There’s tarnish on the golden rule
And I wanna jump from this ship of fools
Show me a place where hope is young
And a people who are not afraid to love
This world has nothing for me
And this world has everything
All that I could wanted
And nothing that I need
This world is making me drunk
On the spirit of fear
So when you say who will go
I am nowhere near
This world has nothing for me
And this world has everything
All that I could wanted
And nothing that I need
This world has nothing for me
And this world has everything
All that I could wanted
And (absolutely) nothing that I need
But the least of these look like criminals to me
So I leave Christ on the street
This world has held my hand
And has led me into intolerance
And now I’m waking up
And now I’m breaking up
And now I’m making up for lost time
This world has nothing for me
And this world has everything
All that I could wanted
And nothing that I need
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Aaron Tate
Dear God, this song has about 10 layers of truth to it, and I’m not sure where to start. My wife played it for me yesterday morning, and I thought, “I really need to spend some time with this.” In fact, I’m not sure I have enough time this morning to do it justice and really think through it with the Holy Spirit as my companion–revealing to me where I have embraced the things I want in the world that I don’t need.
In the first stanza, when the write says that there is tarnish on the golden rule and they want to jump from the ship of fools, I wonder if he (Aaron Tate) is referring to the church. Disillusionment with the people in the church. Frustration with the selfishness and grasps for power that we see. Disappointment in our failure to love our neighbor as ourselves. Is he looking for a place where “hope” has not yet been jaded by disillusionment, frustration, and disappointment? Where people are not yet afraid to love.
In the second verse, the idea of being drunk on the spirit of fear is real. And it comes with a hangover. Just ask anyone who watches too much news. Fear. Fear. Fear. Be afraid. Be afraid of the future. Be afraid of the present. Be afraid of the past. Be afraid. Come and consume my content. I will feed your fear until you are numb, and when you are done you will be in a stupor. As for me, I can certainly enjoy getting this itch scratched, but the itch is like poison ivy. The more you scratch it the more you must scratch it, all the while you are only making it worse. And then when you say, “Whom shall I send,” I’m either too afraid or too entrenched in my ideology, prejudices, and presuppositions to help anyone do anything.
In the bridge we get the allusion to Jesus saying we did not help him when we saw him (Matthew 25:31-46). They are too hard to help. I heard someone present at Rotary yesterday, and he laid out a scenario of seeing someone in need and asked what we would do in that situation. When I honestly asked myself what I would do, I didn’t live up to the standard Jesus set out here. I would probably have thought the problem was too big and moved on.
The final verse is ironic because the “world” thinks it teaches tolerance, but ultimately pursuing the things of the world–allowing the thorns to grow in my soil (Matthew 13:22)–just puts be further into my selfish World War I trench and keeps me from coming out to love all of your children. But if I can come to you in moments like this…if I can wake up, then I can start to be the man you call me to me.
Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, work in my heart today. Get me out of my trench. Be with me in my conversations. Bless the fruit of the work I do in your name and help me to be a steward of the things you give me.
I pray all of this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Amen
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