Open Arms

Michael W Smith opens with a pointed observation about church culture rather than an outsider's critique — "many people in the steeple, but no one leaves the walls," quick to "speak all of their beliefs" but just as quick to leave someone who's fallen. He's naming a gap between what gets said and what gets lived.

His chorus asks the question plainly instead of dressing it up: "tell me where's the love, it knows no boundaries." Smith's answer isn't a program; it's a posture — "never judge you, always loving," paired with "lifting up the lost, showing them the cross."

The father in Luke 15:20 runs toward his returning son with open arms rather than a list of conditions, and John writes in 1 John 4:20-21 that claiming to love God while failing to love others makes the claim a lie. Smith's repeated call — "open arms, we need to be" — turns the phrase into an instruction for the listener, not just a description of God.