I could hear the church bells ringing
They pealed aloud your praise
The member's faces were smiling
With their hands outstretched to shake
It's true they did not move me
My heart was hard and tired
Their perfect fire annoyed me
I could not find you anywhere
Could someone please tell me the story
Of sinners ransomed from the fall
I still have never seen you, and somedays
I don't love you at all
The devoted were wearing bracelets
To remind them of why they came
Some concrete motivation
When the abstract could not do the same
But if all that's left is duty
I'm falling on my sword
At least then I would not serve
An unseen, distant Lord
Could someone please tell me the story
Of sinners ransomed from the fall
I still have never seen you, and somedays
I don't love you at all
If this is only a test
I hope that I'm passing
Because I'm losing steam
And I still want to trust you
Peace, be still
Peace, be still
Peace, be still
Peace, be still
1 comment:
A take on the song:
This is my favorite Pedro the Lion song--and that statement carries a lot of weight because I enjoy so many of his songs.
To me, this song is about the person who was raised up and inundated in the church life but didn't find God there(and not for lack of trying).
The hard fact that we as Christians struggle with day-by-day is that Christians are human too. We can't quite seem to wrap our minds simultaneously around the non-performance based concept of redeeming grace in light of the everyday, tough, cutthroat experience of dealing with other Christians. This dichotomy of spiritual truth and physical experience lends itself to bitterness and the emotional boundaries that come from betrayed trust.
I know too many who are so racked with guilt, they can't separate God from their feelings of inadequacy and guilt. Too often, this manifests itself through defensiveness and protective legalism. So many trip over themselves to prove that they are morally upright--and the self righteous learn that they too can excercise power through the enforcement of rules. Have we learned nothing?
Real spirituality is not something you stumble across. It's not something that happens because you were raised up in the church. Some might say it could happen IN SPITE of such things. To find truly authentic, real spirituality you need to dig for it, and pursue it as the absolute highest priority. You need to love a genuine relationship with God--like you would love the most precious commodity imaginable. It's a life work-- your singular and lasting magnum opus. It needs to be your first pursuit instead of pursuing the feel good affirmation of other Christians who themselves are just scared enough and just hurt enough to do a lot of damage(both to professing believers or staunch atheists).
But what could I say that Bazan hasn't himself expressed with greater eloquence?
Likely the greatest wisdom to endure the tumultuous experience of corporate religion is simply: "Be still, and know that I am God."
Post a Comment