Think about the time and effort it takes to grow plants in a garden. In order to get the fruit from the plants, the soil needs to be tilled and the plants require water and sunshine. So it is with spiritual growth.
The flag bearer was near the head of the army, and the soldiers knew that if he was advancing, they should too, if he was retreating, they should retreat too. Because of this, the enemy would always target the guy with the flag. Because if the flag fell, the soldiers didn’t know which way to run, they would fall into confusion not knowing whether they were advancing or retreating. If you were the guy with the flag, you might as well have had a big huge red target on your jacket as everyone was gunning for you.
Now, the numerous parallels and similarities between this song and the seventh chapter of the epistle of Romans written almost two-thousand years ago astound me. This seemingly secular (pagan) band and God’s word both agree about a common human experience–it is an experience I believe the evangelical Christian world refers to as “sin”. Should I throw this song in the recycle bin on my desktop because it never references God or Jesus, and doesn’t leave much room for hope in being redeemed from the nagging plague of sin? I don’t think so.