Foreign Flame - Single Release
The theme of all songs on our upcoming album deal with various aspects/contexts of suffering, but Foreign Flame is specifically about how Christendom deals with suffering. For a few They Will Fall album cycles, Austin had actually been wanting to write a song around Luke 18:7-8, because the phrase “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” is on of the toughest recorded statements to come from the mouth of Jesus in my opinion. The context of the verse, and this song, centers around Christians who are suffering and crying out for deliverance. His frame of mind at the time of writing was just being overwhelmed by a culture that presumes the Christian life is all about working a stable job, becoming a homeowner, getting married, and voting Republican. Of course, the Biblical Christian life prioritizes almost exactly the opposite. Jesus is not one to believe in our American Dream, and yet we’ve conflated our Christian living with American living. Likewise, we’ve redefined persecution simply to mean living in a world where Christianity is not given special, preferential treatment in the secular world. Of course, anyone who reads the Bible and reads the words of Jesus understands that being a Christian is radical hatred of self and radical abandonment of these American ideals. So Foreign Flame is written almost as a warning against this lifestyle. Foreign Flame is a warning that selflessly living a life of meaning in this world will cost so much more to you than mere social acceptance or comfort. Foreign Flame is a warning to Christians who falsely think stability and financial success is a mark of spiritual fervor. Foreign Flame is ultimately a warning for us to not just talk about sacrifice but live it out Biblically. The name of the song itself is a reference to Leviticus 10, a story where “unauthorized fire”, literally a “foreign flame”, was offered to God, and death was the result. The relevance here and my fear of our Christian culture being that, sure, we like God, and we think we respect his holiness, but in reality, we have built a “foreign flame” of worship: worship of self, of stability, of acceptance, of conservative values, of anything other than Jesus Christ himself.”
- “When the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth?”
-Luke 18:8 - “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” - Matthew 18:7
Foreign Flame Lyrics
"Say goodbye to the reassurance you crave.Surrender seemed sensible until it cost you everything. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
With foundations of scattered sand, Stability becomes a sacrament. What if we questioned our motives instead of defending our vices? Let us weep until we starve from hunger. Let us mourn until we die of thirst.
Remember, branches were broken off so that we might be grafted in. Yet we justify our priorities by building a foreign flame in the case that the cause would not carry on, in the case that our passion might wear thin. Deaf ears, will you ever listen? Blind eyes, will you ever have vision? Tell me, faithful, does God ever mention A remedy for lost conviction when you have nowhere left to go, when no amount of self-indulgence is enough to feed your shallow soul, when it’s not hypothetical, When you come face-to-face with what keeps you awake at night?
In utter blasphemy we say, “Shall we not drink the cup the Father has given us?” And what noble intent! Christ, we’re mesmerized by your words, but did we misread your lips?When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
You’ll agree that apathy is debilitating; it brings our darkest day. Yet selflessness was admirable before our lives became rearranged.
Sometimes I think we’re all lost.
Sometimes I think we’re all lost and we’re just mindlessly repeating.. We dream of sacrificial living while we toss and turn in peace. We’re just mindlessly repeating. We let pleasure dictate purpose as we grow in unbelief. We’re just mindlessly repeating. Regurgitate and sleep. We don’t comprehend what it means to breathe.
Regurgitate and sleep. Will we ever comprehend what it means to breathe? When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"