Here is quote from a recent interview with David that I think sums up the meaning of this song:
"Evangelical Christianity, as I grew up with it and as it seems to exist currently, seems preoccupied with the confession of Christianity. That one would confess the right things, and that seems to be one of the main points of it. I find that so unsatisfying. To me, the best cases for Christianity are when people actually bear the fruit that they say they are going to bear. To me, that is the most compelling reason to think anything or do anything or to respect a confession. A confession of belief on it’s own is just the most flaccid thing. In that sense, an academic book, self-help book, or just a Christian apologetic book means so much less.
[They would say] “So this is what I think…” [I would respond,] “So you’re divorced three times, you’re estranged from you’re kids… who cares what you think about the universe? I want to be at peace. This peace that passes all understanding that you’re talking about, you don’t have it. You treat people badly; you misunderstand fundamental ideas of the world at large.” These [bearing fruits] are far more compelling to me than, “You have to get the confession right or you’ll burn for eternity.” And I just think: “Yeah, that’s becoming less compelling by the minute too because everything else you say doesn’t seem to match up with reality, so why would I assume that would?”"
Here is quote from a recent interview with David that I think sums up the meaning of this song:
"Evangelical Christianity, as I grew up with it and as it seems to exist currently, seems preoccupied with the confession of Christianity. That one would confess the right things, and that seems to be one of the main points of it. I find that so unsatisfying. To me, the best cases for Christianity are when people actually bear the fruit that they say they are going to bear. To me, that is the most compelling reason to think anything or do anything or to respect a confession. A confession of belief on it’s own is just the most flaccid thing. In that sense, an academic book, self-help book, or just a Christian apologetic book means so much less.
[They would say] “So this is what I think…” [I would respond,] “So you’re divorced three times, you’re estranged from you’re kids… who cares what you think about the universe? I want to be at peace. This peace that passes all understanding that you’re talking about, you don’t have it. You treat people badly; you misunderstand fundamental ideas of the world at large.” These [bearing fruits] are far more compelling to me than, “You have to get the confession right or you’ll burn for eternity.” And I just think: “Yeah, that’s becoming less compelling by the minute too because everything else you say doesn’t seem to match up with reality, so why would I assume that would?”"