The song talks about people trying to live life as best as they can and trying to make each day better than the previous. Huey Lewis seems to liken this to a spiritual ascent to heaven (Jacob’s Ladder). The problem is that this presents a Pelagian view of salvation whereby man earns his place in heaven strictly by human efforts and not by Grace acting in the person’s life. It places a false dichotomy between Human Will and God’s Salvific Grace. In this day and age of “easy-believism” where salvation is reduced to saying the Sinner’s Prayer, it is understandable how non-believers can look at the Gospel and see it as both an easy excuse for laziness in virtue and also as an excuse for extracting funds from dim-wits who swallow the “easy-believism” message.
The reality is that our growth in virtue and spiritual maturity is all God’s grace, but requires our consent and perseverance in doing God’s will. Saying “I believe” is less of a verbal statement and more of a “life’s mission statement”. It is more about our actions and cooperation with Grace. In the end, we go before God’s Judgement Seat and look at all of our growth in virtue, our good works, and our prayers and penances and simply say, “It was all because of you God, not I, that this sinner did good things.”
So, I am not really offended as I am saddened that easy-believism and religious fund-raising are seen as the primary components of Christianity.
