Stirring Up Apathetic Spirits

This song (“Opposite Way” by Leeland) caught my attention a few weeks ago even though it is not new by any means.  The sound of the piano and the build-up toward the end combined to move my spirit even before I focused on the lyrics.

I am still wrestling with these lyrics and the concept of the “opposite way.”  In the past, I would have embraced this song right away and thought, “Yes, this is the inspiration that I need to run away from the world and into the arms of God in Christ.”

I have never completely run the opposite way from that belief but I have questioned recently how much Christians are meant to run the opposite way.  Are we supposed to disengage from the world and go the opposite way 100%?  Is there a way for us to engage our neighbors and culture without being 100% opposed to them?

There is no simple, quick answer to this question.  In many ways, it is easier and safer to say that we need to run the opposite way and put our heads down and go for it!

Jesus, however, did not go directly to the cross (the opposite way) without seeing and responding to the hurt and pain right in front of his eyes on the way.  He engaged individuals and groups with the truth and grace of God.  Sometimes that meant good news for people who thought they were bad (the lame, the sick, etc) and bad news for people who thought they were good (religious leaders, the rich, etc).  He didn’t simply “live to die” without encountering real people along the way.  Maybe that is the beginning of an understanding of a Christlike way to run the “opposite way.”

How do you interpret living the “opposite way” in our world?  Have Christians gone too far or too little in this?

Leave a comment and let’s talk about how this plays out in our lives…

Here are the lyrics for your viewing if you didn’t catch them in the video:

Living in the same town 
For all these years
Doing the same old things
Hanging with the same crowd
And it’s starting to get crippling
You’ve never felt in place
And you tell yourself it’s all okay
But something’s different today
You want to run the opposite way

And it seems like you’re locked in a cage
And you need to find a way of escape
When everyone is setting the pace
It’s okay to run the opposite way

The Father sent His Son down
The light of men
The cross He bore was crippling
Rejected in His own town
They couldn’t see the sun shining
He knelt in the garden and prayed
Father, let this cup pass from me
It’s not Your will for me to stay
Your will for me is the opposite way

And it seemed like He was locked in a cage
And He couldn’t find away of escape
But through the cross He conquered the grave
My Jesus ran the opposite way

Oh, and through the cross He conquered the grave
Oh, He ran the opposite way
Yeah, through the cross He conquered the grave
So you could run the opposite way