Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan
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Book Reviews of Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Book Review: Not a "works-based" Gospel
Summary: 5 Stars
Pastor Chan does not preach a work-based Gospel. The fact that there are reviewers accusing pastor Chan of preaching a work-based Gospel is another evidence of how shallow our North American theology is.
Salvation is a free gift of God, which we cannot earn by works (Ephesians 2:8). However, if we are to receive this free gift, we cannot desire a contrary way of life. Let me explain with an analogy. One could receive the free gift of a home in Hawaii. However, a resident of New York must LEAVE BEHIND New York in order to receive that free gift of a home in Hawaii. "Leaving behind New York" is not a "work" that earns the free gift, but it is a necessary choice that one must make to receive the free gift. Likewise, in order to receive the gift of eternal life, a Christian must put off the desire to "live it up" with a finite worldly lifestyle (1 John 2:15-17). The two are incompatible. Also, if a Christian wants to have the blessing of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he must resist the ambitions of the flesh (Romans 8). The two are incompatible. The issue is not about "working" toward salvation, but "choosing" salvation above all else.
Any focus on "piety" in the book seems to be for the purpose of confirming that one's faith (or the church in America) is truly alive (James 2:26). This is biblical. Good works will not result in saving faith, but saving faith will result in good works (James 2:17-26).
If this book makes us feel guilty, then it's quite possible that we really are guilty! Don't give me that "We are saved by grace so there's no need to feel guilty!" If a Christian recklessly kills a person, should he not feel guilty because of grace? God forbid. By God's grace he seeks forgiveness prompted by the guilt! We are all imperfect. Guilt, as with pain, is that God-given indicator that something is not right. Unless we are perfect, we will (and have to) feel guilt throughout our lives as God directs us away from error with his rod and staff. Our response to guilt will determine whether we are Christians or not. 1 John 1:10 says, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." Guilt is the indication of sin, and if we are to admit to being sinners, we must acknowledge guilt when we are in error. God's grace covers our sins, but it does much more - it recreates us as new creatures. If we don't want to change, then that's an affront to the full potential of God's grace. Pastor Chan challenges the politically correct view of a stripped-down version of grace that stops with "tolerance."
Book Review: 4.5 Stars . . . Hard to Argue
Summary: 5 Stars
I've heard friends talk about Francis Chan and his books. Finally, I decided to give "Crazy Love" a chance, expecting it to be a feel-good book about how crazy God's love is for us. Oops!
Chan does set out to encourage us with the unfathomable and unearned love and grace of God. He makes it clear that we cannot get more of God's love through our good works or church attendance. He marvels at the beauty and intricacy of the universe. But he's not explaining these things to pat us on the backs and give us warm fuzzies. This is a book directed at those who call themselves Christians, a specific challenge to love God in return by giving Him our whole lives--finances, time, relationships, and savings accounts. It all sounds radical, and to many it is, but it's based firmly in Jesus' own words in the New Testament. Hard to argue with that. Yes, if you cherry-pick from sections of the book, you may assume it's a works-oriented theology. Or, you may assume it's a feel-good theology. It's neither. In context, Chan is explaining how deep and crazy God's passion is for His creation, and challenging us as believers to be either hot or cold but not to remain lukewarm, trusting in forty-minute sermons to carry us through to eternity.
My only real issue with the book is that most relationships move beyond the "in love" stage and settle into a long-term, deeper aspect that is just as committed but not always as flashy. This book is calling for crazy, flashy love--not to draw attention to one's self, but to give devotion back to the Lord by loving our enemies and giving to the poor and whatever else we are called to do. I agree with all of that, wholeheartedly cheer on such a message. Like a good summer-camp session, though, it gets us hyped up for change but doesn't deal much with how to handle the adversity and challenges that are soon to come with that change. My suspicion is that "Forgotten God," Chan's next book, does this to some degree. I'm all for the challenge, and I think Chan's message is accurate; I only hope that those who respond will find the deeper answers and support for the tough times that come along with "crazy love."
It's an easy-to-understand message, told in simple language. It comes with specific examples from lives in the past and present. It encourages us to pray, to seek God's face, to know Jesus deeper. His is the most crazy love around, and how can we not respond in kind?
Book Review: Surprised by some of the disparaging reviews here
Summary: 5 Stars
Perhaps it is not appropriate to write a review when one has only read the first few chapters of a book. However, while reading some of the negative reviews here I felt compelled and led to write this.
How can any Christian say that Chan's book isn't about God's love when it is stated so clearly by the end of chapter two? The statement that Chan shares - that "He (God) is everything" combined with the knowledge of the Bible verse of John 3:16 is enough to make one realize the "crazy" love that God has for us! Jesus Christ is God's gift of love - and there is no greater love in the universe!
