While any religious slogan or motto has its shortcomings (we wouldn’t need a Bible with 1,189 chapters if one sentence would do), some can summarize a lot of good truths. Recently in Sunday School a phrase I used a lot during my college years came back to me:
“In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity”
Nobody in the class knew the phrase, and I couldn’t remember exactly where I learned it, so I found and forwarded this article which explains the saying and its origin. Like many things, the phrase has been mis-attributed to well-known figures in Christian history, but it actually is a quote from Rupertus Meldenius, a relatively unknown seventeenth century theologian. I’ve found it useful in striking a balance between doctrine and love, and hope you will too.
This week’s Sunday Share is an old article from Mark Ross at Ligonier Ministries, available at the link below:
Anyone who has watched very young kids play soccer, or especially anyone who has coached youth soccer, knows what I mean by “Beehive Soccer”: Two lonely and bored goalkeepers stand by their goals at each end of the field, while both teams of players closely swarm around one ball. Some of the players on each team have an idea which direction to kick the ball, but others just want to kick it. Often a kicked ball ricochets around inside the swarm, unable to escape the vortex of kids. The goalkeepers might as well play with some blades of grass, or bugs if they’re lucky.
At Beehive Soccer games, parents on the sideline cheer at any progress at all, and grimace whenever some kid (perhaps theirs) nearly takes a soccer ball to the face. Coaches yell “spread out!”, then shake their heads, put their hands on their hips, then yell “spread out!” again a moment later. Coaches must let the parents know they are doing something, and it’s all in good fun – they (the kids) will grow out of it.
Often morality is pursued in the same way. In Beehive Morality, masses of people crowd around one problem, kicking aimlessly, organized by vague goals, or even just some anger and some hashtags on social media, but doomed to reach a less-than-ideal solution because their activities are not organized. Maybe they attempt to swarm around multiple goals at the same time.
In Beehive Soccer, young kids have not had time to be coached and learn coordination based on individual positions, nor are many of them mature enough to pay attention to coaching when all of the other kids are playing Beehive Soccer. It’s no fun being the only kid playing by the rules. In society, too many behave the same way, thinking the objective is just to show enthusiasm for whatever game is being played that day, but making no real progress. Many play along and keep “kicking” because it’s no fun being the only person left out of the crowd.
In economics, this is called a Coordination Problem, where multiple people aren’t aligned and cooperating toward a common goal. Unfortunately, Beehive Morality can cause a Coordination Problem in the church, but in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26, the apostle Paul encourages the church in Corinth (and every church today than can read Paul’s letter) to focus on a goal, and put every effort toward it: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.” This “beating the air” reminds me of the Beehive Soccer kids, or Beehive Morality adults – there’s a lot of activity, but not a lot of coordinated work toward a real, helpful, objective.
But what are the objectives for God’s people? The two most important commandments – the instructions of our Coach – are: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[1]
Elsewhere, Paul has advice as the young Timothy’s “coach,” sharing these words of encouragement in 2 Timothy 2:3-6 – “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.”[2] The soldier and athlete look forward to victory, and the farmer looks forward to harvest, but until then must work diligently, enduring sacrifice in patience, knowing the reward is worth the temporary problems, even if sometimes it’s no fun not kicking along with the crowd and playing Beehive Soccer.
The video below is a funny illustration of Beehive Soccer (or Morality), versus coordination among well-coached players toward a common goal. The Beehive may think its winning because they having fun and doing the “popular” thing, but they’re really just “beating the air.” Remember, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Swarming around the ball labelled with the current hot hashtag topic – or many topics – is not the objective.
Just before being betrayed by Judas and arrested, Jesus sought some solitude in the garden of Gethsemane, where “he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’” (Mark 14:35-36). Jesus knew He was soon to die.
Donald McKim notes that “In Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, Abba is the word for ‘Father.’ It is a term that expresses the closest and deepest intimacy of the relationship of parent and child.”[1] Jesus knew this intimacy even on the way to the cross.
McKim also quotes Philip Melanchthon, who said: “’Abba, Father’. By this he taught us that these two things are required in prayer, namely, the ardent affection of the mind and the faithful trust of children toward God: these two words testify that both of these aspects were present in Christ.”
The Father loves us always, even on our most difficult days. Trust Him in prayer today.
[1] McKim, Donald K. Everyday Prayer with the Reformers (2020). P. 73.
40 years after God first made a covenant with Israel, promising to be their God and bless them if they would love and obey Him, the covenant had to be renewed. Israel had been led through wilderness for decades after refusing to enter the Promised Land, but Moses eventually gathered them again to finally cross the Jordan River and take the Land. Moses prepared them by renewing the covenant, but before that, Moses reviewed blessings and curses from God that would come with obedience or disobedience.
We know that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”[1] and therefore any blessing is an act of grace because only Jesus lived a life of full obedience. However, the choices of the ancient Israelites, and modern people, have consequences, and these blessings and curses carry a lesson about God’s sovereignty. God would not make promises or threats that He is unable to carry out and therefore He must have the power and control to deliver on all of them. Consider these parallel verses in Deuteronomy 28 showing God’s control over…
…all places, rural or urban: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.” (verse 3) “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.” (verse 16)
…reproductive and agricultural success: “Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.” (verse 4) “Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.” (verse 18)
…military success: “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.” (verse 7) “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.” (verse 25)
…the weather and its related benefits: “The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands.” (verse 12a) “And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. The LORD will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.” (verse 23-24)
There are further curses, without parallel blessings, where God is declared as sovereign over…
…disease: “The LORD will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. The LORD will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.” (verse 21-22)
…human psychology: “The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind.” (verse 28)
…nature, including the smallest worms and crickets: “You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them.” (verse 39) “The cricket shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground.” (verse 42)
…and even over the fates of nations: “The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand.” (verse 49)
As we know, Israel was eventually carried away into captivity by Assyria in 722 B.C., and Judah to Babylonia in 586 B.C. because of their ongoing unfaithfulness to God, however God fulfilled His covenant through Jesus Christ, descended from the tribe of Judah, centuries after they returned from Babylonian exile. In Christ, people from all nations can be His people, and He will be their God.
