4th century BC
Plato
- Idealism — forms over particulars
- The Republic ethic: “God is not the author of evil”
Notes
Track five is where the album turns a corner. The last two songs named the gatekeepers and the discernment industry hard. This one could have become a hunt of its own - and it deliberately refuses to. Pharisees in Every Church names the mixed pew, the wheat and the tares, and then does the one thing a heresy-hunter never does. It sees, and it does not say.
The diagnosis is real and the song does not soften it. There's a Pharisee in the front row of the cleanest pulpit in town - highlighter ready, list under the pew, hearing the sweetest gospel preached and filing it as ammunition. And the mirror image: there's a Mary in a flowered housecoat in a church that doesn't know the gospel, singing from a paper hymnal under a sermon she will never parse, who knows Jesus and Jesus knows her. The pulpit cannot sanitize the pew, and a bent pulpit cannot exclude the called. The Spirit bloweth where He listeth.
But verse three is the whole point of the song. I can spot them now - and here is what I will not do. I will not name them from a wall. I will not run the hunt. I will not become the thing I'm seeing. The discernment is a private faculty for sorting my own table, not a public one for sorting the tribe. The Author can sort the room. He has been sorting it since the beginning. And He has not missed a single one. I see you. I am not going to say anything. He has you. That is enough.
Lyrics
[Intro]
I have been in every kind of room
And I have seen them in every kind
So pull up a chair
[Verse 1]
There's a Pharisee in the front row of the cleanest pulpit in town
Highlighter in his Bible, list of names tucked under the pew
He hears the sweetest gospel preached and files it as ammunition
He came to memorize the boundary, not to be loved
There's a woman in the foyer who can tell you who's been faithful
There's a brother with the five points and never once with Christ
There's a deacon who lights up at every error named
And settles when grace is named
[Pre-Chorus]
The pulpit can be clean
The doctrine can be pure
The preacher can be faithful forty straight years
The pew is still mixed
It always has been
Even Jesus had Judas at the table
[Chorus]
Pharisees in every church
Pharisees in every church
Doesn't matter how clear the preaching gets
The pulpit cannot sanitize the pew
The wheat and the tares grow side by side
And the Author knows the difference
And He doesn't need me to sort the room
[Verse 2]
There's a Mary in a flowered housecoat in a church that doesn't know the gospel
Singing from a paper hymnal under a sermon she'll never parse
She knows Jesus and Jesus knows her
And the doctrine on the wall is wrong
And she will walk into glory
Articulating Christ every time she spoke
There's an elect man under a prosperity preacher
There's an elect girl in a cult of personality
There's an elect widow in a church that hates her tradition
And the Author has been writing on her every Tuesday
[Pre-Chorus]
The pulpit can be wrong
The doctrine can be bent
The preacher can be lost for forty straight years
The pew is still mixed
It always has been
The Spirit bloweth where He listeth
And the wind doesn't ask the pastor for permission
[Chorus]
Pharisees in every church
Pharisees in every church
Doesn't matter how clear the preaching gets
The pulpit cannot sanitize the pew
The wheat and the tares grow side by side
And the Author knows the difference
And He doesn't need me to sort the room
[Verse 3]
And listen, I can spot them now
I can read the face that sets when grace is mentioned
I can read the eye that brightens at the heretic's name
I can hear the brother who quotes the points more than the Person
I have learned to read the room
I have learned to read the vibe
But here is what I will not do
I will not name them from a wall
I will not run the hunt
I will not become the thing I'm seeing
The diagnosis is for me to know
Not for me to broadcast
[Bridge]
I see you in the front row
I am not going to say anything
I see you in the foyer
I am not going to say anything
I see you, Mary, in the bad sermon
I am not going to come fix your church
You have Jesus
He has you
The Author can sort the room
He has been sorting it since the beginning
And He has not missed
A single one
[Final Chorus]
Pharisees in every church
Pharisees in every church
And precious elect in the worst-preaching ever
The pulpit cannot sanitize the pew
The pulpit cannot exclude the called
The Spirit goes where the Spirit goes
The Author knows His own
And I am not building a wall
I am choosing my table
And He is keeping every one of His
And He has not missed
A single one
[Outro]
Pharisees in every church
Precious elect in every church
The Author knows His own
The Author knows His own
He has not missed a single one
He has not missed
A single one
Pharisees in every church
The Author knows His own
Commentary