Ever find yourself in the midst of a group with interest totally alien to your own? They talk different, the lingo and terminology is odd. Perhaps you are a jock thrown into the midst of a bunch of Dungeons and Dragons geeks. Or perhaps you are the nerd thrown into talk concerning the latest playoff. Sometimes the subject matter is so foreign to your little world that you think them bizarre, odd, weird.
As Christians we are that odd little group in the cafeteria that no one wants to sit next too. We are an alien culture, going against the grain of this world. This world is indeed heading to hell, and we are on an opposite trajectory towards heaven. We are pilgrims, homeward bound. We are not a sub-culture, doing the same things just in our own “clean” way. We are light and salt in a world full of darkness and rot. Don’t buy the sub-culture myth that is really the same darkness and rot underneath a linen garment; unlike Lazarus it is indeed dead and stinketh.
We live as strangers and exiles (v.13), we talk different (v. 14), we pass on the Twinkies and Ho-Hos of sin for the promises of homemade apple pie and ice-cream. We can smell it, we can hear it, by faith; and thus we behave so wildly for He who has called us His beloved. We do not settle for lovers less wild and the artificial flavors of their enticements. We pass on lies for promises of substance. We long for unfading glory, we wish to draw near to God, to please Him, to know He is not ashamed to be called our God (v. 16).
We seek an inheritance incorruptible. Right now I am reading perhaps the most massive work ever written on spiritual warefare, Puritan William Gurnall’s The Christian in Complete Armour (1189 pages in the Banner of Truth addition, double column, approximately 10pt. font!). It is an exposition of Ephesians 5:10-20. It was originally released in three volumes, the second being dedicated to Thomas Darcy, Esq. and Sisilia Darcy, who were apparently well off. To them he advises, “Value yourselves by your inheritance in the other world, and not by your honour and riches in this.”
This is weird, this is opposite, it is worth it.
Opposite Way by Leeland
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
No Other Boast 
I am praying that God helps me see my foolish thinking I have towards the things of this world…It seems the more I try (in feeble ways) to prize God above all other things…the easier it is to see the foolishness and short lived happiness this world brings me….thank goodness I am on an “opposite trajectory” (learned a new word!)
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