Happy Holy Week, friends, and welcome to another post chez moi. This year, I’ve been thinking back to what I learned in previous Holy Week seasons, and I felt called to bring those things back out into the light. To start with, here’s a reflection on Twenty One Pilots’ “Smithereens” lyrics. In the spirit of the newly updated Fangirl: Fulfilled devotional journal, I’m going to show you how to use this song to share the Gospel with your fellow TOP fans, whether they believe in the Lord or not. Hope you enjoy!
Fandom: “For you, I’d go step to a dude much bigger than me/ For you, I know I would get messed up with 153/ For you, I would get beat to smithereens.” – Twenty One Pilots “Smithereens” lyrics
Verses: Romans 5:6-8, Mark 15:3-5, 12-15, 17-20, 24, 27-30, 33-34, 37
Truth: God proves His love for us by allowing His Son Jesus to suffer and die for us… and then to purchase our salvation.
The fandom: Twenty One Pilots “Smithereens”
“Smithereens” is a song from TOP’s Trench phase, which is one of my personal favorites. I love the chill sound of this song; it feels like a private conversation between me and the person singing, with him promising to defend me if he ever feels the need. There are tons of different layers to the music as well, with a sort of indie coffee shop feel to it that I very much enjoy.
The message of “Smithereens” is also super meaningful, with promises that the singer will go through just about anything to defend his love. I can’t help but imagine Jesus as the singer/narrator of “Smithereens,” especially this week as we’re reflecting on all the things that He went through for us on the cross.
For more thoughts on this song, check out this post from 2021 : )
The verses: Romans 5:6-8
As I’ve been thinking about the lyrics of Twenty One Pilots “Smithereens,” this passage from Romans 5 is sticking out in my mind:
For while we were still helpless, at [the] right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
While we were still sinners, unable to avoid the mistakes and failures of daily life, Christ chose to suffer and die for us. Here’s a brief look at what, exactly, He went through:
And the chief priests [started] accusing Him of many things. But Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You offer nothing in answer? See how many charges they are bringing against You!” But Jesus said nothing further in answer, so Pilate was amazed… And responding again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” Intent on satisfying the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified… And they dressed Him in purple, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began saluting Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they [repeatedly] beat His head with a reed and spit on Him, and kneeling, they bowed down before Him. And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple [cloak] off Him and put His [own] garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him… And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them [to decide] what each man would take. And they crucified two rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left. Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who [are going to] destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself by coming down from the cross!”… When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LEMA SABAKTANEI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”… But Jesus let out a loud cry, and died.
Mark 15:3-5, 12-15, 17-20, 24, 27-30, 33-34, 37
So Jesus was… wrongly accused, mocked, tortured and beaten, subjected to the cruelest and most humiliating execution known at the time, when He knew for a fact that He was innocent… And it was all for us, as Romans 5 tells us. Whaaaaaaa??? Believer or non-believer, take a moment to let this sink in.
Using this song to share the Gospel
So, here’s the part that I’m really excited about: I’m going to map out how you can use Twenty One Pilots to share the Gospel message with all of your peoples, whether they are a believer or not. If you happen to be reading this post and are not yet a believer, or if you’re not sure what the Gospel is, I invite you to read and consider the words below. They might just change your life! Whatever the position of your heart is, know that I’m praying for you and I’m so grateful that you came to visit and read my post today.
The parts of the Gospel
I believe that the Gospel message, or the steps of becoming a believer and receiving the gift of salvation, can be broken up into three parts:
- I am. Who is God? What is He like? Who are we, and why are we here? Is there more to life than just the time between our birth and our death?
- God is the Creator and Lord of everything that we know. He is light, He is absolutely perfect, and He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He is also love, and He created each and every one of us to live in relationship with Him. We, on the other hand, are hard-wired to resist that relationship. Because of the rebellion of the first humans, our nature is to resist God’s rule, and we are therefore separated from Him. This separation is called sin. Our sin causes us to feel a void or emptiness that we try to fill with other relationships or pursuits (like pleasure or success), but that can only truly be filled with the relationship with God that we were meant to have. For more thoughts on this, check out this post.
- With you. How can I “fix” my sin problem and find joy, peace, and a relationship with God?
- There is only one way to restore the relationship that we were always meant to have with the God who created us, and that is Jesus. As we already discussed above, Jesus, the Son of God, came as a human to rescue and restore us while we were weak, helpless to fix ourselves. He showed the love of God for us by subjecting Himself to all of the indignities and suffering of the Cross, and died a criminal’s death, even though He had done no wrong. Because of His perfect sacrifice, Jesus was able to end the eternal separation between us and God, and now gives us the choice to receive His gift of salvation and eternal life. For more thoughts, see this post.
- Always. God shows His faithfulness and steadfast love for His people (originally Israel, now including all who believe in Him) throughout Scripture. He will always be with us, and gives us reminders of His presence and His truth through Holy Spirit, who inhabits every believer. Through Him, we have eternal forgiveness of sin, access to His throne room through prayer, and the ability to grow into the people we were always meant to be, free from the power of sin. After we die, we have the promise of Heaven, where we will see our Lord face to face and never have to suffer or be separated from Him again. For more thoughts, see this post.
Because Twenty One Pilots “Smithereens” speaks into the things that the narrator is willing to suffer through for the sake of his beloved, I believe that it best fits into the “With you” piece of the Gospel story. In the human-to-human perspective of the song, it would be easy for the person being sung to to feel unworthy of so much sacrificial love. And that’s just a human, who also has flaws and selfish moments! Now just imagine the God who created all the things, including you, who has every right to look down on us in disapproval and anger, choosing to love us, perfectly love us, instead. And at just the right time, while we were still walking in all of our imperfections, remembering constantly all the times that we could’ve done better and trying desperately to make our “good” balance out our “bad,” God sent His Son, the only perfect human ever, to live and die for us.
That’s what this week, and every day here on this planet, is all about. God’s love for us, proven by Jesus, was and is so immense that He would subject Himself to all the things described above, without saying a word and without even thinking something dishonorable or unkind. He did it all for us, so that we could be restored to relationship with Him and become the people we were created to be. And all He asks in return is that we turn away from ourselves and our own way of doing things, and look to Him for salvation and purpose and life instead.
And that, my friends, is the Gospel according to Twenty One Pilots.
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Holy Week fandom post. If you are a non-believer and this post has spoken deeply to your heart, please feel free to comment below or email thefangirlfulfilled@gmail.com!! I would love to talk with you more about how to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You can also send me a message on Instagram here : ). And if you’re a believer, I hope that you were inspired and empowered to use this or any of your other fandoms to share the Good News with all your people.
Happy fangirling!
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