No one in the GenX generation can hear the words “Into the flood again…” without immediately hearing in their head Layne Staley’s once-in-a-generation voice singing the next line: “…same old trip it was baaaaack then!” This, known to all GenXers, comes from the song Would? by the ’90s band Alice in Chains. Alice in Chains is one of GenX’s four horsemen of the Grunge Apocalypse, along with Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but I’ll let the GenXers out there debate about who should claim that next spot—Soundgarden or Stone Temple Pilots (but that’s another blog post).

Back to the song: For me, one of the most passionate lyrical lines to ever come out of the grunge era is found at the end of Would? when Staley belts out in his grunge-defining voice the existential question: “Have I run too far to get home?”

He’s not talking about losing track of where you’re jogging because you got distracted by some self-help podcast. It’s a desperately honest question posed with the rawness that could have only come from the early ’90s. In many ways, this was the GenX way of asking the eternal question: “Am I beyond saving?”

THE GOOD PLACE

“Have I run too far to get home?” succinctly voices the burning desire in every heart to return to “the good place”—the place where things are as they are meant to be. However, we are often inhibited from finding it on our own because doubts arise that block the way, and so many of us give up, letting questions go unanswered.

In our hearts and souls, we all know this simple truth: there is a true way that things should be, and we know this because the world as it is, is not it. The beauty of this lyric, “Have I run too far to get home?” lies in recognizing that not only is there truly a “home”—an ideal place where things are as they are meant to be—but that losing it is something we are capable of doing.

And for those who are honest, the same can be said about our own souls: something is wrong on the inside. If you don’t think so, then I would ask if you’d be open to playing out loud every unfiltered thought you’ve had in the past 24 hours. Gonna pass on that? Yeah, I thought so. We all know that nobody is perfect and that there is brokenness in us all—and Scripture calls this sin. But is it possible to reclaim what was lost, to make new what was broken, or to right what’s been wronged? Is it possible to be saved from our sins?

Or have we run too far to get home?

THE GENERATION KNOWN AS X

I am the last of the Generation X. Just making it into the 70’s by being born in the summer of ‘79, I grew up in a time caught between the old world of the Boomers and the emerging technological world of the Millennials. With more than any previous generation had, we stilled shared a cultural angst because we were the generation positioned perfectly to question why we needed the old when everything felt new and yet, we knew the new had no more answers than the old. And with every reason to rebel, we did, and so were labeled, Generation X.

For many GenXers, our perceptions of faith, and particularly of Jesus Christ, were tainted and warped by growing up with a traditionalism that seemed to lack substance—a belief system that appeared divorced from reality. But unlike previous generations, we weren’t going to follow suit. We weren’t going to follow tradition for the sake of tradition. We were called Generation “X” for a reason—because no one was going to tell us what to do.

Too many of us were dragged to church growing up but never told why. So, when we had the option, we stopped going, …but the questions lingered. Rather than turning to God with our questions, we threw on our flannels, turned on the half stacks, and screamed our doubts over distortion-laden power chords as we cried out, “Have I run too far to get home?”

Thus, we abandoned church and, with it, the seemingly hollow pulpits that spoke of things we didn’t have the ears to hear. The angst of ’90s grunge spoke to the frustrations we were feeling, because with no source of Truth, we were left singing questions we couldn’t find answers to… yet the answers were there all along, if we were willing to look past the religiosity and simply see the power of the Resurrection of Christ.

RIGHT QUESTIONS STATED IN CODE

We asked how to get “home” because we wanted to be where things are as they should be, but while the desire was right, the question was wrong—or at least, coded.

During the Last Supper, Jesus was asked a probing question about how and who would see Him after He had departed from this earth, and this was His answer:

Jesus answered,
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our home with him.” 
John 14:23

The question of “Have I run too far to get home?” is emphatically answered by Christ with a resounding No! Because salvation is not about going home; it’s about God making a home in us—through the love of God found in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ; that is, through the Gospel.

Let’s break down what Christ said:

• “If anyone loves me…” 
  This is the foundation of our salvation in Christ and our relationship with God: Love. Simply and beautifully, love. We are called to love Christ first, above anything in this world, including ourselves.

• “…he will keep my word…” 
  This is about more than just ‘believing the Bible.’ It’s about trusting in the promises Christ has made. To love Christ is to obey His teachings. To keep His word means turning from our own wisdom and placing all trust in God. It’s about repenting of our ways and wisdom in order to follow God’s way, so that we will “keep” God’s Truth and not our own.

• “…and my Father will love him…”
   Before you get turned off because this sounds like God’s love is conditional, let’s see how this is actually powerful. This is not about just mentally assenting to the fact that God loves us; it’s about actually experiencing it. To love God’s Son and trust in God’s Word is when and how we truly come to know and realize God’s personal love.

• “…and we will come to him and make our home with him.” 
  Here is the difference between the Christian faith and all others—what Jesus says here shows us that Christianity is about a relationship with God. What better way to symbolize the togetherness of our relationship with God than by equating it to a home, living together—not just being roommates, but being family with God as our Father and Jesus as our Brother and Savior.

NOT ABOUT GOING, BUT TURNING

The answer to the question, “Have I run too far to get home?” is No because the beauty of the Gospel shows us that we are saved where we are, in our sin and shame. It’s not about cleaning up or going home; it’s about turning to Christ and receiving what he has done for us.

The truth is, it’s not about us getting home. The Gospel is about Jesus leaving His home. Christ left His throne in heaven to step into creation as the God-man on a rescue mission to save us—and to save us in our sin, from our sin. As Romans 5:8 tells us, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Meaning, salvation is not found in “going home” or in actually “doing” anything, but in simply trusting what Christ has done for us. This is called grace—because it’s given, not earned.

Christ did for us what we could never do for ourselves. His death was the sacrifice that paid for our sins, and all we are left to do is simply receive and respond.

THE GENX GOSPEL

If GenX’s question about our salvation is summarized by asking, “Have I run too far to get home?” then the GenX translation of the Gospel would be this: Our salvation is not about getting home, but about God making His home with us.

So, turn from your sin, call upon the name of Christ, see the love that God has for you in the Gospel, and know that, no, you have not run too far to get home.