Exodus 20:1-4
Then God spoke
directly to the people:
“I am the Lord your God,
who rescued you from Egypt,
the place of your slavery.
You must not serve
any other gods before me.
You must not make
any idol or image of other gods.”
The Gospel According to Twenty One Pilots
“Levitate.” Trench
We denounce Vialism
You will leave Dema
And head true east
We are banditos
Levitate Music Video
Levitate Sermon
SEVENAPPLES COMMENTARY
What Is Vialism?
My wife and I have been stuck
on the statue from Nico And The Niners
for weeks. What’s it represent?
Why’s it looking up?
What’s it doing with its hands?
Early on I wondered if the statue
was meant to embody self-worship.
After all, the statue is the centerpiece
of the temple where Nico and the Niners
create and worship the false light
they manufactured in order to
hypnotize their followers.
But I wasn’t sure.
And then we went to the TØP show
in Houston last month and my wife
noticed something that’s been
right in front of us the whole time.
Picture yourself in the pit
as Tyler walks the sky-bridge.
It was at that moment when my wife said,
“Babe! Look at the audience!
Look at how they’re holding their phones!
The statue! It’s us!”
Maybe you need more convincing?
Check out the hands of the statue at minute
01:20 in the Nico And The Niners music video.
That statue isn’t looking up at interlocked fingers.
There’s something small and flat
between those two hands. It’s a cell phone.
Unless I’m a fool (which I’m okay with),
I think Tyler & Josh are telling us something
deeply personal with this representation
of ourselves in their video.
And once again,
I think the answer’s right in front of us;
right there in the first three words of the song.
“We denounce vialism.”
Put that phrase another way:
“We reject the worship of created things.”
And if that’s not the Gospel
according to Twenty Øne Piløts,
I don’t know what is.
Whether or not any of this rings true,
I would encourage you to ask yourself:
Am I guilty of vialism?
Am I looking to created things to rescue me?
Am I letting social media
and my device define me?
Am I worshipping Josh & Tyler for saving me,
when it was really the Good News
embedded in their lyrics that did the work?
Our devices can’t save us.
Likes won’t satisfy us.
And as amazing as they are,
not even our two awesome frens
are worthy of our worship.
And they know it.
And they want us to know it.
Which is why they’re asking us
to do something about it.
Leave Dema.
Head True East.
IMAGE DETAILS
Overcompensate
Cards For Banditos
Clique Art
Summer 2025
Artist: @f4ngzx
