How to Share Your Faith Using Matchbox Twenty's How Far We've Come
"I'm waking up at the start of the end of the world...I believe the world is burning to the ground." Now there's a conversation starter for you! Everybody has opinions about where the world is headed these days.
Matchbox Twenty's current hit song How Far We've Come throws reality in your face and head-on asks the tough questions of life. Beneath the bouncy, upbeat style of the music, a mix of hopelessness and longing are oozing out of the lyrics. Coupled with some thought-provoking video footage, How Far We've Come challenges the listener with questions like: What's the purpose of my life? Where's the world headed? What are we on this planet for? Will my life matter? In the end, what's it all about? Serious, sobering questions that deserve answers. Questions every thoughtful person wrestles with at some point or other in life.
Check out these soul-searching lyrics:
I'm waking up at the start of the end of the world,
But it's feeling just like every other morning before,
Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone...
Started crying and I couldn't stop myself.
I started running, but there's nowhere to run to.
I sat down on the street, took a look at myself,
Said where you going man, you know the world is headed for hell.
Say all your goodbyes if you've got someone you can say goodbye to.
As you read those words, you can feel an underlying longing for meaning . And you can feel the emptiness descending as all hope seems to be burning up in the consuming fire of despair.
Maybe you struggle with feeling like you're in that lonely, empty place, separated from meaning and truth and purpose. Or maybe you have a friend who struggles with those questions. Life in a fallen world can be difficult and painful. And the easy way out is to brush the tough questions aside with distractions like food, addictive behaviors or therapy shopping. But embracing the questions is a healthier approach, for these are the kinds of questions that can turn people's hearts toward God.
As believers, we have received God's gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ and as a result, he serves as the source of hope and meaning for our lives. We exist for God's glory and he longs for us to walk in a close and personal relationship with him. The Apostle Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 1:11-12:
It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. (The Message)
We should be extending that hope like a lifeline to all around us who are asking the tough questions of life. The piercing truth of God's love for us and for his deep desire to restore our relationship with him through Jesus, brings a "peace that passes understanding" and shapes our passions and pursuits.
Next time you watch or listen to Matchbox Twenty's How Far We've Come, look for ways to naturally bring God up in your conversations and share your story with your friends. Try some of these kinds of questions to get the conversation moving in a spiritual direction:
- Ask your friends what they think of the song's opening line, "I'm waking up at the start of the end of the world." Do you think we're living at a time that is close to the end of the word?
- What does the "end of the world" mean to you? Explain that you believe Jesus is going to return. To learn more about this, read Matthew 24:27-44.
- Find out what their reaction is to the song's line that questions, "Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone..." What's the point of life? Where does their purpose and meaning in life come from? Share how your relationship with Jesus has given you purpose and peace.
- Talk with your friends about where they turn when things get tough and life seems dark or discouraging. Share how Jesus came to show us how to live in the midst of the tough stuff and explain how your relationship with him is a source of strength in the midst of the challenging stuff.
The Bible teaches that there will be a point in the future that will be the end of the world as we know it. A real point in time and space where there will be a reckoning and where there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Live your life in the light of the truth that the end could be tomorrow... because it could be!
