Hot or Cold?

Last night Jennifer and I were able to talk with a couple (members of PBC) who are in an undisclosed location trying to reach and undisclosed people. It was such a joy to share with them over the phone...to hear their voices...to laugh and cry with them. Oh, how we miss them being with us but what they are doing is nothing short of God's work.

When you stop to think about missionary families do you see them as radical? Is their sacrifice, their willingness to pay whatever cost is necessary, their ability to leave home and family unfamiliar to you? There was a time that I viewed them in this way. That is...until I went on my 1st mission trip. After the trip I began to realize that what they were doing isn't radical but rather it's obedience. This family is simply being obedient to God. What's radical is that our churches aren't filled with more people like them.

Jesus said, "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." Matthew 13:44

Do we possess that type of enthusiasm? Are we willing to sell all that we have to follow Him? Unfortunately, for a lot of "believers", the cost is too high. When I consider this mentality - I understand quickly that there is a HUGE difference between believers and followers. It's far too easy to become lukewarm in our faith.

Lukewarm people do just enough to be considered a believer but aren't at all interested in becoming a follower of Christ. Pay attention to the quote from Fredrick D. Huntington, Forum Magazine, 1890: "It's 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." Where does this mentality come from?

Francis Chan, in his book "Crazy Love" explains Lukewarm People in this way: "Lukewarm People don't really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin. They don't genuinely hate sin and aren't truly sorry for it; they're merely sorry because God is going to punish them. Lukewarm people don't really believe that this new life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one."

I know that my sound harsh but the truth often is. When will the people of God begin to capture the passion that was displayed in the early church? When will we, like the followers of Christ in the book of Acts, begin to turn our world upside down? For far too long the church has sought a co-existence within the world. Oh, dear friends, we were never meant to be a part of this world! We are in it but we aren't supposed to be of it.

Are you Hot or Cold? If we took your spiritual temperature would we find that you are lukewarm? It's time for the church to rise up from the ashes. It's time for the sleeping giant to awake. Today is the day for the church to storm the gates of hell. Let us not get caught up in trying to maintain the body of Christ - let's motivate the body of Christ to work for the kingdom of God rather than our own kingdom. In the end...it won't be the kingdom of PBC that stands - it will be the Kingdom of God.

Let's change to definition of a true follower of Christ from radical to obedient!