This is a review of Francis Chan’s Crazy Love
What if I said ‘Stop praying?’ What if I told you to stop talking at God for a while, but instead to take a long hard look at Him before you speak another word?1
This is how Francis Chan begins his debut book in which he wants us to take both a fresh look at God—spending the first three chapters on this—and the other seven on how this change in perception causes us to see ourselves.
Chan starts his exploration of God by asking us why we pray and why we worship God. He implores us to take time, pause and seriously examine our motives and our hearts, something that can benefit all of us. He then answers this question by affirming five absolutes about God: God is holy, God is eternal, God is all-knowing, God is all-powerful and God is fair and just. In light of these characteristics of God, Chan again asks us to stand ‘in awed silence before a mighty, fearsome God.’
If this God that we worship is all of these things then why in the average day do we consider and seek Him so little? We are to remember that our life is nothing but a second in eternity and for all of that second we are not in control. I recently watched a sand timer and as the sand poured through the glass I was fixated. I couldn’t look away, anticipating the moment when the sand was going to run out. I’m a complete weirdo I know, but we have to look away. We cannot stand and stare in shock or interest as our time runs out. We have to live our lives for Christ however short they are and this requires extreme effort but it makes for a life well spent. We must not float through life waiting for it stop, but live it for God and for the sake of those perishing all round us.2 All that matters is the Lord and our service to Him. To us, He is and should be everything. This does not come from a place where we are forced to love and serve God, but because we recognise that there is nothing else that can compare.
One of the reasons I have chosen this book to review is because of the many challenges it confronted me with. One, I have no doubt every Christian has or will encounter, is the problem when we become lukewarm in our faith and Chan hits hard and asks some questions that to be honest left me stuck for an answer. ‘Has your relationship with God actually changed your life? Do you see evidence of God’s kingdom in your life?’3 These are not supposed to be rhetorical questions, but statements that need to be prayerfully reflected upon. He uses the parable of the sower and the seed as the springboard for these questions, asking us how we know that we are the ‘good soil’? Our first reaction to these questions can be defensive (which gives us a big clue of where we spiritually are). ‘What right has this guy to ask us these questions? Of course I am the good soil’ we can retort. But finally we must give in as we realise that what Chan is saying here is true. We cannot claim to be a Christian, a disciple of Christ and therefore a practitioner of all that He teaches if His values are not to be found in our lives. If there is no change from our old ways, no ceasing of sins, no remorse for our misdoings, how can we state such a claim?
I could continue retelling you the content of the book (which I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that’s what I’ve been doing), but it would be far better if you would just read the book for yourself. I could not promote this book enough and I would easily say it changed how I lived my Christian life. Chan does not present extra-biblical knowledge but he works wonders in rediscovering scripture’s deepest challenges for us today. This is one of the few books that I could not put down. It spoke so loudly and clearly to me and challenged me to reconsider why I am a Christian and really how I should be living if Christ is everything to me. I hope this article has somewhat challenged you and made you want to read Crazy Love. If I haven’t been successful and the last thing that you want to do is read this book that’s fair enough, but I’d urge you to seriously and prayerfully ponder and reflect upon these words:
Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus Christ? Or do the words halfhearted, lukewarm and partially committed fit better?
1. Chan, F. Crazy Love, 2013, p.27.
2. 1 Corinthians 1:18.
3. Chan, F. Crazy Love, 2013, p.67.
