Above Reproach
“I feel the darkness growing stronger as you cram light down my throat.”
When asked about these lyrics in an interview, Dave Bazan said that “the force and the arrogance or whatever with which Christians wield their Christianity--actually furthers the cause they’re supposedly fighting against [and] doing harm to the concept of who Christ is.” The next line of the song follows:
“How does that work out for you in your holy quest to be above reproach?”
I’ve always loved this line, the dig at one of the most widely thrown about phrases in modern Christendom, and one that clatters against the lives of the apostles, disciples, Moses, David, and Christ. “Above reproach” has taken on this meaning of being blameless in the eyes of everyone, including non-believers. Peter explicitly says that they’ll malign us because of our faith and the ensuing lifestyle. The Savior of the world was accused regularly of being a drunkard, demon-possessed, and a liar. Especially in light of all the claims He made, He could possibly be the most reproachable person in history.
It’s in God’s Hands Now
Because before it wasn’t, right? “Lord, I now give this problem over to your control, now you can fiddle with it.”
God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
Typically, God will more than likely pick the guy that’s slouching in the corner avoiding His gaze, drag him to his feet and use him to save Ninevah. The Lord doesn’t seem to operate like a CEO, promoting his servants on the basis of how well they pull themselves up the ladder by their own bootstraps. Noah was a boozehound whom God chose to repopulate the world. I’m well aware that merely the presence of an action in the Bible doesn’t justify my imitation of it. More often than not, these examples of folly are specifically there for us to avoid slipping on the same spot. But looking at the history of “who God has helped” doesn’t seem to back up this phrase. The big issue here is largely the order of action that it implies. FIRST I’ll help myself THEN God will help me. Once I get going (on my own), God can kind of push me along. ‘Fraid not.
Interview w/David of Pedro the Lion
4 comments:
boozehound? that sounds like something that jball says or maybe an adjective that i would like near my name someday. gaither, i'm giving you two optins: either move to boulder with all of us or come to alaska with jim brett and i to fish for a quick and stupidly dangerous season.
fiddling,
donballs.
I'm pretty sure the lyrics were from the Control album, but which song - Megazine? I lost that CD a while ago
and, that's "Magazine"
tmmm,
Yes, from Magazine off of the album Control.
Donzo,
I likey fishing. I'll see you next week.
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