Crazy Love

What kind of faith saves? Is it o.k. to just “believe” and not really do much else? What does God feel about my faith if I’m “sort of” all-in? If I’m not one of those “crazy Christians”? What about if I’m wealthy (and if you’re in America- you are wealthy)?

In my favorite opening sentence to a book, the beloved mystic, A.W. Tozer writes "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us". This is right where Francis Chan picks up. As Crazy Love moves from who God is to our response, Chan separates out American-church notions of God and Christianity from biblical ones. In this challenging but soul-stirring book, Francis Chan addresses, deeply and directly, the biggest confusion of our time. Namely, what is Christian faith?

As I read Chan’s biblical view of just how huge, just how powerful, and just how holy our God is, I really had no other option than to close my eyes and just sit in awe. I didn’t pray, I didn’t cry, I just sat and marveled- and I repented of the tiny view of God I had constructed in my mind. What else is there for man to do other than be wowed?

Through the book and the companion videos (the book has a website!) Chan succeeded in bringing me again and again to worship. Chapter 4, “The Profile of the Lukewarm” was the chapter that resonated with me the most. The idea of people calling themselves Christian while meanwhile having little idea what “Christian” really means. That was me for 19 years of life. So much to say here, but Francis basically talks about the new birth and signs of the new birth with slightly different terminology than Piper or I would use (check out my previous posts on the new birth!).

Nevertheless, Chan’s profile of the lukewarm cuts to crux of the problem: faith is not shown by creeds, church attendance, a clean mouth and not smoking or drinking. As Tozer or Chan might say, what a man believes about God shows through in what they do and how they act.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:18)

In a modern way, Francis simply shows biblical truth in a fresh way. The secret is not hours of painstaking research into the Greek meaning and the culture at the time. His secret: just read it. Just read it for what it says. It will blow your mind and call you to rearrange your entire life.

The quote that got me was “Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers”. Chan writes about when he was in bible college and his professor asked him a very simple question. “What are you doing right now in your life that requires faith?” This question hit me in the same way it hit Francis, like a brick. What situations was I in where if God didn’t come through for me, I was screwed? For all the bible studies, church services, and cru meetings I’ve been to and for all the theology and apologetics that I’ve studied, I realized that I was not really trusting God for anything. Nothing in my life required God to act. In two words… no faith.

As the book takes a look at some ways that a life of real faith might be lived, it should become clear that the American church, for the most part, is marching to a far different tune than that of Jesus- in fact it might actually be opposed to it. We see that we must repent of the ideas of God and faith that have shaped us our whole lives, from the first time we stepped into church. We must start to take our cues from the Bible instead of our surroundings. It is eternally important that we start to understand and to live out crazy love.