I've recommended this book before, and I'll do it again. Check our "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. It's an easy read that gets to the heart of real Christianity. Nothing in the book is truly groundbreaking but it can be life-changing.
Chapter 8 is called "Profile of the Obsessed". I want to share with you a couple of the profiles in this chapter.
"People who are obsessed with Jesus give freely and openly, without censure. Obsessed people love those who hate them and who can never love them back."
This is an awesome profile. Obsessed people love those who hate them. I used to believe that loving those who hate you meant to tolerate them. However, love and tolerance aren't the same. Love is so much more than tolerance, we are commanded to love not to tolerate.
Frederick Buechner says in "The Magnificient Defeat" (I'm taking this from "Crazy Love" too) "The world is always bewildered by its saints... love for the enemy... love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world"
Do you love your enemy?
"A person who is obsessed thinks about heaven frequently. Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them."
Paul says in Philippians chapter 3, "Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven."
We need to remember where our citizenship lies. We should be as foreign here as a foreign exchange student is here. People should recognize that we aren't from around here; we are just visiting for a short time.
Do you think about heaven?
"People who are obsessed with Jesus do not consider service a burden. Obsessed people take joy in loving God by loving His people."
Chan writes, "I question whether many American churchgoers are really in love with God because they are so hesitant to do anything for Him."
Do you love to serve?
Be a lover of all people, think about heaven, look for ways to joyfully serve and be genuinely obsessed with our Lord Jesus today.
That was a good chapter to have a small group in attendance. I liked how you handled it. The difference between tolerance and real love was an eye-opener for me.
ReplyDeleteQuestion on this one "A person who is obsessed thinks about heaven frequently". I've heard the phrase 'That person is so heavenly-minded they are no earthly good.' How would you reconcile these two statements?
CJW
Good question.
ReplyDeleteI think we should be focused on the Kingdom. That means that we are focused on things that matter in the Kingdom. When we focus on things that matter in the Kingdom then we are extremely useful here on earth because we are striving to give folks a taste of heaven now.
That is a short answer and is probably full of holes, but I hope it helps.