Going the wrong way.

What makes someone drive the wrong way down the motorway at high speed despite the risks to themselves and others?  Was it for social media attention? Was it to escape from the Gardai? Whatever the reason it is tragic that the five teenage boys died, and that three women and a seven-year-old boy were seriously injured.

It was clear that the boys were going the wrong way,  but lives rarely end up in disaster in a single moment. We naturally wonder what influences shaped these young men—the choices they made, the voices they listened to, and whether anyone ever managed to teach them right from wrong.  There are many questions and no easy answers. 

Families have been left devastated, and lives changed forever.  Even those of us who were not directly involved feel impacted, perhaps shaken and more nervous to go out on the road.  But there’s a sense in which this fragility of life is nothing new. One dear friend used to say to me “you put your boots on in the morning and you don’t know who will take them off in the evening.”

But these deaths and injuries were avoidable.  It was so clear that the boys were going the wrong way, but would they have listened if you’d told them?  It’s very hard to be told you’re going the wrong way.  No one wants to admit it. I’m very grateful that in 2002 someone told me that I was going the wrong way.  I didn’t want to admit it, but I was hurting others and hurting myself.  The hardest thing about hearing we’re going the wrong way is that pride tells us to keep driving. There’s a sense in which we are all going the wrong way.  We are living in Jesus’ world and yet our nature is to rebel. We don’t want him to rule over us, we want to decide how we live.

The problem is, if you want to be boss and I want to be boss, what happens when we meet?  There’s a clash.  When 5 teenagers decided to ignore Jesus’ command to love their neighbour there was a catastrophic clash.  Our rebellion against God may not have led to such devastating consequences, but it is still deadly serious.  Serious enough that Jesus should give up His life for us so that we can have life. 

“You’re going the wrong way.” How would you feel about being told that?  I’m so grateful I was told that. Jesus calls us to stop trying to be the boss, he offers to pay for the mess we’ve made and to give us a fresh start.  He offers to be our refuge as we learn to walk through a world that can be frightening and confusing.