Chapter 4 he talks about the lukewarm Christian and what that kind of Christian is like. I believe it was this chapter that he mentions that this kind of Christian isn't one who is scared of sin, but the consequences of sin. He/She doesn't want to be saved from their sins, just saved from the punishment of sin. I never thought of it that way, but he is right. The lukewarm Christian doesn't want to change their lifestyle, they only want to be assured that they will not go to hell when they do wrong. I have seen this in others that I have interacted with throughout their life. I think they maybe have a false sense of security, which I believe is worse than no security at all.
Chapter 5 was tougher for me to listen to and left me really evaluating my life. The chapter is titled, "Serving Leftovers to a Holy God". The title alone gets the wheels spinning. He starts by challenging the reader to read some passages objectively, like Revelation 3:15-18. Go, read it. What is your take from this passage? Like most people, you will probably answer that Jesus is talking to Christians and warning them about being lukwarm, right? I am paraphrasing, but here are some questions that Francis Chan asks: "What about this passage makes you think of a Christian? To be spit out of Jesus mouth, what makes us think that we were part of the kingdom? When he talks about poor, naked, wretched, do we think he is describing saints? He advises them to buy white clothes to wear to cover their nakedness. Does it sound like advice he would give to those already saved?" This is the only time spit appears in the Greek, and the word literally means to hurl, gag, or vomit.
For those of you that are parents think about this: Is there anything that your son/daughter can do that will make you despise them so strongly that looking at him/her literally makes you want to vomit? Anything?
If we are Christians, and thus children of God, do you think that we can do anything to make God despise us? What if these people he is talking to aren't Christians, they just claim they are? I think then this passage starts to make more sense.
What if someone claimed to be part of your family, took your sir name, and started doing wrong things? What if they started bringing disgrace to your name and your family? How would you feel? You would probably begin to despise this person, right? Say your neighbors start to ignore you and you start to lose some friends, all because this one person has brought shame upon your family. I think maybe this is what God is talking about here. Those who claim to be his followers, his children, are doing more harm than good and are just bringing disgrace to the kingdom.
So what does this mean? What if Francis Chan is right? What if a lukewarm Christian is really not a Christian at all? I think if this is true, then trying to get into Heaven by doing the bare minimum is not good enough.
I'll be honest, this chapter scared me a bit. Now, he is not saying by any means that our works is what saves us, but what he is saying is that we cannot be saved on faith alone, but on faith through our good works. You can't simply say the sinner's prayer and be accepted, but your faith should be demonstrated on a regular basis through your lifestyle.
