Spiritual Butt Whooping Time!

I've been reading Francis Chan's book Crazy Love. I cruised through the first three chapters without stopping to think, but then I hit Chapter Four: Profile of the Lukewarm. Can I just tell you that God smacked me in the back of the head, kinda like Gibbs slaps Dinozzo on NCIS! Bam!

Francis is explaining the Parable of the Sower and all the different places the seed was scattered. I've heard the story before, and then he says, "Do not assume you are good soil." Hold up! I might not be good soil? I had never considered that I could possibly be the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns. Am I letting the distractions of this world (aka "thorns") choke my seed? That really got me thinking, and then he hit it out of the ballpark with this lukewarm profile (here are a few of them):

• Lukewarm people attend church fairly regularly. It is what is expected of them, what they believe "good Christians" do, so they go.
• Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church...as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living.
• Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict.
• Lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin: they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.
• Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act.
• Lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends.
• Lukewarm people gauge their morality or "goodness" by comparing themselves to the secular world.
• Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part.
• Lukewarm people love God, but they do not love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength.
• Lukewarm people love others but do not see to love others as much as they love themselves.
• Lukewarm people will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money, and energy they are willing to give.
• Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven.

Do any of these sound like you? I hate to admit that more than one sound like me.

The best part of each statement is that Francis uses an applicable scripture to back them up. There was another slap from God in the back of the head! Hearing each of those scriptures together with the pieces of this lukewarm profile was pretty profound and challenging for me.

Read the book; I hope it will give you the spiritual butt whooping that it's giving to me. I'm sorry for those of you who don't thrive on the spiritual butt whooping, but trust me, it will be good for you. :)

And because pictures are fun...