note:
Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
Romans: 112:1-2
Hey kids, what we’ve got here is a song jam-packed with biblically based concepts! Many of the old hymns were full of deep theological insight, and I’d like to think of Reasonable Service as a kind of modern hymn.
A parable: When I first played this song for the boys in Lost Dogs, prior to recording it, it was Mike Roe who commented “I’m not sure I understand the words.” Since I happened to have my giant kitchen table-sized Bible next to me, I quietly opened it and, with a booming authoritative voice, I proceeded to read aloud the following passage: “But the natural man cannot receive the things of God, for they are foolish to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned!” Roe appeared to be even more perplexed; “I don’t understand that either,” he said in a whisper, and I detected a slight quiver in his voice. Along with his troubled countenance and deepening consternation, I discerned something else: a barely contained panic. “Well, there you go little buddy,” I said, closing my giant Bible, “You don’t understand any of this because you have no spiritual discernment.” Mike now looked both shocked and grieved. Great tears began to gather in his eyes and suddenly he was openly weeping and wailing. All any of us could do was to look on in silent rebuke and sadness. “Woe to me that I am in the band, but not of the band!” he cried, rending his old and beloved Daniel Amos Tour t-shirt in two. Roe’s endless lamentations soon became tiresome and greatly vexing to our souls, and so it was that we departed from his tormented presence and ventured forth unto 7 Eleven, rejoicing in the knowledge that the snack cake company ‘Hostess’ had just released its annualZinger bonus pack which contained not 3 Zingers, but four!!
While it is true that it took a while for Mike to “get” the lyrics of “Reasonable Service,” obviously I’ve been pulling your leg. I don’t know why I felt compelled to make up such a ridiculous story other than the fact that Reasonable Service is a fairly weighty theological song and I suppose I wanted to lighten the load a bit.
I don’t think there is any need to explain anything here; it’s all contained within the song, and you will either resonate with its sentiments or you won’t. God bless you either way.