Are you a No Trans Fat Christian?

So I want to share with you some more from the book " Crazy Love" Im reading by Francis Chan. He has a great analogy of the labeling we find often now on food, " No Trans Fat". I decided to post this so you get an idea of how straight forward he is before I post what he says about Lukewarm Christians, just because that will hit ya hard after you read it.. Well for most of us it will! This was a great reminder for me when I feel far from God or disconected to do something about it , Right away. Because like Chan says loving God is what its all about. Following God and learning what love is, is what leads us to eternity... which we will all face one day.

And so it begins with potato chips!


(From the Book "Crazy Love")

Recently I saw a  bag of potato chips with a bold declaration splashed across the front: " Zero grams of trans fat." I was glad to know that I wouldn't be consuming and trans fat, which research has shown is detrimental to my health. But then I flipped the bag over and read the ingredients list, which included things like " yellow #6 and other artificial colors and partially hydrogenated oil, which is trans fat, just a small enough amount that they can legally call it " 0 grams". I thought it was incredibly ironic that these chips were being advertised in a way that makes me think they are not harmful yet were really full of empty calories, weird chemicals, and ironically, trans fat.

It struck me that many Christians flash around " no trans fat" label, trying to convince everyone they are healthy and good. Yet they have no substantive or healthful elements to their faith. It's like the Laodiceans, who thought they had everything until Christ told them they were poor and wretched. They were all about declaring, " Look we have no trans fat, . We are wealthy, or we have good families, or we go to church every week." Obviously, its not what you advertise that counts, its what you are really made of.

Gods definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love. 

Paul writes that even if " I have faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but haven ot love, I gain nothing." ( 1 Corn. 13:2-3)

So God assesses our lives based on how we love. But the word love is so overused and worn out.  God tells us this about love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

But even those words have grown tired and overly familiar, haven't they?

Here's a little exercise for you to try. Read through the scripture again and insert your name. For example, Francis  is patient..... Do it for every phrase in the passage. 

By the end dont you feel like a liar?

Following Christ isn't something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side. It is not a label we can display when its 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. I believe that much of the American churchgoing population, while not specifically swimming downstream, is slowly floating away from Christ. It isn't a conscious choice, but it is nonetheless happening because little in their lives propels them toward Christ.