So we've been reading this book for our SMT discussions, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. While everything that Chan writes about is straight from the Bible, there is something about how he puts things that make his words so convicting.
The God of the universe, does not need us, yet He still loves us so much He continues to pursue us. The reverse is what we most commonly see. We need God, but often times we act like we don't want Him or that we don't really love Him, we just love his stuff.
"Even though we could die at any moment and generally think our puny lives are pretty sweet compared to loving Him, He persists in loving us with unending, outrageous love."
-Francis Chan, Crazy Love
In Chan's fourth chapter he gives various examples that would categorize different profiles of the "Lukewarm", or people who have become useless to God's cause through their actions and lack of conviction. The problem (or the answer) with the profiles that Chan presents, is I fall into just about everyone of them at some point or another. I struggle with some more than others, but I still know that I am guilty of just about everyone of them. Now I hope it is not just me, and I am pretty confident that I am not alone in this, but so many of us struggle to understand Christ's love before we are able to show it.
Is this because we are unable to fully understand unconditional love, or that our God would give us a gift of grace that we often times knowingly reject? Francis Chan starts our one of his chapters by saying just that... "Most of us, to some degree, have a difficult time understanding, believing, or accepting God's absolute unlimited love for us."
How could something so great, be so easily forgotten?
My best guess, and personal understanding, is that we relate our experiences with "love" (from friends, family, and even the love of ourselves), to God's love. We have trouble separating conditional, from unconditional.
Still, we know it... but we don't always act on it. Do we change our thoughts and actions, or do we keep on doing what we are doing without God. While I wish I could say that I love God so much that I am always aware of His love for me and that I live my life in accordance with His will and not my own, I cannot. Like so many others I have fallen into all of these categories of Lukewarmness. Here's Chan's short list of what many Christians do, believe, or think on a regular basis. Just a warning, it may hurt.
LUKEWARM people may still...
attend Church fairly regularly (it is what they believe a "good Christian" does)
give to charity and to church (as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living)
LUKEWARM people...
Tend to chose what is popular over what is right (they care more about what people think of their actions more than what God thinks)
Don't really want to be saved from their sin (they just want to be saved from the penalty of sin, is this new life really better than my old sinful one?)
Gauge their morality or "goodness" by comparing their lives to others' (being better person does not make you a Christian)
Only allow Jesus in a section of their time, money, and thoughts... He isn't allowed to control their lives.
Love God, but not with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind.
tend to focus their love on others who will "love" them in return.
Do whatever is necessary to keep them from feeling to guilty.
Probably drink and swear less (but other than that they aren't much different from most other unbelievers)
Basically, we are all guilty of a lot of these things... but a life characterized by a pursuits of God and not a flee from punishment is the kind of love God wants from us. I had a hard time reading this chapter without trying to justify why I fell into some of these categories, And i kept thinking, "No way am I LUKEWARM."
The reality is, as Francis Chan puts it, none of us are immune to these actions and thoughts. The difference is a life that is characterized by these actions versus someone who consciously struggles to correct these issues of lukewarmness. I hope that I am struggling.
This leads me to my verse of the week.
James 4:8
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Draw near to God, pursue Him wholeheartedly and you will realize how He is in constant pursuits of you.
Hello Cyrus,
ReplyDeleteI've finally caught up with your recent posts, and this comment is in response to all of them rather than to just this one.
Your relating the story of helping flood victims in Nashville brought back to mind two devastating floods here in WV, one in the Tug River Valley in the early 70s, and the other that deluged 2/3rds of the state in 1985. I was involved in relief operations in both, and the harsh effects are long-lasting. The initial reaction of victims is a resurgence of strength and resolve: "We're still alive; we'll get through this and move on with our lives." But over time, depressive moods can set in, especially when there are extended periods of poor weather conditions. Then the memories come "flooding" back along with deep anxiety and even anger. Your mention of items with "sentimental" value is significant. Sometimes the victim recalls a particularly important family picture or document or article handed down through the generations, and realizing it is gone can trigger emotional overload. Hanging in with flood victims over the long haul sees the whole range of emotions that they must endure.
Curiously, I have similar impressions about short-term programs that provide recipients with healthy, loving summertime (usually) respites from whatever their day-to-day unfortunate circumstances may be. But then the camp, retreat, summer ministry ends, and life returns just the same way it was before. Perhaps the best hope of these programs is that they provide at least a glimpse of better possibilities, and that the struggle to continue forging ahead is worth it.
The other impression I have from reading your posts has to do with how the materials you are reading with great care and reflection seem to be written in such a way as to trigger guilt. Except for the flood story, the other posts exude guilt for not being faithful enough or not putting God first, etc., which is a technique employed by some Christian writers to bring the reader more solidly into their way of thinking.
Having grown up in a similar environment, I think I'm particularly sensitive to the method when I see it. Even though we've been acquainted only briefly, my sense is that you are a genuinely compassionate and committed individual who is honestly striving to be the best person he is meant to be. I'm not so sure that God wants you beating yourself up as much as your posts seem to suggest with all the ways you're not measuring up.
It seems whether you're studying for classes or improving your athletic prowess or working with flood victims and/or sports ministries, that you're doing the best you can in each given situation. If as you say, God really loves you simply because God loves you, then there is no need to "measure-up" or beat yourself up because something wasn't perfect, or it didn't live up to expectations of authors of books. The perspective that speaks more to me in contrast to what may be manipulative abuse, says something like, nothing can ever separate or change God's love for us, and a part of that love constantly nudges us to move in directions God intends. But God does not intend for us to be guilt-ridden and fearful of not measuring up.
Well, these are honest responses to your recent posts, and realizing that they may be more confrontive than is conducive to friendship, I can only hope that taking the time to do this will be received as a sign of care.
God bless.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to respond, and for making valid points on what you've read. I hope that my writings (which reflect a lot of MY "short comings") have not guilted anyone into my way of thinking. While I do wish my posts to provoke thought and encourage self reflection, I should definitely be more careful in how I say things... and even with the approach I take.
Some of the topics I have read have provoked strong convictions in me, and I do agree that what I have written sounds like I am trying to live up to the standards of the authors. My hope is that I am only trying to live up to what the Bible outlines as God's standards.
Yes, there is nothing that can separate us from God's love... love that is not received by how well I play, how well I do in school, or by constantly doing the right thing. The greatest things about it is that I am undeserving of his love, but I will always receive it. Reminding me of this "simple" fact has challenged me to give God my best effort in all areas of life... because I love Him and he is deserving of my best, and even desires my best... yet sometimes I feel I miss the mark terribly.
Now, I do realize that I am incapable of living perfectly, but in reading what you said I think I would agree that I sound like I expect myself to live perfectly... I realize that I cannot be perfect. But as you put it, I need those "constant nudges" moving me in the direction God intends, and to remind me that he loves me in my imperfection.
Thanks for the "nudge" Jim.
Blessings