The first book was called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan.
I read this book a year aqo...it bothered me...in a good way. But I guess it didn't bother me enough. I didn't change anything because of the book. I just put the information in my mental blender.
And then a month ago I read another book. "Radical" by David Platt.
If possible, this book bothered me even more than "Crazy Love" did. But again, not enough I guess. I still haven't done anything about what I have read, just went and put in the mental blender.
But now I can't seem to turn the blender off. Questions keep coming to the surface. Questions that I cannot seem to find solid answers to. Maybe that is the problem. Maybe there are no solid answers....but that doesn't mean that there aren't any answers.
So, I thought I would put my questions up here. Maybe someone who reads this can help me with the answers....maybe not. Maybe we'll just have a group of us with more questions than answers....but if the questions won't go away, maybe we can search for the answers, and in the searching, while we might not find an answer, maybe we will BE the answer.
What does it really mean to follow Christ?
Matthew 4:19 (New International Version)
19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
How many REAL "fishers of men" do you know? Does following Jesus mean that you would be a fisher of men if you follow? If you're not fishing for men, are you really following?
Matthew 10:39 (New International Version)
39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What does it mean to lose your life? How many people who go to church every week, how many pastors have truly lost their life? I'm not talking about physical death, but death to self.
Luke 14:26-27 (New International Version)
26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple
What does this look like? I know what I've been TOLD it means...my love for Jesus in comparison to my family will make what I feel for my family look like hate....but is that REALLY what it means? If so, how does this look in our society? How is it lived out? And the taking up and carrying the cross thing....what does that look like? It's waaaaaaay more than just having to deal with the unpleasent things that come our way...a man in the days of Jesus who was carrying a cross was a dead man...on his way to the execution...so how is that life lived out here? What does it look like?
Matthew 13:44 (New International Version)
44"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."
And now for the last set of questions for the day....how is the above scripture lived out? If the kingdom is worth EVERYTHING...why do we spend more time entertaining ourselves than we do advancing the kingdom? Why do we spend more money on ourselves than we do advancing the kingdom?
Ok...that's enough for one post...but I have more questions...and maybe I'll post more later...but it all boils down to this:
What does it REALLY mean to follow Christ? Do you know? Do you know anyone who TRULY follows Jesus?
Stil rolling the questions around in my mind....
Pastor Dave