We are all in exile, sojourning on this earth, but our God, sovereign over all, has Promised a new Land, a new heaven and a new earth, and we know He is faithful, even if it takes centuries. Therefore, praise God for the blessings He gives His people in all of the areas under His control, which is everything!
Nothing escapes His notice and nothing is beneath Him to be concerned about. Pray for His blessings in all areas of life, no matter how large or small.
Have you ever wondered what life was like for Adam and Eve during Genesis 3:7? This verse, which happens between the moment they fell to temptation and the moment they next meet God, says “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” Since they were able to figure out how to make clothes for the first time, we can guess that the time frame within Genesis 3:7 was more than a few minutes.
The song “Trees” by the band twenty øne piløts may be a contemplation of that time, and if it is, the song imagines that Adam and Eve had some time to think about it. Songwriter Tyler Joseph crafts lyrics that allow for religious and secular meanings, but also that sometimes also apply to multiple audiences. In the song’s lyrics, “You” is sometimes capitalized, and sometimes not, and therefore I think the song has two intended audiences, God and the band’s fans.
Reading between the lines a bit, I’ll explain below what I get from this song, in each audience perspective.
You = the Father The lyrics are relatively compact, with the repeated verse of:
I know where You stand, silent in the trees And that’s where I am, silent in the trees Why won’t You speak where I happen to be? Silent in the trees, standing cowardly
Our first ancestors had lived a perfect life in fellowship with God in the garden of Eden, but the fall into temptation changed that relationship, and the verse imagines how.
First, the sense of togetherness was gone. They were still in the garden, but the sense that God was also there was gone.
Second, although “the eyes of both were opened,” the voice of God guiding their activities had gone silent. They had chosen to determine their own way but had not considered the consequences. Wherever they were, He used to guide them, but now they were confused.
Third, instead of being comfortable in God’s presence, they were terribly afraid of Him.
And a repeated chorus of:
I can feel Your breath I can feel my death I want to know You, I want to see I want to say Hello, hello Hello, oh, hello
In the original Hebrew Genesis was written in, the words for “breath” and “spirit” are sometimes the same word. Therefore, the first two lines of this chorus mean that our ancestors could still feel God’s presence (His breath/spirit), but instead of it being a comfort, they now felt something they never felt before – their mortality. This is a foreshadowing of their being cast away from access to the tree of life.
Also, instead of the constant conversation with God they had known their whole lives, now they wanted to speak with God and know Him again, but He was not responding. In the context of the song, maybe it was then that “they knew that they were naked.” They knew they had done wrong, were exposed, and thought judgement was what they should expect. Adam and Eve went from perfectly hearing their Father’s and Master’s voice, to feeling like orphans and castaways from His family.
What came next? Genesis 3:8 says, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”
You = The Fans The “you” in the song is also the band’s fans – and Tyler sings out to them, in the trees. Tyler says the song is also about a personal experience he had, which he doesn’t publicly explain, but He does publicly display tattoos of both the cross of Christ and of bands around his wrist, which likely represent rubber bands people wear to manage and prevent self-harm. These tattoos are like permanent memorials – or Ebenezers – from his life, and his ongoing recovery from mental illness. Many of the band’s fans are going through similar struggles and many feel left behind by the world.
Therefore, the “you” of the song is those who feel alone and silent in the trees, who feel ashamed before God, hiding themselves. They expect God to show up in judgement, as Adam and Eve expected, and hid their nakedness. Tyler could be calling out to them: God did not judge me, and neither will He judge you if you call out to Him. God will speak to them, “where they happen to be.” After all, Genesis 3:9 says: “But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” It was God who desired and initiated reconciliation with His people.
The outro of the song has Tyler screaming HELLO over and over again, before the song ends with 12 seconds of intentional silence before the track ends.
What will be the answer?
When you find someone alone and silent in the trees, remember James 1:27 – “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
If you find yourself alone and silent in the trees, tell your Heavenly Father you want to say hello. He wants to know you and He wants to see you.
Coda For many years, “Trees” has been the last song played at every twenty øne piløts concert. Why is this? On the album “Vessel”, “Trees” was the next-to-last song and other parts of the album built to it. The first song on “Vessel” describes demons and spiritual warfare, the second song is called “Holding On To You,” and the third song, “Migraine,” has the repeated line:
And I will say that we should take a moment and hold it And keep it frozen and know that life has a hopeful undertone
It seems like from the beginning of the album, that moment to hold on to when you’re battling whatever demons you have was coming. So, in each concert, the fans know that the moment to hold on to is coming. The song is a moment you can remember when you’re down and know you’re not alone. The song an Ebenezer in its own way, and a bold statement that the band is not going to ignore the problems of people left behind, the metaphorical widows and orphans of the world. Also, if they pay close attention, those fans can find the message of Christ in the lyrics. God doesn’t wait until our affliction is over and we make ourselves acceptable to come to us. He bridges the divide Himself.
Below is a video I took last year at a concert in Philadelphia. Apologies for the video quality, especially when they fired massive amounts of confetti into the air, which fans collect to remember the moment later. My phone camera just couldn’t keep up, but I offer it as a 5-minute moment you can take and hold and know that life has a hopeful undertone.
And what’s all this about widows and orphans? This post continues a series on James 1:27, which began here. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 