- livingthedash.tv

So I’ve been thinking about God’s word and how He says a lot of stuff that runs completely counter to our world, our culture, and religion.

our culture says hurry up and really live before you die // He says you have to die before you can really live

the world says seek revenge when you are wronged // He says forgive and love your enemies

religion says strive, attain, perform, don’t do this, don’t do that // He says follow me

our culture says earn, spend, accumulate // He says give

the world says look out for #1 // He says love others as well as you love yourself

religion says clean yourself up  // He says I will meet you where you’re at

our culture says you are beautiful if you look like this // He, the King, says he is enthralled by your beauty

the world says you will have problems // He says you will have problems, but your joy may be complete

Twitter was buzzing about iamsecond.com last night.

You have to check out this site.

iamsecond.com is described like this……

I Am Second is a movement where significance in life is a shared value among people of all kinds.  Actors.  Athletes.  Musicians.  Business leaders.  Your next-door neighbor.  People just like you.  Their authentic stories here on iamsecond.com provide insight into dealing with typical struggles of everyday living.  You’ll meet people who overcame destructive lifestyles.  Plus you’ll discover those who’ve tried to go it alone and have failed, yet still found a life full of hope, peace, and fulfillment.

Beautiful design.

Beautiful videos.

Beautiful stories.

And a beautiful message.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I spent some time reading through Crazy Love: Overwhelmed By A Relentless God by Francis Chan.

Great book. Challenging book.

The basic premise of the book is this (as noted on the back cover)…..

God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself.  Because the answer to religious complacency isn’t working harder at a list of do’s and don’ts – it’s falling in love with God.  And once you encounter His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same.  Because when you’re wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.

2 chapters in the book that really grabbed me were Chapter 4 // Profile of the Lukewarm and Chapter 8 // Profile of the Obsessed.  In chapter 4, Chan shoots straight with a “description of what halfhearted, distracted, partially committed, lukewarm people can look like”.

For example….

LUKEWARM PEOPLE are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control.  This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God.

He follows it up, in chapter 8, with a challenging description of how people who are obsessed with God might act.

For example,

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.

Here are a few more lines from the book that I highlighted….

- I grew up believing in God without having a clue what He is like. (me too!)

- Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?

- You could die before you finish reading this chapter.

- The point of your life is to point to Him.

- The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.

- So there is an incalculable, faultless, eternal God who loves the frail beings He made with a crazy kind of love……He persists in loving us with unending, outrageous love.

- Jesus asks for everything.  But we try to give Him less.

- 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.

- In the midst of our failed attempts at loving Jesus, His grace covers us.

- Dare to imagine what it would mean for you to take the words of Jesus seriously.

- We never grow closer to God when we just live life; it takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.

- Our view of the Holy Spirit is too small……It is individual people living Spirit-filled lives that will change the church.

I spent my Thanksgiving giving thanks for a crazy love from a relentless God and pondering this question:  Am I truly obsessed with Him or just lukewarm?

Seth Godin had a great blog post yesterday about how people make decisions based on their worldview and the data at hand.  The post was written from a marketing perspective, but the concept that he talks about goes way beyond just marketing.  It matters to the Church.  It should matter to me as a follower of Christ.

Seth says this……

Changing worldviews is very difficult and requires quite a bit of will. Changing the data at hand is a lot easier, and that’s where marketing can really help. If you, as a marketer, can package data in a way that people with a certain worldview can accept, you move the conversation forward far more quickly than if you merely dismiss the non-customers or the doubters as stupid……………The easiest way to grow is to sell to people who share a worldview that endorses your position. The most effective way to grow bigger than that is to inform those that disagree with your position–more data in a palatable form. And, unfortunately, it turns out that the best way to change the world is to open the closed-minded.

In Matthew 28:16-20, The Great Commission, Jesus instructs us to go and make disciples of all nations.  But like Seth points out, changing someone’s worldview, or the way they see the world, is very difficult.  In fact, I would argue that the only person that can change a person’s worldview is that person.  However, we can change the data at hand.  When it comes to the Church, Christianity, the message of The Gospel, we are the data.  You are the data.  I am the data.  So the question becomes, “Am I a good piece of data?”

When I don’t love, when I fail to forgive, when I serve myself instead of others, when I don’t give, when I am not humble, when I don’t have compassion, then I am not being a good piece of data.  I am not being an accurate reflection of Christ.

When I do love, when I forgive, when I serve others, when I give, when I am humble, when I have compassion, then I am accurately reflecting the qualities of the God I serve.  I am data in a palatable form and then, and only then, we can move the conversation forward.

Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak.

That is what James tells us in James 1:19…..

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak…

We find this same advice in Proverbs…..

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.  Proverbs 10:19

He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.  Proverbs 13:3

Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.  Proverbs 29:20

There are so many ways to apply this Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak principle……

- as a parent

- in marriage

- in relationships with family and friends

- at work

- as a leader

- with God

Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak