Barry McGuire was one of the first artists, if not the very first, from the regular music world to enter into what back then was called “Jesus music” which later on garnered the name contemporary Christian music (among other names which can’t be repeated here… but I digress). Fortunately he survived the industry with his faith intact, and today in his mid-seventies is still going strong, touring regularly and basically enjoying life.
In 1976, McGuire recorded an album entitled C’mon Along. It’s one of my favorites by him, and its unavailability either on CD or digitally has long been a sore spot. Fortunately, I recently found someone kind enough to burn an excellent quality CD-R of the album, thus returning it to my library as I am currently without functioning turntable.
My favorite song on the album bears a title most unusual for a gospel record, namely “Whom The Gods Would Destroy.” You don’t see a lot of symbolic song titles in CCM. Or allegorical, or metaphoric. Which is a pity, given how rich a tradition there is in Scripture of symbolic and/or allegorical and/or metaphoric language. Ah well.
While the line comes from a play by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides (I mentioned it in a post a while back), the song takes a different tack than the complete original quote “whom the gods would destroy they first make mad,” as the lyrics reveal:
whom the gods would destroy
they’ll first make humble
dreams made of clay
shatter and crumble
tumble their way
to a graveyard in timewhom the gods would destroy
they’ll gather like cattle
deafen their minds
trumpets with battle
visions of days
full of glorious timesyes the gods would destroy
ignore all the sages
the whisper of peace
sin and its wages
speak right out loud
against all the inhuman crimewell it’s dust to dust
yes we’ll all fall down
dust to dust
turn to dust on the groundand the gods will decide
for always and ever
as they side by side
march into never
one weary path
for the hawk and the doveyes the gods would destroy
the victors the vanquished
the high and the low
a world that is anguished
a world that has failed
forgotten how to lovewell it’s dust to dust
we’ll all fall down
dust to dust
turn to dust on the groundwe’ll all fall down
Hardly your average praise and worship chorus, what say?
To me, the song speaks deeply of the reality facing us all. This isn’t simply a warning to the godless and God haters. It addresses those of us who do believe, and in a fashion we may find more than a little uncomfortable.
When we puff ourselves up with pride over not being like “they” are, what are we doing? Seriously, what are we doing? Are we so ignorant of what Christ said: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Who was He talking to at the time — the tax collectors? No. As it says, He was talking to those who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else. What other description can there be of those who foam with rage at the machinations of those with opposing political views, stating unequivocally they are in error before God and man? Yet when they speak to them, or more correctly said at them, they bring no witness. Instead, they attack those they disagree with, their words etched with hatred and scorn. This should not be so. Yet it is so.
What can be said of those who claim to be correct yet behave in such an incorrect manner? How can one boast of being on God’s side when their actions are anything but Christ-like? It’s not that being Christ-like is a call to weakness. Jesus didn’t settle for giving the moneychangers and merchants plying their trade in the Temple a verbal rebuke. He physically drove them out.
He also died for them.
And we are unwilling to do so much as extend a hand of kindness?
Why do we criticize the left? On what grounds? Ideological? Practical? Philosophical? Intellectual? Fine. But are we so pure we can point to ourselves and say “we are not like you?” We are the ones who have turned conservative causes into a lucrative moneymaking exercise for ourselves. We are the ones who claim to be on God’s side yet promote the godless and God haters because they generate revenue (case in point: Michelle Malkin and Allahpundit, Hugh Hewitt and Christopher Hitchens). And we are proud? Of what?!!
In Christ there is no liberal or conservative truth. There is only His truth. In Christ there is no validation of the Republican or Democratic platform. There is only His own validation of Himself. In Christ there is no politics. There is only the promise of His peace in a world that knows no peace.
What are His commands? Cap and trade? Lord over each other? No. Love each other. Feed the poor. Clothe the naked. Comfort the sick. Protect and defend ourselves and each other against the attacks of those who are evil. We can and do differ on how best to accomplish these things. But on these things there is no difference.
Whom the gods would destroy? It’s us. All of us unless we humble ourselves and become still before God, knowing that He is God. Otherwise, we are the ones who face destruction no matter our political affiliation.
