Are you crazy? I guess we would all shy away from that word when describing ourselves. I mean we would much rather be described with words like dependable, disciplined, frugal, well rounded, understanding, loving, organized and many other nice words similar to those. Crazy is not one of the words that come to mind when I think about words that people want on their tombstone. In fact, if someone calls me crazy, I go into defense mode almost immediately.
Now, although we shy away from this word in everyday living, I wonder if we've ever considered our walk with Christ to be defined just that way. In the last several months, I've been constantly challenged with the biblical mandate that we are to live lives that are so committed to Christ that we are sometimes deemed crazy by the world around us. We have multiple examples of this happening from the early martyrs, to Christian missionaries like those seen in the recent movie entitled "The End of the Spear". Crazy commitment for Christ that ended up radically changing the world.
Today I was again reminded of this call to craziness in our Christian walk through the most recent "My Utmost for His Highest" devotion. Take a look at what it has to say:
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Gracious Uncertainty
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2
Our natural inclination is to be so precise— trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next— that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, "Well, what if I were in that circumstance?" We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life— gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God — it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, ". . . unless you . . . become as little children . . ." (Matthew 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, ". . . believe also in Me" (John 14:1), not, "Believe certain things about Me". Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in— but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.
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Now that's Crazy! I long for a committed walk with Christ that is called crazy by the world around me. How about you? Are you crazy?
I have not yet read it, but I have heard of a book called Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan (the Stuff Christians Like guy did a book club based on it). Has anyone else read it or heard anything about it?
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't heard of it but I checked some reviews after I read your comment. Here's a quote from one:
ReplyDelete"The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don’t swear, and good church attendance," Francis Chan writes in Crazy Love. "Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. That’s for the 'radicals' who are 'unbalanced' and who go 'overboard'. Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involve suffering."
To be quite honest, I have to admit that a book capable of producing a quote like the one above makes me nervous. A book like that warrants extra effort to avoid it because page after page, I will be guilted into becoming whatever the author’s view of a good Christian might be. Strangely though, the quote above is what made me immediately head out to the store and buy this book.
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Given what I've read, I'll be checking this one out.