How to Share Your Faith Using Mute Math's Typical
Mute Math's music video Typical is currently climbing up both the Modern Rock and Alternative Billboard Charts. The video has created buzz in recent months, largely because this attention-grabbing song is performed backward. The band memorized and rehearsed the song in reverse! Performing music in reverse is definitely not a typical concept!
But if you look past this unique performance to the song itself, you'll find some intriguing lyrics that echo through the souls of most Gen Y listeners. Check these out:
I've lived through my share of misfortune
And I've worked in the blazing sun
But how long should it take somebody
Before they can be someone
Cause I know there's got to be another level
Somewhere closer to the other side
And I'm feeling like it's now or never
Can I break the spell of the typical...
These are lyrics that capture the longing that every human soul harbors - to be 'special', to be someone, to be valued, to have purpose and meaning in their lives. AND to feel the pull that there is another dimension to life, or as the song puts it 'there's got to be another level, somewhere closer to the other side.'
Humans feel these longings for meaning and value, because we were created in the image of God and we were created to be in relationship with Him. As we live in our fallen world with its pain and sin and suffering, our souls ache to experience that closeness with God that we were created for. We long to know we are loved unconditionally by the One who is Love Itself.
Jesus speaks to these human longings when he tells us in John 10:10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Abundant life sounds like the furthest thing away from 'typical' life that you can image.
Jesus came to earth and sacrificed his life on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and provide a way for our relationship with God to be restored and made rich and whole and full. 1 John puts it this way,
"truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ...that your joy may be full." (1 John 1:3-4).
Next time you hear Mute Math's song Typical, remember that Jesus makes life anything but typical. Then try using the lyrics in this song to talk with your friends about God. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Do you view yourself as 'typical'?
- Why or why not?
- Do you want to live a 'typical' life? What would it look like to you, to live an 'extraordinary' life?
- In your mind, does living an extraordinary life involve having a relationship with the God of the universe? Share from your life how having a personal relationship with God through Jesus gives your life meaning, purpose and value.
- Do you believe there's another 'level' or 'dimension' to life beyond the here and now? Share what you believe about God. For help with this, check out the GOSPEL Journey.
Who would want to settle for typical? In God's loving and grace-giving eyes, through the finished work of Jesus, our relationship with God's can be restored, making us His children and heirs, loved and treasured - and there's absolutely nothing typical about that!
