where is your heart

It's Christmas break. And what better to spend a 35 day break from school resting, spending time with friends and family, and seeking the Lord. I brought about five books home with me from school and will hopefully get through them all. I'm starting with Radical by David Platt, the pastor at Church of Brook Hills in Birmingham. It has been incredible so far (I'm only on page 72). I can't even begin to recap the first couple chapters but it has challenged me to think about my faith and the glory and power of the Lord. As I was reading I was reminded of a passage from the book Crazy Love I read this past summer. Francis Chan is actually quoting John Piper's book God Is the Gospel when he shares this:

"The critical question for our generation--and for every generation--is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasure you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"

Challenging huh? Is our love for Christ alone.. or for what He can give us. Are our motives selfish? Or selfless for His kingdom? I remember the first time I read this I was thinking.. Wow, that'd be great. No disease, no trouble, just perfection. But what if God wasn't there. As I'm typing this now I see the faithfulness of the Lord. I see how he has deepened my love for Him. I long for the day I can sit at His feet. The day I can just be with Him and worship Him. I love the song by Kari Jobe "The More I Seek You". One of the lines says this: "I want to sit at Your feet. Drink from the cup in Your hand. Lay back against You and breathe. Feel Your heart beat". Those verses have become so real to me. I long for that day. So, reading more of Radical I came across this passage..

"If you were to ask the average Christian sitting in a worship service on Sunday morning to summarize the message of Christianity, you would most likely hear something along the lines of "The message of Christianity is that God loves me." Or someone might say, "The message of Christianity is that God loves me enough to send his Son, Jesus, to die for me.


As wonderful as this sentiment sounds, is it biblical? Isn't it incomplete, based on what we have seen in the Bible? "God loves me" is not the essence of biblical Christianity. Because if "God loves me" is the message of Christianity, then who is the object of Christianity?


God loves me.
Me.
Christianity's object is me.


Therefore, when I look for a church, I look for the music that best fits me and the programs that best cater to me and my family. When I make plans for my life and career, it is about what works best for me and my family. When I consider the house I will live in, the car I will drive, the clothes I will wear, the way I live, I will choose according to what is best for me. This is the version of Christianity that largely prevails in our culture.


But it is not biblical Christianity. 


The message of biblical Christianity is not "God loves me, period," as if we were the object of our own faith. The message of biblical Christianity is "God loves me so that I might make him--his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness--known among all nations." Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him. We are not the end of the gospel; God is."

Once again, is our devotion to the Lord all selfish? I know so many areas of my life that I am selfish. That I'm definitely not thinking about others, just myself. So what about my relationship with the Lord? Do I love Him for who He is or for what He can do for me? My prayer is that now and forever my faith will be fully developed on my deep love for the Lord. Because He is good and more than enough for me.