Get over yourself!

When I prayed over whether or not to come to Korea, many things drew me here. The act of completely and totally surrendering to God was one of them. I was stepping out in faith and trusting He was going to catch me as I fell. I've struggled with trusting the Lord throughout my time as a Christian and for me I was finally in a place of eagerness and selflessness and ready to throw myself at the Lord. I guess part of me believed that many of the other Christians I would meet in Korea would be in that same place. I thought if they were abandoning their whole lives and leaving it behind, surely it was because doing the work of the Lord was the only thing on their mind. While that has been the case for a hand full of people I have met (literally a hand full) that has not been the case for many. 

I have been completely frustrated by the amount of Christians I have met here who are just dead! Christians who's passion and fire for the Lord is non existent. Christians who are living selfish, self seeking lives without consideration of others. Christians who fear speaking about Jesus because they are afraid they will be associated with a cult. As I've struggled with where I should serve and who I should be serving, the Lord has definitely opened my eyes to realizing the body of believers needs help! 

Yesterday at church, the pastor of our church had the courage to speak on this very thing. He told the church he feels like their fire and passion are gone. His boldness to speak on this helped me realize that is the only way we are going to see change. 

In Revelations, God tells us that if we are neither cold nor hot, he will spit us out of his mouth. Spitting is a disgusting thing. And the idea of knowing I could make God feel so disgusted with me that He would want to spit me out of his mouth is enough to help me never want to get to that place. 

In his book Crazy Love, Francis Chan talks about this very thing and identifies several characteristics of a Lukewarm Christian. I've paraphrased them here so you can "check yourself" and see where you fall.

- Do you go to church regularly, because it is the "right" thing to do or because you desire any connection you can with Christ?

- Do you choose what is popular or what is right?

- Do you act/move/do everything you do for Jesus or for you?

- Do you share your faith with others?

- Do you give Jesus ALL of you?

- Do you give of yourself earnestly and thankfully with a full heart?

- Do you love others more than you love yourself?

- Do you think about life on earth more often than eternity in heaven?

- Do you play it safe or do you sacrifice and live for God?

- Are you living life storing up treasures on earth or in heaven?

 For the believer in Christ, life is not about what kind of job we will have, whether or not we will find a spouse, when we will have children, how much money we can save, ect. Life is about living every moment of every day surrendering yourself to the Lord to bring glory to him and grow his kingdom. While you are doing that, you can enjoy the blessings He has given you but if your heart is focused on yourself first and what your future holds instead of focused on how much you can make others see Jesus, I'd say it's time to check your heart. 

For those in Korea with me, I'd rather 10,000 people think I was part of a cult for the 5 who will hear the gospel and get saved, than to not share the amazing gift I've been given with someone else! Praying for hearts to be changed here, I hope you will join me in the fight.