Gracing the top charts for several weeks now is “Heathens” by Twenty-One Pilots. Twenty-One Pilots is the band behind popular songs, “Stressed Out” and “Ride.”
However, “Heathens” is more than just a song with a catchy beat. It is based in evangelism advice for the listener.
The first verse of the song goes: “All my friends are heathens/ Take it slow/ Wait for them to ask you who you know/ Please don't make any sudden moves/ You don't know the half of the abuse.”
When you read those lines, what do you think of? Some are thinking, “Oh, this is another song about not judging people who are different than me.” I'm not sure if that is fully it.
A heathen is someone who has never heard the good news. It is not hard to assume the good news is the gospel. It is the good news that Jesus Christ died on a cross to save us from our sin and from ourselves. But what about the people who don't know Him?
As the song says, “take it slow.” We are so quick to jump at people with our viewpoints, often times throwing it in their faces.
The next line says, “Wait for them to ask you who you know.” Are we afraid they won't ask, that there is no way around blurting out all our theology and the five points of Calvinism?
Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 ESV) The way we live out our life should be enough for people to stop and question what it is that's different about us. That is, if we're doing it right.
We live in a society where we're constantly judging other people’s actions. “Please don't make any sudden moves/You don't know the half of the abuse.” I’ve been told often,“everyone has a story” by my peers since coming to Corban. When we are quick to judge and slow to remember, that people have their own pains and sufferings, we lose the opportunity to show a love like Christ’s, which is why we're on this earth in the first place.
Later in the song is this verse, “We don't deal with outsiders very well/ They say newcomers have a certain smell/ You have trust issues, not to mention/ They say they can smell your intentions.”
It speaks again about how we as Christians can come across: we “smell” funny. When we walk up to a non-Christian, what are you thinking? My first thought is: “Why don't you know Jesus, and what can I do to tell you about Him?” Nope, wrong answer.
There's nothing we can do to save that person, to be their personal redeemer. Our intentions shouldn't “smell” funny. The only thing Christians should be trying to do is love “outsiders.” They have trust issues because previously they were burned -- by fire and brimstone. We have to change the way we approach our lives, and the conversations we have with others.
The last verse of the song goes: “Why'd you come, you knew you should have stayed/ I tried to warn you just to stay away/ And now they're outside ready to bust/ It looks like you might be one of us.”
The last line is what we should focus on. Verses all throughout the song are about how you could, unbeknownst, be sitting next to a psychopath or a murderer and this last line calls you one too.
Are you up in arms about that? You shouldn't be because that's exactly what you are aside from Christ.
Jesus said, those who hate in their hearts have committed murder. Are you a murderer? I am. We all came from somewhere; we are all sinners; we are all worth nothing apart from Christ.
I love this song, it is incredibly catchy and has an amazing beat that was skillfully put together, but I especially love its message. We can no longer approach the world the way we have in the past. The world has changed too much and we have come too far in our pursuit of Christ. With that in mind, we need to be sure to “take it slow.”
