Crazy Love by Francis Chan is a book that I have now read at least 3 times. Most recently we have read the book as an online Life Group experiment and it worked pretty well. I have also used ths book as a DVD Study with the OOTB Youth Group and that worked good as well.
Here are a few thoughts on the book.
There are a lot of voices critiquing the church today. The voices are from both inside and outside the church. We all know that there is something wrong. But what? Francis Chan, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, at the time of writing this book, in California, gives the church a challenge in this book. “This book,” he says, “is written for those who want more Jesus. It is for those who are bored with what American Christianity offers.
Francis Chan loves the church and what he has to say comes from that love and not as a way to criticize.
There are three chapters dedicated to renewing our understanding of the character of God and seven chapters calling Christians to examine themselves. There are two main themes in the book.
The first theme is that we must go through the pain to examine ourselves. We cannot assume we are saved. Chan calls the reader to a serious self-inventory through a chapter that provides a profile of the lukewarm. He concludes, “a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there’s no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are ‘lukewarm’ are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven.” God wants all or nothing.
The second theme is this: live your best life later. Chan wants to see Christians living differently—living in a way that is markedly different from those around them. He wants to see Christians forgoing much of what we consider necessary, in order to focus on treasures that are eternal. He wants us to get outside what is comfortable to us and focus instead on radical obedience. “God doesn’t call us to be comfortable, He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”
This is a powerful and deeply challenging book that every Christian should read.
Ronnie