Hey guys! I’m Tori, Zach’s older sister! Zach mentioned something to me about writing a blog post a while ago, and even though I wasn’t all for it at first, I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t quite sure what to talk about, so I decided to share a little about something that has convicted me recently as well as informing Zach’s fellow World Racers about a few random Zach facts that they may or may not already know!
Recently, I’ve been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan during my free time at work. I’ve read this book before several years ago during a Sunday School class, but I don’t remember it speaking to me like it did this time. From my experience, it’s not necessarily a feel good type of book, but it is eye opening and motivating and I would definitely recommend it.
Chan talks about what qualifies someone as being a “lukewarm Christian.” After listing examples describing lukewarm Christians, Fran goes on to explain that living like this is useless and it sickens our souls.
Here’s a list of some of the things he says that lukewarm Christians do that stuck out to me:
-Are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, but do not act
-Rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, and friends
-Gauge their morality by comparing themselves to the secular world
-Keep Jesus as only a part of their lives
-Think about life on earth much more than eternity in heaven
-Do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they don’t have to
“To put it plainly, churchgoers who are “lukewarm” are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven.” Fran backs up this statement by quoting Revelation 3:15-17 when Jesus warns us against being lukewarm.
“I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.” (Revelation 3:15-17, The Message)
I don’t know about you guys, but when I first read the above statement by Chan I felt like it was really harsh. Surely it’s better to be lukewarm than to not be a Christian at all! But then I read the verses in Revelation 3 and I was convicted. God doesn’t want part of me, He wants ALL of me. He wants me to give up complacency in my life and run to Him. It’s my goal to strive to bring God into every part of my life.
I hope these words are motivating for you like they were for me! And, remember that “in the midst of our failed attempts at loving Jesus, His grace covers us.” (Chan)
And now switching gears, here’s some fun Zach facts:
-When we were younger, my other siblings and I used to call Zach “chicken little” because frankly, he kind of just looked like chicken little 🙂
-If you asked anyone in my family who has the kindest heart in our family, without a doubt everyone would say Zach
-I took advantage of Zach’s kind heart growing up (oops), making him do anything and everything for me. I was known to pay him a quarter to do “whatever I want for the whole day” and he just couldn’t say no to me (as evidenced by the picture below of Zach dressed in my doll clothes)
-Zach was voted student of the year his senior year of high school in addition to being valedictorian
-Reading Zach’s blog post about what his teammates thought of him made me super proud because I felt like many of the things they mentioned (food network, HGTV, High School Musical, Justin Bieber) were because of me and my remote controlling ways 🙂
Thanks Zach for letting me be a guest blogger and thanks to everyone else for reading!
Only approximately 5 more weeks until Zach gets home!
