The other day i had an assignment to listen to Francis Chan's sermon at a nearby church. I was really disappointed with what i listened to and went away from the sermon feeling a little bit less respect for Mr. Chan.
   The majority of his sermon focused on having "Crazy love" for the church. I can dig it... (I've been listening to late 1980's and early 1990's rap music). The beginning of his sermon focused much on scripture and he dove into examples of how his church had been showing love to one another and to the community around him. I was impressed by his elder board and their ability to give up the comfort of life insurance and look at one another in the eyes and say, "If something happens to you or your family, i'll take care of you." I was also really amazed at the fact that he was throwing a huge dinner for the homeless men and women around his neighborhood. Lobster, live entertainment, lavish gifts, and new outfits for each person was an expensive (and kind) thing to do. Theeeeen i started to feel uncomfortable. I couldn't get over the fact that he no longer was preaching from the Bible, but from his experiences and his excitement about what HE was doing and what HIS church was doing. I felt uncomfortable with his statement, "I'm excited to feel like God." (weird??)
   I walked away that day with a rock in my stomach and questions in my mind. I have a feeling that Francis Chan would never admit it but... i think he would agree that worshipping God and loving Him is by doing radical actions. All of his extremely specific actions were radical... crazy... controversial... EXCITING!! I didn't know what to think... i STILL don't know what to think. I don't like the idea of giving up insurance and spending lots of money on people i don't know and don't necessarily trust.

Then...

I started reading Crazy Love. (I know... that's so 4 years ago). This book has a chapter titled "Profile of the Lukewarm". Understanding what a lukewarm Christian really is takes up the majority of this chapter.
Lukewarm people:

• Attend church because it's "good"
• Give money to charity as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living
• Tend to choose what is popular over what is right in a conflict
• Don't really want to be saved from their sin; they want to be saved from the penalty of their sin
• Rarely share their faith because they don't want to be rejected
• Gauge their morality by comparing themselves to the secular world
• Only let God be a part of their lives
• Do not love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength
• Love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves
• Will serve God and others but limit how much time and money they give
• Think about earthly life much more than eternity in heaven
• Are thankful for luxuries and do not consider giving as much as they can to the poor
• Do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling guilty
• Are continually concerned with playing it safe
• Do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they don't have to
• They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn't be more wrong

I started to think about these things in their entirety. Along with this profile came Bible verses that ransacked the ideals of a lukewarm Christian and put into perspective the love Jesus had for each one of us. NO WHERE in the Bible does it show Jesus's loving actions being lukewarm. When one man told Jesus that he needed to bury his dead father before he followed him, Jesus's answer was, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
   I'm not saying that i necessarily think that all actions of love must be radical and we should all go around giving our houses to the bum on the street corner but i have been contemplating these things and wondering, "How am i different from a lukewarm Christian? Do my actions differ from this definition?" I think if anyone looked at this profile and then looked at their actions they would find it hard to say to themselves in all honesty, "I'm perfect". I don't necessarily DISagree with the statement that radical action should be the norm of the church... then again i don't DISagree with the statement that giving a meal to your neighbor who is hurting should be the norm of the church.
   I have been learning a lot about love these past few weeks and am feeling really convicted about my actions. I think Mr. Chan deserves a little credit for this one...

and God... also.