Expression of wonder, surprise, or appreciation: "wow, that's amazing / outside the norm / mind-expanding." "Far out, man — you saw the northern lights from the plane?" Slightly more awestruck than "groovy"; more about novelty than excellence.
Neutral, dated, harmless. "Far out" expresses wonder — a capacity the Bible takes very seriously. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" (Ps 19:1). "What is man that you are mindful of him?" (Ps 8:4). The Christian should be a connoisseur of awe, but anchor that awe in the right object. Boomers often directed wonder at psychedelic experiences, nature mysticism, or abstract cosmic concepts. Scripture directs wonder at the Creator Himself and His works. Say "far out" if you like — and make sure the awe it expresses is finally landing on the Maker of the northern lights, not just the lights.
A dated expression of wonder. The vocabulary is harmless; the direction of the wonder matters everything.
"Far out" is the boomer vocabulary for a moment of genuine wonder. The question Scripture presses is: where does the wonder land? If it terminates in the experience itself — the sunset, the mushroom trip, the song — then wonder has been diverted from its right object. If it ricochets off the creature to the Creator, wonder has been biblicized. "Ever since the creation of the world his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made" (Rom 1:20). Every "far out" moment is a doorway. Walk through; do not stop at the threshold.
Psalm 19:1 — "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork."
Psalm 8:3-4 — "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?"
Romans 1:20 — "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made."
Psalm 139:14 — "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
"Far out" is a good instinct in the wrong direction if it stops at the experience. Let every moment of wonder land finally on the Maker. Wonder uphill.
“Whoa, you backpacked through Nepal? Far out, man.”
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.”