What Is the Song Take Me to Church About?
1. The Use of Religious Imagery in the Song
The song Take Me to Church is filled with biblical and religious language. Words like “worship,” “sin,” “heaven,” and “confession” are central to its imagery. Yet Hozier does not use them in the traditional Christian sense. Instead, he uses them as metaphors for human love and intimacy.
“Take me to church” represents a call to find spiritual fulfillment in a relationship rather than in religious institutions.
“I’ll worship like a dog” portrays devotion, but it also criticizes blind submission demanded by organized religion.
“I was born sick, but I love it” echoes doctrines of sin and guilt but reframes them as oppressive labels placed on natural desires.
This imagery turns the language of faith into the language of protest—challenging hypocrisy in religion while elevating love as sacred.
2. The Critique of Organized Religion
At its core, Take Me to Church is a critique of how institutional religion, particularly the Catholic Church, has treated human sexuality. The lyrics highlight themes of guilt, shame, and manipulation:
Confession as control – “Tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife.”
Hypocrisy in worship – False shrines and empty rituals are contrasted with the authenticity of love.
Condemnation of desire – Sexuality is framed as shameful in traditional teaching, but Hozier celebrates it as natural.
The critique is not against spirituality itself but against institutions that distort God’s good creation. In this sense, the song raises questions the Bible itself often addresses: the danger of religious hypocrisy (Matthew 23:27), the misuse of authority (Ezekiel 34:2–4), and the substitution of human traditions for God’s truth (Mark 7:8–9).
3. Love as a Spiritual Experience
While critical of the church, the song is not nihilistic. Instead, it argues that love—especially intimate, human love—can be deeply spiritual. Hozier describes passion and intimacy as moments of transcendence, more tangible than abstract doctrines.
This echoes a biblical truth, though in a different framework:
Love reflects God’s character – “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
Marriage as a mystery – Paul compares the love between husband and wife to Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32).
True worship flows from love – Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39).
Hozier, however, rejects the idea that desire is sinful. Instead, he frames sexuality as part of authentic humanity, reclaiming dignity in the face of condemnation.
4. The Music Video and LGBTQ+ Themes
The official video for Take Me to Church highlights discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals. It portrays a same-sex couple facing persecution and violence from their community. The imagery reinforces the song’s message: love itself becomes sacred in the face of hatred and prejudice.
Hozier has explained that the video was intended to expose the hypocrisy of societies more scandalized by two people kissing than by acts of violence. In this way, the song becomes a protest anthem against intolerance, urging listeners to recognize that love should never be condemned as unholy.
This resonates with biblical calls for justice and compassion:
Isaiah 1:17 – “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression.”
Micah 6:8 – “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
John 13:34 – “Love one another: just as I have loved you.”
5. The Song in Light of the Gospel
From the perspective of the gospel, the song raises an important issue: the difference between religion as human institution and faith as life in Christ.
Religion without the gospel can become hypocrisy, burden, and control.
The gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims forgiveness, freedom, and love rooted in God’s kingdom and according to God’s morality.
True universality of the church is not about condemning specific sins, but about reconciling all sinners, even LGBTQ+ individuals, through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18–19).
The song’s protest against false religion reflects the same critique Jesus Himself made of the Pharisees: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). The challenge is not to abandon faith but to embrace the gospel that transforms love, holiness, and justice.
6. The Last Days and the Search for Meaning
Songs like Take Me to Church also reveal a cultural longing for something transcendent in a time of disillusionment with institutions. In biblical language, this longing reflects the “last days,” when people search for meaning apart from God (2 Timothy 4:3–4).
Yet the gospel offers a greater answer:
Love is holy because God is holy.
True intimacy reflects Christ’s covenant love for His church.
The coming kingdom will unite people in a love that is pure, eternal, and free from hypocrisy.
Thus, while Hozier points to love as salvation, the Bible points to Christ as the true fulfillment of that longing.
Conclusion
So, What is the song Take Me to Church about? It is about more than romance or rebellion. It uses the imagery of religion to exalt love as spiritual while denouncing the hypocrisy of organized religion’s treatment of sexuality. The music video reinforces this with a powerful message against prejudice and violence.
Yet the gospel offers an even deeper vision: Christ Himself is the foundation of true worship and love. While human institutions often fail, the universal church is built on Jesus, the cornerstone. Love is not shameful—it is perfected in Him.
Bible Verses About True Worship and Love
Matthew 22:37–39 – “Love the Lord your God… and love your neighbor as yourself.”
John 13:34 – “Love one another: just as I have loved you.”
Romans 12:9 – “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 – “Faith, hope, and love abide… but the greatest of these is love.”
Galatians 5:14 – “The whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Ephesians 5:25 – “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church.”
1 John 3:18 – “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
1 John 4:8 – “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Micah 6:8 – “Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.”
Revelation 21:4 – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes… neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore.”
