Crazy Love Chapter 4: Profile of the Lukewarm

Chapter 4: Profile of the Lukewarm

This chapter is best summarized by a quote from Frederic Huntington that Chan used to start off the chapter:

It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism, that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity.

Those are some strong words, but unfortunately the description of the churchgoers in the second part of it is an accurate description of many people today. Today’s society struggles to live out the words of the New Testament. We like to have schedules, be in control of our lives and know what is going to happen. We like to have stuff and like to spend time doing many activities, which may not be bad in themselves, but when stacked on top of each other, they take away time from living the life we should. Chan relates these thoughts to the parable of the sower. He likens our lives today as a seed thrown among the thorns, which will take root, but is “soon suffocated in life’s worries.” Chan calls us to look at what thorns we need to revaluate or remove from our life in order to live a more fruitful live for the Lord. Our finances, TV, job, sports, and other commitments can be these thorns and rob us of our true calling.

For most of the chapter, Chan goes on to describe characteristics of lukewarm people. He makes it clear that we are all sinful and no one is able to have all of these characteristics figured out. The list is meant to be a way for us to evaluate ourselves and as 2 Corinthians 13:5 says to “examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” This is not a fun or easy thing to do, but Jesus did not tell us to come to him when we wanted to or when it was most comfortable to us. We need a constant relationship with him.

           

One of the characteristics that stuck out to me was the following:

Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but he isn’t allowed to control their lives.

This is the point I just mentioned above and one that really needs to be looked at. Jesus talks about this issue when he says in Luke 9 “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Once you commit your life to Jesus, you should keep on moving forward and not turn away. A colleague of mine talked about this idea in relation to the armor of God. When Paul talked about the armor of God, the people obviously knew exactly what he was talking about because they all knew what a soldier would look like. Here is the list of the pieces of armor Paul mentions: helmet, sword, breastplate, shield, belt, and shoes. If you would put on all of these pieces, what would be the exposed part of your body? Your back. If you would turn around when in battle, you would be done for because you exposed the only part of you that does not have protection. The same is true for Christians wearing the armor of God. We need to continue to march on forward and not turn around when things go wrong. If we turn around, we are exposing ourselves to attacks the devil puts in our lives.

We are not perfect and cannot always be living the perfect Christian life. But we can admit and realize that we do not have it all together and look at the ways we struggle and see how they can be improved upon.