crazy love, pt2

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop - a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear" (Matthew 13:3b-9).

I can't stay away from this Francis Chan book. Chan opened my eyes when he mentioned this parable and commented: "My caution to you is this: Do not assume you are good soil." He wrote that thorns are the things in our life that distract us from God. When we pile all this stuff (money, sins, activities, commitments, etc.) on top of God, how can our relationship with God grow? It can't. The chapter was titled "Profile of the Lukewarm."

"Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live? Do you see evidence of God's kingdom in your life... Are you satisfied being "godly enough" to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison to others?"

Chan went on to describe what a lukewarm, half-hearted person looks like. OUCH. Some of the examples he listed described me. He writes, "Jesus' call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a 'Christian' without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd." Chan wrote so many convicting things in Chapters 3 and 4.

I am so thankful for God's sufficient grace and for the truthfulness of this song:

Great is Thy faithfulness, oh God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

And one last Chan analogy I thought was worth mentioning:

"Recently I saw a bag of potato chips with a bold declaration splashed across the front: 'Zero grams of trans fat.' I was glad to know that I wouldn't be consuming any trans fat, which research has shown is detrimental to my health. But then I flipped the bag over and read the ingredients list, which included things like 'yellow #6' and other artificial colors, and partially hydrogenated oil (which is trans fat, just a small enough amount that they can legally call it "0 grams"). I thought it was incredibly ironic that these chips were being advertised in a way that makes me think they are not harmful yet were really full of empty calories, weird chemicals, and, ironically, trans fat.

It struck me that many Christians flash around their "no trans fat" label, trying to convince everyone they are healthy and good. Yet they have no substantive or healthful elements to their faith. It's like the Laodiceans, who thought they had everything until Christ told them they were poor and wretched. They were all about declaring, "Look, we have no trans fat. We are wealthy, or we have good families, or we go to church every week." Obviously, it's not what you advertise that counts; it's what you are really made of."

This book is really knocking me in the head. Which is a good thing and very much needed.