Francis Chan paints a pretty cold picture of the lukewarm follower in chapter 4. Then he comes back in chapter 6 with the "obsessed" follower.
Here's how he describes that person:
Obsessed people...
"love those who hate them and who can never love them back."
"care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress."
"live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another."
"will do things that don't always make sense in terms of success or wealth on this earth."
"know the sin of pride is always a battle."
"take joy in loving God by loving his people."
"are known as givers, not takers."
"orient their lives around eternity."
"are raw with God. They don't attempt to mask the ugliness of their sins or failures."
"know that forty minutes on Sunday is not enough to sustain them for a whole week."
"is more concerned with character than comfort."
"revels in his role as child and friend of God."
All these points are pulled from examples in scripture and follow the life Jesus models to us all. It may be overwhelming to read such a list and feel so small compared to what is laid out here. But these are not so much standards as they are a portrait of the road traveled by those who follow Jesus. These are many of the areas God is transforming inside of us to move us to live, move, walk, talk and act like we were created to be.
This is what the narrow path looks like. This is what the Jesus follower is after. This is what he is caught up in. This is the kingdom lifestyle he has called us to.
It's a crazy love for Him. And a crazy love for others.
Now that can lead you to do some crazy, unconventional things! Crazy is not common. And his Kingdom is not of this world.
So do something crazy today as you declare his Kingdom to a world that needs to hear of His crazy love.
I could be wrong, but doesn't Chan talk about the profile of the obsessed in ch. 8 not 6? But what do I know?
Posted by: donyes | October 14, 2009 at 09:04 AM