If you haven’t already heard the news, Francis Chan is stepping down from Cornerstone Church.  You can view his video at Justin Taylor’s blog.  Apparently Chan is pursuing a new direction.  While details regarding this “direction” are still unknown, this decision was certainly a clear-headed step of faith, and we can only look forward to his future endeavors.

In the meantime, I felt it appropriate to share just a few brief quotes from Francis Chan, thoughts that have been influential in my own life, and worth passing along to you.

I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don’t swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. That’s for the “radicals” who are “unbalanced” and who go “overboard.” Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involve suffering (Francis Chan, Crazy Love, p. 66).

And from “More than a Follower,” originally appearing in Relevant Magazine:

Christians in America often complain about how antagonistic people are toward Jesus. Personally, I’m not sure that Americans are really rejecting Christ. Maybe they just haven’t seen Him.

Try to be completely honest with yourself right now. Is the following true of you?

You passionately love Jesus, but you don’t really want to be like Him. You admire His humility, but you don’t want to be that humble. You think it is beautiful that He washed the feet of the disciples, but that is not exactly the direction your life is headed. You are thankful He was spit upon and abused, but you would never let that happen to you. You praise Him for loving you enough to suffer during His whole time on earth, but you are going to do everything within your power to make sure you enjoy your time down here.

In short: You think He is a great Savior, but not a great role model.