Undo – Rush of Fools

I’ve been here before, now here I am again
Standing at the door, praying You’ll let me back in
To label me a prodigal would be
Only scratching the surface of who I’ve been known to be

Turn me around pick me up
Undo what I’ve become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, need Your help
I can’t do this myself
You’re the only one who can undo
What I’ve become

I focused on the score, but I could never win
Trying to ignore, a life of hiding my sin
To label me a hypocrite would be
Only scratching the surface of who I’ve been known to be

Make every step lead me back to
The sovereign way that You

In the first verse of the song, lead singer Kevin Huguley of the band Rush of Fools begins by referencing the way he feels in his own life to that of the prodigal son.  I would like to discuss the interesting midrash that has been done on the story of the prodigal son in light of contemporary American religious beliefs.  Huguley references himself as a prodigal “standing at the door.”  The reference to “at the door” should raise red flags right away if we are making a comparison between the prodigal and Huguley.  In the original story, the father sees him from a distance and is never able to utter any words before the Father begins calling his servants to kill the fatted calf for him.  The original prodigal also never prayed that his father would let him back in-the original prodigal realized he had no right to ask to be let back into his father’s house.  The original prodigal realized the choices he had made and knew that, in most cases in Israel at this time, one would be lucky if the father even hired you on as a lowly servant.  This is the very power of the prodigal’s story.  The prodigal’s worth in the eyes of the father is not found in his ability to change, but in the Father’s love to bring him back in spite of the things he has done.  It is interesting then that Huguley here asks God to “undo what I’ve become” and “bring me back to the place of forgiveness and grace.”

The song does, however, show the transformative power of God’s grace in our lives.  As we come closer and closer to Christ we can more and more “undo” what we’ve become.  It shows the power of God as he is willing to take his children and move them to a place where they are changed.  But notice also what the song is missing.  There is an “undoing” and a willingness to throw off the old, but just as in much of modern Christianity, there is no call to take anything up.  There is no powerful call to obedience.

We are very good at calling out brokenness in the evangelical church, but we are not as good as living holy lives.  We are not as good at obeying the commands of Jesus Christ.  We are not very good at recognizing hypocrites.  We are very good at realizing the problems in the church, but we are not very good at fixing them.  We are very good at hiding sin, but we are not very good and confessing it and moving away from it.  We are not always very faithful in the small things.