be with God for eternity.

For those of us who want to obey God, but struggle to do the right thing all the time, let us be encouraged that God has not stopped loving us.

     For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
     nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
                                                                                    Romans 8:38-39 (NASB)

So the next time "Evil Ways" comes on the radio or on your cd player, remember the truths that are mentioned in the song.

Troy