Crazy Love
by Francis Chan
I read through Francis Chan’s Crazy Love, since my wife read it and encouraged me to do so. After the first few chapters she asked me how I liked it and I responded, “It’s very basic but basically very good.” I was not being sarcastic or condescending; I really meant that it was a basic but good read so far.
However, when I got to Chapter 4, “Profile of the Lukewarm,” I found the pace of my reading slowed considerably due to the force of its message. It hit me pretty hard because Chan challenged me to take an honest look at my relationship with God. What I found is that there are quite a few areas in my life needing considerable work in living wholly and totally for God. I’ll leave out the details specific to me, but I would like to offer a few quotes that show the markings of a lukewarm Christianity. Maybe there are things here that will serve to spotlight areas to help improve your relationship with God.
Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don’t have to trust God if something unexpected happens—they have their savings account. They don’t need God to help them—they have their retirement plan in place. They don’t genuinely seek out what life God would have them live—they have life figured and mapped out. They don’t depend on God on a daily basis—their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health. The truth is, their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God.
“And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-17; see also Hebrews 11).
(pp 78-79)Lukewarm people probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever. They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn’t be more wrong.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matt. 23:25-28).
(p. 79)Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for “extreme” Christians, not average ones. Lukewarm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of all His followers.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22).
“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins (James 4:17).
“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered (Matt. 21-:28-31).
(pp. 70-71)Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts, but He isn’t allowed to control their lives.
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:57-62).
(p. 72)
I wonder if…
my life would look much different should I suddenly stop believing in God.
I’m sporting a partially sanitized lifestyle in the name of pure holiness.
I’m living out my faith vicariously through the lives of others who are living out their faith.
I can even identify areas of my life that are not fully submitted to Jesus.
Chapter 9, “Who Really Lives That Way?” provides a thumbnail sketch of some people who have lived radically for Jesus. Familiar names such as Rich Mullins, George Mueller, Marva J. Dawn, and Brother Yun are among those whose lives were mentioned and who have been a shining example of devotion or “crazy love.” I expected large stories coming from them. However one name, entirely unfamiliar to me (and it would be to you), really stood out. Open your heart and read Lucy’s large story of “crazy love.”
Lucy
If you met Lucy at church, you would probably think she was somebody’s innocent, dear grandmother. She is the kind of woman who will come and give you a huge hug and then introduce herself.You would never guess that Lucy is an ex-prostitute. When she was in her teens and early twenties, drugs and prostitution dominated her life. Through an older Christian woman who reached out to the prostitutes, Lucy met Jesus and her life was completely transformed.
To this day, almost forty years later, Lucy lives near the same streets where she once worked as a prostitute and consistently opens her home to other young women who are caught in prostitution. It is common knowledge on the streets that if you need anything, you can come to Lucy’s house. She doesn’t have a lot, but her home is always open. Prostitutes, pimps, drug users, dealers, and anyone else who most people avoid—Lucy invites them in. This is her way of loving people who are in desperate need of the hope and love that Lucy found forty years ago.
(pp. 162-163)
I wonder if…
I have avoided people because of their sinful lifestyles and forgotten that I was once “dead in [my] transgressions and sins, in which [I] used to live … gratifying the cravings of [my] sinful nature” and failed to share the wonderful truth that “God, who is rich in mercy, made [me] alive with Christ even when [I was] dead in transgressions” (Eph. 2:1-4).
In the final chapter, “The Crux of the Matter,” Chan speaks plainly why he wrote Crazy Love.
I wrote this book because much of our talk doesn’t match our lives. We say things like, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” Then we live and plan like we don’t believe God even exits. We try to set our lives up so everything will be fine even if God doesn’t come through. But the true faith means holding nothing back….
Most of us use “Im waiting for God to reveal His calling on my life” as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. The point isn’t’ that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God.
(pp. 168-169)
I wonder if…
I don’t even bother rationalizing my entertainment activities but do them out of sheer habit because I’ve lost the passion I once had of being consumed and saturated with my Lord and Savior every waking moment.
anything will change in me as a result of reading Crazy Love or if I’ll just continue living as I have.
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