Maverick City Music - Champion Lyrics
Lyrics
Intro: Brandon Lake
Come again, oh
Yeah
Mmm
Verse 1: Brandon Lake
I tried so hard to see it
Took me so long to believe it
That You'd choose someone like me
To carry Your victory
Perfection could never earn it
You give what we don't deserve and
You take the broken things
And raise them to glory
Chorus: Brandon Lake
You are my champion
Giants fall when You stand
Undefeated, every battle, You've won
And I am who You say I am
You crown me with confidence
I am seated in the heavenly place
Undefeated with the One who has conquered it all (Mmm)
Verse 2: Maryanne J. George, Brandon Lake, Both
Now I can finally see it
You're teaching me how to receive it
So let all the striving cease (Woah)
This is my victory
Chorus: Brandon Lake & Maryanne J. George, Brandon Lake
'Cause You are my champion
Giants fall when You stand
Undefeated, every battle, You've won
I am who You say I am (Yeah, You crown)
You crown me with confidence
I am seated in the heavenly place
Undefeated with the One who has conquered it all
It all, it all, it all, it all, it all, it all
Interlude: Maryanne J. George & Brandon Lake
It all, it all, You've conquered it all (Yeah)
There is nothing missing (You never lost a battle)
There is nothing missing, oh
Yeah, Your record is perfect
There is nothing missing
There is nothing empty (Oh)
There is nothing void
You've done it all (Just open up your mouth tonight, hey)
You've done it all (Hey)
Oh-oh (We have the victory)
When I lift
Bridge: Maryanne J. George & Brandon Lake
And when I lift my voice and shout
Every wall comes crashing down
I have the authority (Hey)
That Jesus has given me (Jesus given me)
And when I open up my mouth
Miracles start breaking out
I have the authority (Oh)
That Jesus has given me ('Cause when I lift)
When I lift my voice and shout
Every wall comes crashing down
I have the authority (Hey)
That Jesus has given me ('Cause when I lift)
And when I open up my mouth
Miracles start breaking out
I have the authority (Oh), when I
That Jesus has given me
Oh, when I open up
When I open up my mouth
Miracles start breaking out
I have the authority
That Jesus has given me
Chorus: Brandon Lake, Maryanne J. George, Both
'Cause you are my champion (Giants fall)
Giants fall when You stand (Undefeated)
Every battle, You've won (I am who You say)
I am who You say I am (And you crown me with confidence)
Crown me with confidence
Oh, I am seated in the heavenly place
Undefeated (By the power) by the power of Your name
I am seated in the heavenly place
Undefeated with the One who has conquered it all
Outro: Brandon Lake
'Cause You are my champion in the storm
Every giants fall when You stand
Undefeated (You're undefeated), every battle, You've won
And I am who You say I am (Your son, your daughter)
You crown me with confidence
I am seated in the heavenly place
Undefeated (Yes, by the power) by the power of Your name
I am seated (Heavenly places) in the heavenly place
Undefeated (By the power) by the power of Your name
Yes, I am seated in the heavenly place
Undefeated with the One who has conquered it all, mmm
Video
Champion (feat. Brandon Lake & Maryanne J. George) | Maverick City Music | UPPERROOM | TRIBL
Meaning & Inspiration
Maverick City Music’s "Champion" lands in a space that feels both triumphant and potentially precarious. When Brandon Lake sings, "Perfection could never earn it / You give what we don't deserve and / You take the broken things / And raise them to glory," he touches the raw nerve of the gospel. This is the doctrine of grace, untethered from the exhausting ledger of human merit. If we truly believe that God’s favor is an unmerited gift—a forensic justification—then the heavy lifting of earning our standing is off our shoulders. It is a relief to admit that our "perfection" is a ghost; it was never the currency for our salvation.
However, as a theologian watching how these lyrics function in a room, I find myself holding my breath at the bridge: "I have the authority / That Jesus has given me."
There is a shift here from receiving grace to wielding power. In the New Testament, authority—exousia—is indeed granted to the believer, but it is inextricably linked to the cross and the humble exercise of the keys of the kingdom. My concern is whether, in our eagerness to be "champions," we bypass the reality that our authority is always derivative, never possessive. We are stewards of a victory won in the death of the Son, not partners in a struggle where we are on equal footing with the divine. If the "authority" mentioned here is detached from the cross, it becomes a dangerous sort of triumphalism. We aren't champions because we have conquered; we are participants in a conquest that has already occurred.
When the song insists, "I am seated in the heavenly place," it invokes Ephesians 2:6. This is our objective reality in Christ. It is a staggering, ontological truth. Yet, when I sing this on a Tuesday, amidst the wreckage of a broken world, it feels jarring. Do I actually live as one seated in the heavenlies, or is that just a comfortable religious sentiment? If I am truly seated with Him, then the "giants" mentioned in the chorus lose their capacity to terrorize, yet they remain.
The song succeeds because it forces us to grapple with the "already/not yet" tension. We are undefeated, as the lyrics claim, because the One who conquered the grave is our head. But we must be careful not to conflate the victory of the Resurrected King with our own earthly comfort. If "champion" implies that the struggle is over and the battle is won, we must ensure we don't forget that the battle was won by a Man who bled. Our confidence is not in our own posture, but in the fact that, as the lyrics note, "Your record is perfect." That is the only reason the walls come down.