Challenging Christians to FOLLOW Jesus is a great endeavor that each and every pastor should encourage. I suspect that those who object to such challenges may, in fact, be feeling some guilt within their own soul and spirit ( I certainly have!) for lacking what Chan is describing as ways to more openly follow Jesus? It's a sobering thing - and a jolt to the heart to realize that we may never completely "arrive" this side of heaven in our efforts to be complete followers of Jesus. However, we can continue to try and improve our walk with Christ each and every day of our lives. This is known as sanctification - and it is an ongoing experience that lasts throughout our entire lives!
I thought that Chan's analogy of "the movie of life" being about God and not about us was brilliant! He even goes so far as to state that this "movie" isn't about the great prophets and individuals we all know from the text of the Bible. For me, this is consistent with what Jesus articulated when Martha was complaining that she was doing all the work while Mary just sat at the feet of Jesus listening to his teaching. In Luke 10:42 Jesus said, "...Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." No doubt both women loved Jesus and they were both serving him. It's just that Martha thought that Mary's way was inferior to her own. It brings to mind that sometimes we can be so busy doing things for Jesus that we aren't spending any time with him! The lesson: don't let your service to him become self-serving!
Chan writes, "the point of your life is to point to Him." And this is something that each of us can do in small and big ways throughout our lifetime, in whatever we are doing. We are to give the glory to God because after all, it is He who is worthy!
Book Review: Moving the Church From Lukewarm to Obsessed
Summary: 5 Stars
I could not put down Crazy Love. It took me a while to actually get around to reading this book, so I already knew a lot about it before I read the first page. But once I started it, I finished it the same day. (Make sure that you watch the corresponding chapter videos at [...]. I thought this was a nice interactive touch, and the videos augment the readings nicely.) I've known of Francis Chan for a while, have heard him speak a couple of times, and really appreciate his heart as a shepherd-teacher. But I was not ready for my heart to be challenged by this book in quite the way it was. Francis organized the book as the Apostle Paul organized most of his New Testament letters: lead with theology and then follow that with application. He set the table with the first three foundational chapters, which in turn encouraged the reader to reflect on the majesty and glory of God, the brevity of life, and the fatherhood of God. In the remainder of the book, Francis relentlessly attacked the complacency of the church, frequently drawing on the lukewarm Laodicean congregation of Revelation 3:14-22 as a case in point. Perhaps the two most effective chapters are the ones in which Chan juxtaposes the "profile of the lukewarm" (Chapter 4, describing the current state of the American church) with the "profile of the obsessed" (Chapter 6, describing the Christian or church consumed with Christ). Ironically, Chan effectively framed the tragic indictment against the shallowness of the 21st-century church by quoting 19th century pastor Frederic Dan Huntington:
"It is not scientific doubt, not atheism, not pantheism, not agnosticism that in our day and in this land is likely to quench the light of the gospel. It is a proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity."
This quote left me with the eerie feeling that Pastor Huntington might have been in some of the same church buildings and meetings that I've attended! There is indeed a widespread dissatisfaction with business-as-usual church and a much-needed awakening the urgent need for the gospel in our generation. Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll and others like them have stirred a renewed passion in my heart for the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. May ours be the generation of those who throw off complacency and are obsessed with the name and renown of our great King.
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Book Review: crazier than a crazy world
Summary: 5 Stars
There are times when one must be careful when being recommended a book too many times. There are many occasions in life when everyone seems to be thrusting a book into your hands that either 1) it gets overhyped to the point where no book could live up, or 2) it is overly recommended because it is so shallow to have no transformative force whatsoever - it is a stupid book. I have seen both to be true.
I was fearful that this was going to be one of those books, especially after breezing through the first couple of chapters. What kept me going was the author's own admission that the opening section was foundational, thus giving me the interest to keep going. In the end, Chan gives us a solid introduction to what it means to live out the kingdom of God.
The book itself is written at an accessible level, sometimes a bit too simplistic to be captivating, but probably in a good place for the intended readership. While books such as these often try and reinvent the gospel wheel so much that they end up making absurd assertions and half-baked proposals, Chan offers a solid primer to true discipleship. Indeed, there is much to learn from this little volume once one begins to take the demands of faith seriously. And that appears to be the main crux of the book - what it might look like if Christians but feet to their faith rather than simply talking about how spiritual they have become.
I would recommend this read for Christians who are tired of being average, but not to those who have no interest in leaving comfortability. Because the two cannot be connected in a healthy spiritual walk. To follow Christ is to give all things at all times, and this book helps to direct the reader this way. This is not for those who are wanting a Christianity that gives more than it demands . . . that is lifeless spirituality.
The greatest chapter of the book is 'Who Really Lives That Way?' (ch. 9). Here the author simply relays fourteen stories of those who have committed to live in radical obedience to the gospel. Some are well-known, others are 'never-heard-ofs' - but all are kingdom-oriented lives given totally to God. It is the greatest chapter of the book because it is not Chan's narrative, but God's . . . who does more than we could ever ask or imagine.