I am reading a book by Francis Chan calledCrazy Love. Francis is talking abouthow the life of a Christ-follower should be marked by a passionate love forJesus, not simply  following therules and saying and believing the right things. One line that I read todayalmost leaped off the page. Francis writes that “something is wrong when ourlives make sense to unbelievers.”

     Something is wrong when my life makessense to the people of this world. If that’s true then I think something iswrong with my life because so much of it (maybe even all of it) makes perfectsense to my unbelieving neighbors. I live with my healthy, beautiful family ina three-bedroom home in a suburban community with plenty of food in thecabinets, two cars in the driveway, a dog, a fenced-in yard, clean drinkingwater, and so much more. When it’s cold outside, I turn on the heat. When it’shot outside, I turn on the air conditioner. Thanks to my friend, Larry Pahl, Ieven have a waterfall in my backyard! In short, I have a pretty comfortablelife. Nothing particularly wrong with that in and of itself, but it does makeme wonder what about my life doesn’t make sense to unbelievers. What radicalthing am I doing with my life—what mountain am I climbing—that makes them lookat me and say, “Huh?”? Consider Noah. He definitely got this kind of reactionwhen he started building a big boat in his backyard and telling people theyneeded to repent because it was going to rain…a lot! His neighbors were nodoubt like, “Huh? We don’t get this guy!” How about Abraham? I’m sure his neighbors thought it was just marvelous that he was about to offer his son onan altar. In fact, as Francis points out, the lives of so many heroes of thefaith simply do not make sense to the world. Die for Jesus? That just doesn’tmake sense. Give everything away. That definitely doesn’t make sense. Cry overinjustice and stand up for people who cannot repay you? Why would you do that?

     Is there a passion in me that burns sowhite hot with love for the Lord that I do crazy things—nonsensical things? Iwant there to be. I want to love God so much that my non-believing neighborsthink, “Matt has lost it!” I wonder what ark I am supposed to be building thatwill make my neighbors think I’m nuts. The trouble is that I want to be aradical follower of Jesus, but at the same time I want to be comfortable. MayGod help me to love him more so that my life no longer makes sense to thosearound me—that it may be poured out for God as the woman poured expensiveperfume on the feet of Jesus.