Lessons that the Bible (and Abandon Kansas) Taught Me
Galatians 5: 19-21 – Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I was driving to work on Thursday and asked God to give me a song in my head that would help me get through the day. As I was flipping through the CDs (yes, I STILL have not come into the modern age. I like my CDs), I came across Abandon Kansas’ Ad Astra Per Aspera. I want you to know straight up, this is an AMAZING album! But I got scared because lyrically they are the Christian synonym with Morrisey (yes, I am dating myself here).
I accidentally hit the “RANDOM” button on the CD player and the first song to come up was “Take my Lead.” This is one of my favorite songs by this band! It immediately makes me think of Galatians 5. Below are the lyrics (I hope Abandon Kansas doesn’t mind me reprinting them here, if so I’m sorry)
We have been marooned on this island of men
We call our home but no one seems to know
What weʼre all doing here and why we are alone
Loneliness is loose upon our land
The leprosy of modern man
And God almighty knows, that weʼve all been exposed
Take my lead, take a look around
Weʼre all wanderers in this town,
If you canʼt see me now, then follow the sound
Follow me, Iʼve been found
Why do the best of us feel all the shame?
While the worst of us donʼt feel a thing?
Sometimes I donʼt feel anything
Take my lead, take a look around
Weʼre all wanderers in this town,
If you canʼt see me now, then follow the sound
Follow me, Iʼve been found
If all roads lead to Rome
Then how are we supposed to know
Which ones gonna take us on home?
Take my lead, take a look around.
Follow me, Iʼve been found, been found
Take my lead (take my lead), take a look around (take a look around)
Follow me Iʼve been found, been found
If you canʼt see me now, then follow the sound
Follow me
Take my lead, take a look around
Weʼre all vagabonds in this town,
If you canʼt see me now, then follow the sound
Follow me, Iʼve been found
Follow me, Iʼve been found.
And the video is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CMbOyUBeSI
So anyway, before this post gets any longer, I want to explain what made me post all this. I walked into my office for meetings in the afternoon. Now before I continue, please realize that I work for a blatantly anti-Christian company. As I walked into the meeting room where all of my regional partners were sitting, the conversation started off with discussing names for food which led into stripper names which led into a sexual discussion about one of our female team members getting paid by men.
I sat there dumbfounded.
Then…it happened.
We were told that we were going to meditate to align both our root and throat chakras. In an hour-long meeting, we designated 15 minutes (or ¼ of the meeting) to this. For those who don’t know, chakras are supposedly manipulated through energy transference exercises in an effort to make the body more healthy.
This is a big belief in Hinduism, Buddhism and the New Age Movement.
I did not participate in this, just so you know.
Meanwhile, I’ve been counseled for having the numbers “1: 1 6” at the bottom of my email signature. When I did not participate, I noticed the glare from my regional boss. She did not come out and claim that she was disappointed, but I could see it in the look I got from her.
Now, I am not going to play the “it’s not fair!” card. I think in reading this you can see for yourself that it isn’t. But that is a blessing, Christian! When a Christian is called out or made to be different, we celebrate in the life that Jesus led.
1 Peter 4:13 – But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
When Jesus set foot on this planet, He set Himself apart. That is the definition of holiness. We are set apart. When we are set apart, we suffer. But when we are set apart, we are also showing Christ to others and gain the respect for that which Christ gives us.
So this brings me back to Abandon Kansas. As the company I work for is infected with the “leprosy of modern man” and I find myself “marooned on this island of men,” I have been found by the living Christ. As people see this more and more, they will Take My Lead and come to Christ.
And that happened.
A woman at an earlier meeting, whom I did not know, told me she recognized me from Chesapeake Christian Fellowship on Sunday. God showed me that even though the company I work for blatantly tries to silence Christians, that His Word gets through. People come to Christ.
Romans 8:17 – Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
