Testing yourself

Do you ever critically look at your life and see how you measure up? I often hear people say not to be so critical of yourself, but I think an honest review of how you measure up to Jesus' words and actions is something we should be doing frequently and honestly with each other as well. I am reading "Crazy Love'' by Francis Chan again and have to say it is kicking my butt. He was talking about the parable of the good soil and it struck me as we talked about it this last Sunday that most people think that describes them, but I would challenge that. We seem to have this notion that everybody who shows up on Sunday is going to heaven. Afraid to burst your bubble, but that isn't what Jesus requires of us. It is a lot more than that. We are timid in challenging people to really look at their lives and make change. I would guess that more than a few of the people who show up on Sunday are probably better described as either the hard or rocky soil (surface level growth but not much depth) or the soil in the thorns (suffocated by life's worries, money, sins, activities, commitments and other things). Neither of these produce fruit. Neither do a lot of people who show up on Sunday mornings. I'm not trying to be judgmental, but really most of us have too many things competing for our attention to show much fruit. Take a minute and honestly answer these questions:

"Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live? Do you see evidence of God's kingdom in your life? Or are you choking it out slowly by spending too much time, energy, money and thought on the things of this world? Are you satisfied being 'godly enough' to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison to others?

(Ouch!) Are we choosing what is popular over what is right? Are we just trying to fit in at church and outside the church? Do we care more about what other people think of our actions than what God thinks of our hearts and lives? What some honest feedback? Ask those around what kind of fruit you are producing. We need to stop playing church and really start living it. Jesus wasn't afraid to offend those around him by saying what needed to be said. He didn't avoid the hard conversations that needed to take place. Really isn't that part of the love that we are called to have? Willing to love enough to help each other produce the fruit we should. Do a little evaluation, check with someone who knows you well, read the Word and see how you are really doing. Let's quit playing at this and start doing it.

A little drastic? Maybe, but Jesus doesn't want to be just a part of our lives, he wants control over our lives. Doing enough to just get by (what I would describe as being average and therefore probably a fair number of people) doesn't seem to measure up to taking up our cross and following Him. Reading His words can cut through the weak excuses we tend to make. What kind of soil are you?