2. Less Than Hot but Not Quite Cold

I was listening to a sermon today by Francis Chan, and he said some things that really hit me. First of all there was this statistic that 53 of every 100 people in the world live on less than a dollar a day. How is that possible? Less than a dollar? That puts me in the minority. I made $7.50 an hour when I worked in fast food. So in one hour I made over seven times more than 53% of the people in the world live on in a day. What? Isn't that crazy? But it's true. I guess there's really no wondering why people call this the land of opportunity.

Francis linked that fact to the verse in Matthew where Jesus is talking to the rich young ruler and tells him that it is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. By the standards I just talked about, I think that I, an 18 year old college student, would probably be considered rich. I think most of us would be considered rich compared to the greater portion of the world population. And yet I find myself complaining about money all the time, and I hear my parents worrying about money. It just seems wrong to me now to ever complain about anything. Being born an American is quite a bit of a blessing in itself. I've never lacked in any of the basic things that people need: food, shelter, clothing. And yet I always want more "stuff". I think this is the flaw in materialism. I get everything and more than I need, and yet I always want more.

He then goes to the section in Revelation 3 where Jesus is speaking to the lukewarm church at Laodicea. V. 17 says, "...you say, ' I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked..." I think my actions show that I really believe that I am in need of nothing. To me it seems that I can get through tomorrow on my own. I may not read my Bible. I may not pray. I may not acknowledge God tomorrow, but that doesn't mean that I can't meet my needs tomorrow myself right? If I'm hungry I'll buy food. If I'm bored I'll find something to do. If I'm tired I'll take a nap. If I get sick I'll get myself from medicine. I'm pretty self-sufficient. And I think that sense of self-sufficiency is what will damn the rich man because it's a false sense of security. God has given me everything I have and I have really earned none of it. I'm not sure if I'll ever know how to depend on God the way that the Chinese Christian under persecution does. Or how Elijah depended on God for food. God told him to leave where he was and that He would provide food for him by ravens, and He did. But I am able to deny God and provide for myself, when truly every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights. And everything is His. I'm just a steward of what He's given me. Unfortunately I think that my own sense of self-sufficiency has caused me to be less than hot but not quite cold.