Crazy Love - Chapter Five

This chapter is how you know Francis Chan is a pastor. It's about giving. Now I'm not being fair, it's a lot more than just giving, it's about loving God so much you'd be willing to give up anything. It's just funny that a bulk of it is about giving/tithing and we had the same sermon this past week (a great sermon by the way which can be found...HERE)

Anyways, this chapter is basically backing up the previous chapter - God doesn't want lukewarm Christians. You look at all of these passage where people claim to want to follow Jesus but first they have to _____, or the book of Revelation that shows all of these great churches who still think they're great but they lost their way. "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"

Like I said this chapter just emphasized a lot that I heard last Sunday. Especially this example. Malachi 1:8 says "When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty."

"The priests of Malachi’s day thought their sacrifices were sufficient. They had spotless animals, but chose to keep those for themselves and give their less desirable animals to God. They assumed God was pleased because they had sacrificed something.

God described this practice as evil.

Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God’s point of view (and lest we forget, His is the only one that matters), they’re evil. Let’s stop calling it “a busy schedule” or “bills” or “forgetfulness.” It’s called evil. (ouch)

God is holy. In heaven exists a Being who decides whether or not I take another breath. This holy God deserves excellence, the very best I have. “But something is better than nothing!” some protest. Really, is it? Does anyone enjoy token praise? I sure don’t. I’d rather you not say anything than compliment me out of obligation or guilt. Why would we think God is any different?"

But Craig you sound like a preacher, I thought this whole study was about love, what does giving have to do with love? Did you not see it!? Do you love your spouse? Would you eat the best food you could find and give your spouse whatever money is left over to go eat at McDonalds? Of course not! But we do that with God. We fill ourselves up first and then give God what's left over once we're comfortable. That's not crazy love that's just crazy!

But if you want to talk about love check this out:

"But Paul writes that even if “I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2-3 ESV). Wow. Those are strong and unmistakable words. According to God, we are here to love. Not much else really matters."

I LOVE this exercise Francis describes when it comes to the most famous passage about love (that we often skip over because we've heard it so many times)

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.... faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

-1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13

"I was challenged to do a little exercise with these verses, one that was profoundly convicting. Take the phrase Love is patient and substitute your name for the word love (For me, ‘Francis is patient…”). Do it for every phrase in the passage.

By the end, don’t you feel like a liar? If I am meant to represent what love is, then I often fail to love people well.

Following Christ isn’t something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side. It is not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we do and are.

If life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream."

Great closing thoughts:

"But the fact is that nothing should concern us more than our relationship with God; it's about eternity, and nothing compares with that. God is not someone who can be tacked on to our lives"

"Like the parable of the sower, don't assume you are the good soil; don't assume you are one of the few on the narrow way."