Greetings, friends, and welcome to the Gospel According to, where we connect all that is good, pure, noble, excellent, and praiseworthy in our favorite songs and stories with the ultimate source of goodness, purity, nobility, etc., etc. This week, I wanted to write about my newly discovered appreciation of Fall Out Boy and their song, “The Phoenix.” Enjoy!
Fandom: Fall Out Boy, “The Phoenix”
Verses: 2 Corinthians 5:13-15, 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, James 4:7, Acts 2:40-41
Truth: As we stand in the victory won by Christ, we can take part in the urgent mission of transforming more lives and advancing the Kingdom
The Horizontal View: Rebels and Revolutionaries
I found this song on a nostalgic 2010s pop music playlist on Spotify late one night a few months ago, and I was immediately intrigued by the lyrics. Looking further into it, I found that there was more depth than I ever would have expected. I especially love the chorus, which makes me feel powerful and unstoppable.
The Vertical View: Resurrection Life and Advancing the Kingdom
I knew instinctually, and you might suspect as well, that this song had something to do with the idea of resurrection and victory. So I looked for verses on this topic, and you’ll never believe how many I found! Here are a few of the ones that seemed most relevant and impactful to me:
I’m gonna change you like a remix, then I’ll raise you like a phoenix
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2 ESV
This is the first verse that comes to mind when I think about resurrection life, as well as these words of Christ:
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26 ESV
As He always does, Jesus gives Martha (the person He was talking to in this verse) a choice. Do you believe?
So we can take the world back from a heart attack, one maniac at a time, we will take it back
For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
2Corinthians 5:13-15 ESV
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
John 18:36 ESV
To the rest of the world, Jesus is either a maniac or a liar, but to me, and to believers, He is the Savior of the world. Anyone who believes in Christ might also be considered a maniac as a result, but our job is to take the world back by bringing as many people into the Kingdom with us as we can. One maniac at a time, we will take it back.
Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:12-18 ESV
The war is won before it’s begun, release the doves, surrender love
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 ESV
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7 ESV
Because Christ died once for all, we have victory and freedom and the power to overcome the weapons of the Devil. We should remember that we’re not fighting against people, but for them, in every way that we can, inviting the people we know to surrender the struggle for acceptance and power and live in the freedom of the knowledge of Christ instead.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post about Fall Out Boy’s “The Phoenix. What songs have you heard that remind you of the resurrection life we’re called to as believers?
Happy fangirling!
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[…] Last but not least, here are my top 5 songs of 2022. Unsurprisingly, two out of five are from Owl City, one is Imagine Dragons (the one that’s so beautiful it pretty much makes me cry a little every time it comes on), and one is “The Phoenix” by Fall Out Boy. This was one of the songs that likely contributed to Spotify’s designation of Voyager for the year, as it is way beyond anything that I would typically listen to. Once I discovered it, though, I became a little bit obsessed, as it is quite catchy. Here’s the post that I wrote earlier this year about this surprisingly deep song 😎🎶🔥 […]