I am currently touring New York City and amidst all those crazy New Yorkers. It amazes me in how different life is here. I mean, I did expect it to be different but not on this level. Everyone is very materialistic: it's all about the Parda bags, the leather jacket and boots, the chic hair, and the perfectly painted nails. New Yorkers push the limits: they walk as far out into the street as possible with out getting hit by a taxi cab; they squeeze as many people as possible into a elevator or subway car; and they crunch time so closely that they have three seconds to catch their next transit...thus they run to get there...pushing and shoving along the way. A New Yorker can tell 100 yards away that you are a tourist: you aren't wearing all black, you are carrying a backpack and wearing tennis shoes (hardly a soul in sight wears tennis shoes!)...you stop at crosswalks when the red hand comes up instead of running into the intersection before the cars come racing down the street.
This kind of lifestyle reminds me much of what Francis Chan talks about in the next chapter of Crazy Love....having too much going on in our lives. When this happens, we are not able to grow in a relationship with God because there are too many distractions keeping us from him...especially when we want so many things in life (money, activities, etc.) David Gotez wrote that, "Too much of a good life ends up being toxic, deforming us spiritually." I wonder how many of these New Yorkers have a lifestyle that is toxic and deforming and not just spiritually but for their own well-being.
The second part of the chapter describes different situations that many of us exhibit in being lukewarm Christians. This chapter really changed my perception on what the bible means by being lukewarm. I thought it was just not being hot or cold on a subject but the book says that lukewarm can be halfhearted, distracted, or partiallycommitted for God. This chapter also helped me examine what areas I am lukewarm in and gave bible verses to help counter act these situations.

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