Lowlife

My Sirius satellite radio died a couple of weeks ago and I have been forced to listen to my local radio stations. I have only found one station that I like and it is a Rock and Roll station. It doesn't play the 80's Rock and Roll that I still like but it is Rock and Roll so I listen. I have been exposed to some new, or at least new to me, bands. As I was riding in to work the other day I heard the first verse of a song by Theory of a Deadman (who I have never listened to before) and it caught my attention. Because I was listening to regular radio the "foul language" was removed. Take a look at the lyrics and I will finish my thoughts below:

"Lowlife"
You know I'll be the one who gets fallin' down drunk
At my neighbor kid's soccer gameI've got an '82 Fiero with a car seat in the middle
Broken down on the Interstate

I've got a beer-stained t-shirt looking like Joe Dirt
Something 'bout me just ain't right
I'm a cash-stealing, drug-dealing loser without any feeling
Getting trailer trash tonight

'Cause I'm a low life, and I'm loving it
I've got the whole damn world in the palm of my hand
I'm a low life, so f*****g deal with it
No you can't change something that you don't understand

I'm thrilled to be a hillbilly,
Hate to have to deal with me
Probably just end in a fight
No sleeves, can't read, doesn't even phase me
Naked, sleeping like a baby tonight

Living it up, living it upBeing a low life
Living it up, living it up

A gun-packing, b**h-smacking, mess with me it's gonna happen
Loving life living in sin
Passed out on the floor, sorry just to work no moreGiving up, on giving in

'Cause I'm a low life, and I'm lovin' itI'm never gonna change as long as I liveI'm a low life, so  f*****g deal with it
'Cause deep down I really know everyone is

'Cause we're low lives, and we're lovin' it
We got the whole damn world in the palm of our hand'Cause we're low lives, so  f*****g deal with itNo you can't change something that you don't understand

Living it up, living it up
Being a low life

I know these lyrics are a little offensive to some of you but the reality is that this is what many of us looked like and sounded like before Christ rescued us. We were simply looking for ways to satisfy the desires of the flesh. We were hell-bent on sinning and many, like me, were very good at it. Our desire to sin is not a recent phenomenon, men and women have been doing it since the beginning of time. These guys in Theory of a Deadman are simply writing about and glorifying what many of us do in secret. I think this song does a really good job of showing us what our hearts are like before God transforms them. Look at this verse:

'Cause I'm a low life, and I'm lovin' itI'm never gonna change as long as I liveI'm a low life, so  f*****g deal with it'Cause deep down I really know everyone is

He is right, deep down every one of us is a lowlife and when he says "I'm never gonna change" he is right. Let me explain:

The Apostle Paul recognizes sin in his own life on more than one occasion. Take a look at his letter to the Romans:

Romans 7: 15-24 - 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Even the Apostle Paul struggled with sin and he was God's chosen man. If Paul would have ended this portion of scripture like this I would simply say "oh well, if Paul struggled with it and did not have a solution what can I do?" But God in his mercy allowed Paul to finish his thoughts on this passage. Take a look at the following verse:

Romans 7: 25 - Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

The only way we can leave the desires of the flesh behind, the only way we can have a fighting chance is because of the finished work of Christ. Take a look at a few more of Paul's writings on this:

I Corinthians 6: 9-11 - 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

I Timothy 1: 15, 16 - 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

In the end the guys in Theory of a Deadman are only singing about what they know about, glorifying the desires of the flesh, glorifying what comes natural. Until they are exposed to the Gospel they will not see sin for what it is. They will not turn away from a life that will ultimately lead to destruction and death. God help us to reach out to those around us who are both singing about being a Lowlife and living it out.