Life in Scotland has been crazy BUSY the past 3 months - haven't blogged as much as I'd like... so I thought I'd share with you some of what I'm writing and wrestling through at Edinburgh Theological Seminary.
Francis Chan writes Crazy Love from within American church
culture to his contemporaries. In this
book, he seeks to wake up complacent believers to the glory of God, to the
experience of grace, and to the absolute demand placed on our lives through the
gospel. He intersperses exhortation with
testimony of personal renewal in his own life and in that of Cornerstone
Community Church, a church he planted and which, at publication date, he had
pastored for thirteen years. His stated
goal is to '...convince you of
something: that by surrendering yourself totally to God’s purposes, He will
bring you the most pleasure in this life and the next.'[1]
From his opening words, 'We all know
something’s wrong,'[2]
Chan takes the direct approach and asks 'some hard questions,'[3] with the
qualifier that his goal is not to bash but to spur on the church. In chapters one to three, Chan addresses our
perspective of God. He paints a fresh
picture of classic attributes of God; he reminds us that history is about God,
not us; and he invites us to exchange performance-oriented fear for 'reverent
intimacy'[4]
with our loving God. He goes for the jugular
in chapters four and five, titled, 'Profile of the Lukewarm' and 'Serving
Leftovers to a Holy God'. First, Chan
catalogues the traits of nominal Christians who, based on his reading of
Revelation 3:16 'will not... [be] in heaven'[5]. Then he argues that offering God leftovers is
not justifiable; it is 'evil'.[6] With chapter six, the book turns a corner as
Chan models the answer to lukewarm living: it is not guilt, but letting
"God... help me love God."[7] This love moves us from a life of comfort to
one of faith-filled risk.[8] Chan challenges us to pursue the exemplary
traits of the "Profile of the Obsessed".[9] Then he profiles twelve demographically
diverse individuals, one family and one church who model 'crazy love'. Chan shares these to '[eliminate] every
excuse for not living a radical, love-motivated life.[10] He challenges readers to not simply
noetically assent but to respond by walking in surrender. This challenge is supported by three 'how to'
steps from Chan's own experience: continually pursue Christ, remember the great
cloud of witnesses, and rely on the gift of the Holy Spirit.[11]
This book's greatest strength is its clear, passionate and unifying
theme, robustly undergirded by Scripture: 'let's take seriously Christ's call
to heartfelt, no-holds-back discipleship.'
Chan's choice of language serves his purpose well: it is simple,
compelling, and it carries the theme forward in a fast-moving, logical and
emotive flow. Chan's habit of careful Bible
meditation comes through in his fresh insights into familiar Scriptures. For example, commenting on Jesus' analysis of
salt losing its saltiness, he asks, 'How would you like to hear the Son of God
say, "You would ruin manure"?'[12] Francis writes to an audience he knows well, and
he earns credence with them through his own authenticity. He reinforces Scripture's injunctions with
well-chosen quotes and with inspiring examples of ordinary people. Finally, Chan calls for a strong response
from his readers.
Crazy Love is an important, well
written message; what could Chan have done to make it even better? He warmly expresses the truth of God's
forgiveness and father-love.[13] However, this foundational truth would have
greater impact if Chan had proved it more thoroughly from Scripture rather than
from experience, and if he had clearly expressed that the power to change is
not only something to pursue on our part (e.g. 'swimming upstream'[14])
but also something to freely receive from God as part of the gift announced in
the gospel.[15]
Additionally, Chan's declaration that
the 'lukewarm' are damned begs at least a brief interaction with evangelicals
who disagree, but he declines.[16] In answering the 'Now, what?' question, his
first prescription is 'to ask yourself, "Is this the most loving way to do
life?" '[17]
I suggest this emphasizes the human element
in discernment, to the neglect of cultivating a dependant, listening ear for
the leading of the Holy Spirit (though he is clear in emphasizing the power of the Holy Spirit[18]). This appears to be his corrective to people
using 'I didn't "hear God calling me" '[19]
to excuse their disobedience to Scripture; however I believe his approach
divides something which God has joined together - the Word and the Spirit.
On the research side, the book's statistics are weakened by Chan's
choice in one case to cite the sometimes-reliable Wikipedia (historical
world population[20])
and in the other case, to provide no citation source (income comparison[21]).
As a discipleship resource I would give Crazy Love an eight
out of ten. I have benefited from it and
I would share it with others.
Personally, this book challenged me to have a big and growing view
of God and to love him with every fibre of my being. While my coming to Scotland this year has
involved massive steps of faith, reading Crazy Love made me realize how
quickly I am settling for a safe life now that I'm here. Chan spurs me on to eschew my preference for
comfortable living, and stirs afresh a longing that my greatest steps of faith
will not be in my past. The
biographical sketches in chapter nine gave me a vivid picture of Jesus as the
treasure hidden in the field who is worth any price to gain. One of the 'trust' questions raised for me
is, 'How should my family approach "giving" now that we have
transitioned from salary to zero "guaranteed" income?' I think above all I hear in Francis' book a
call to not to neglect that sweet place of worship and intimacy with Jesus
where abandon to God flows naturally.
In my vocation as a preacher, Francis' model of pulling no punches
in laying out the call of Jesus convicts me.
Sometimes I over-qualify the demands of Scripture with the result that
their potency is diminished. I found Chan's
own testimony of struggles and victories to be helpful, and I am encouraged to grow in the practice of
personal transparency as part of teaching the Bible effectively. On the home front, I am inviting my
twelve-year-old daughter to read Crazy Love and I look forward to
discussing with her how it applies to our lives.
Finally, here is my favorite quote from Crazy Love:
Giving up everything
and sacrificing everything we can for the afterlife is logical. “Crazy” is
living a safe life and storing up things while trying to enjoy our time on
earth, knowing that any millisecond God could take your life.[22]
Crazy Love: Updated edition
Written for Practical Theology 101 - fall 2015 @ Edinburgh Theological Seminary.
[1] Francis Chan and Danae Yankoski, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
(Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2008), 20
[2] Ibid, 19
[3] Ibid, 19
[4] Ibid, 57
[5] Ibid, 83
[6] Ibid, 91
[7] Ibid, 104
[8] Ibid, Chapter 7
[9] Ibid, Chapter 8
[10] Ibid, 163
[11] Ibid, 169-171
[12] Ibid, 81
[13] e.g. Ibid, Chapter
3, also cf. p. 110
[14] Ibid, 95
[15] cf. Gal. 3:1-5
[16] Chan and
Yankoski , 84
[17] Ibid, 166
[18] Ibid, 171-172
[19] Ibid, 169
[20] Ibid, 45
[21] Ibid, 89
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