Demons

Listen to Demons by Imagine Dragons

The doctrine of total depravity, describing the fallen condition of every human being, is an idea reviled against in our world. People are generally good. For those that aren't, it's because of some corrupting influence outside of themselves. Last month when headteacher Katharine Bibalsingh suggested that children are born with original sin and need to be taught to be good, there was widespread outrage and calls for her to be fired. But anyone with experience with children knows that you don't have the teach a child to steal a toy from their brother or sister. You have to teach them to share. And when we think of the wrong things we have done - how often did you know it was wrong but carried on regardless? Jeremiah 17 v 9 describes the human heart as "deceitful above all things," and often we kid ourselves into thinking we are better than we are. But other times, the light shines into our hearts and shows us the darkness hidden there.

“Demons” was released in 2013 and formed part of “Night Visions,” the debut album of Las Vegas rock band Imagine Dragons. The band has become one of America’s most famous rock bands off the back of powerful singles “Believer” and “Thunder.” Lead singer Dan Reynolds has revealed that he has had struggles with depression. In an interview with an Australian newspaper, he said, "That's a scary thing when you get everything that you could have wanted, but yet you still feel an emptiness, because at that point you think, 'Oh man, if this doesn't fill it, then I don’t know where to look anymore.' If you listen to Imagine Dragons lyrics, especially in “Night Visions,” they are very honest about the nature of human existence. As we listen, it rings true with our own experience. But as we’ll see, the hope clung to is more sentimental and not so grounded in reality. The Bible shows us our problematic reality as well but also reveals God’s way of salvation from it. Let’s look at the lyrics of Demons.

“When the days are cold and the cards all fold

And the saints we see are all made of gold

When your dreams all fail and the ones we hail

Are the worst of all, and the blood's run stale” 

A time is described that is cold and bleak where many are just giving up. The glittering heroes we follow, worship and wish to emulate look better than ever, but what we see isn’t real. So when we make them our idols, we become like them – superficial and empty. Psalm 115 says, “Those who make them (idols) become like them; so do all who trust in them.” Our passion for life ebbs away when the idols we worship let us down.

“I wanna hide the truth, I wanna shelter you

But with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide

No matter what we breed, we still are made of greed

This is my kingdom come, this is my kingdom come” 

The Songwriter switches now from the world around him to his own heart. The dark secret things of the heart. He desperately wants to keep them secret. Jesus said, “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7 v 21). It’s like a torrent of evil with the heart as its source and it’s inevitable that what is in the Songwriter’s heart will spill out into his words and actions. Even if it were possible to contain it God “knows the secrets of the heart” (Psalm 42 v 21). Hebrews 4 v 13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” While the Songwriter is concerned that those close to him will find out what he’s really like, of even greater alarm should be the certain prospect that we all have to stand before a holy God who will know it all. There will be nowhere to hide on that day.

This is not a problem that is unique to him. The fallen traits he is describing are deeply engrained in all of us and so matter how far the human race has progressed and achieved we haven’t been able to fix ourselves. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14 v 3) This is a serious, all-inclusive, age-old and universal problem. No matter what we breed, we still are made of greed.

The Songwriter uses biblical language from the Lord’s Prayer. In contrast to the coming of God’s kingdom that Jesus teaches his disciples to pray in expectation for, the Songwriter’s kingdom has already come, and this is as good as it gets. It is a dominion of darkness.

 When you feel my heat, look into my eyes

It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide

Don't get too close; it's dark inside

It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide

The chorus focuses on how his sin damages his relationship with the one he loves. Because the closer they get, the more they will see what he is really like on the inside. When Adam and Eve sinned, it destroyed their innocence. In their relationship, trust was replaced by mistrust, peace with fear and openness with covering up. When the Songwriter refers to his demons, he is probably not talking about demons in the biblical sense but sins that he falls into persistently. But, interestingly, he shifts the source of his darkness to something other than himself. We see that when Adam and Eve sinned as well. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. Disassociating our sin and labelling it as something done to us rather than something we are doing is a common reaction. But the Bible tells us that “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed” (James 1 v 14). To quote Alastair Begg, "Every sin is an inside job...every time you and I sin, it's because we made the decision to sin on the inside. We open the door."

And so the Songwriter finds himself at a painful impasse for what fellowship can light have with darkness?

At the curtain's call it's the last of all

When the lights fade out, all the sinners crawl

So they dug your grave and the masquerade

Will come calling out at the mess you've made

When the performance is over, reality sets in, everyone is a sinner. A masquerade is a false show. And the false shows we put on to hide what’s inside will only mock us when they inevitably end. But “God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6 v 7)

Don't wanna let you down, but I am hell-bound

Though this is all for you, don't wanna hide the truth

The Songwriter had been putting on this false show, but now he doesn’t want his loved one to misplace their trust in him. The truth hurts, but he sees now that lies and pretence hurt more. The good news of the gospel starts with hard truths about the human condition, but it is against that dark background the brilliance of God’s salvation shines. Acknowledgement and confession that this is what I am like is the first step towards forgiveness and salvation.

They say it's what you make

I say it's up to fate

It's woven in my soul

I need to let you go

Your eyes, they shine so bright

I wanna save that light

I can't escape this now

Unless you show me how

Kids are told these days - believe in yourself and you can be anything you want to be, the skies the limit (which is disappointing if your dream was to be an astronaut). The Songwriter has a different perspective. That his demons are inevitable, they are so deeply ingrained that no matter how hard he tried, he could not change. That’s what total depravity means. No part of us has not been affected by sin – our hearts, our minds, our bodies, our emotions, our understanding and our desires. Isaiah 1v 5-6 says, “Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness” We cannot rescue ourselves from our guilt and depravity. In Romans 8, Pauls says, “The mind governed by the flesh is death … The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” The Songwriter wants to preserve the innocence of the one he loves, but once again, he sees he is stuck the way he is. How much more does our sin mean we cannot abide with the Holy God of heaven who is flawlessly perfect?

The Songwriter sees that he needs salvation from his sinful soul, and he sees only one way of salvation. He turns to the one he loves, who seems to him full of light and innocence. Surely they can help him. Surely they are his only hope. The Bible tells us something different. God tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3 v 23), “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7 v 20).

The bible is unequivocal on this point. Therefore to look to other fallen human beings for salvation is futile. The one, the Songwriter, is singing to could sing the same song back to him with the same truthfulness. How then can we escape?

Unlike this song, God’s word does not just show us the depth of our calamity and leave us clinging to false hopes. The good news of the Bible is that there is a way of escape.

After we’ve understood the depth of our calamity, we can better appreciate the true magnitude of God’s rescue plan for us. The Bible points to Jesus as the Great Redeemer! Though he was without sin, he offered his own soul to bear the sin and guilt of those who place their hope in him. Hell-bound sinners set free by the gift of God’s grace. In the words of Zechariah, Jesus came to:

"to give his people the knowledge of salvation
    through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
    by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
    and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

Luke 2 v 77-79

May the light of the gospel shine out in this dark world.