They had some goofy-looking stage wear (yes, those are skin-tight black leather shorts...right beside the skin-tight white lycra jumpsuit). The Weird-o-Meter is now smoking and making a strange grinding noise.
Musically, though, they were pretty cool - after all, they did do a song about Godzilla. Oh no, there goes Tokyo!
Great...now I've got to buy a new Weird-o-Meter.
But I've got issues with "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". Depending on your age, you might only know it as the "Saturday Night Live Cowbell Song", but it was a legit tune, and it was BOC's biggest hit (went to #12 on Billboard in November of '76). Anyway, it's seriously whacked out. Some lyrics:
40,000 men and women every day/Another 40,000 every day/We can be like they are/C'mon baby/Don't fear the Reaper/Baby take my hand/Don't fear the Reaper/We'll be able to fly/Don't fear the Reaper/Baby I'm your man
Buck Dharma, the song's writer, says it's about love, not death. Yeah, sure thing, Buck...nothing says love like the Grim Reaper. Have to remember that for Valentine's Day.
On a serious note, Buck really was lying - death is something to be feared. Not because it's the inevitable end of physical life, but because it's the wage of sin (Romans 6:23). I've heard that verse a million times, but really thought about it for the first time this morning. For the sake of discussion, let's remove Jesus' redemptive gift out of the equation for a moment. We earn something for the work we do, no matter what it is. If the work we're doing with our hands, minds, and hearts isn't in line with God, we are going to get paid in spiritual death. Complete, total, and eternal separation from God. Go ahead and process that for a moment.
To make matters worse, earlier in Romans, Paul makes it clear that none of us can get around this. We've all earned death, because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). And if that wasn't bad enough...
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
- Isaiah 64:6
In Jewish culture, being 'unclean' meant you had a horrible disease, and you weren't allowed to live with the rest of the people. So, for us, no matter how good a life we try to live, it's not good enough to be anywhere near God. As for the 'filthy rags', the literal translation refers to used menstrual cloths (thanks to Francis Chan for pointing that out to me in Crazy Love). The very best we can offer God in terms of deeds equates to something we try to throw away without looking at because its so...gross. Finally, as 'shriveled leaves', our sins have the power to move us all over the place - without our consent, and despite our efforts to stay wherever we are.
On our own, we are not in good condition.
Humility comes with realization of the truth, and when we accept the truth about ourselves - who we are, what we're worth, and what we do - we have no choice but to make good on what James tells us to do: "Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom" (James 4:9).
It's sobering, isn't it?
Without God, we're lost, plain and simple. Going back to Romans 3, Paul makes it clear:
Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in [God's] sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
- Romans 3:20-24
Without God, Jesus Christ, and faith in our Father's love and mercy, we need to see that death is our only option. Blue Oyster Cult lied to you - without God, we need to fear the Reaper.
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I feel kind of bad leaving you on this note. So, if you need a little pick-me-up, here's the best take on "Don't Fear the Reaper" ever. Enjoy!
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