Are You Crazy?! (Article from April 2011)

Are You Crazy?!

For our Lenten series, we followed the book Crazy Love, in which Francis Chan encourages readers to grasp who God really is, how he loves us (with a “crazy love”), and how we should respond to God.  So what did you think of the book?  Did it challenge you?  Inspire you?  Did it make you feel guilty?  Did it make you angry?

I’ve heard all those reactions from brothers and sisters here at SCFBC, which tells me that we have a great discussion going!  One thing must be clear—books by Christian authors can be excellent teaching tools, and God can speak through these authors in amazing ways.  But the books themselves are not scripture, and what we take away from them must be weighed in light of God’s word.

Is Chan being unrealistic?

Controversy seems to arise from Chan’s final part of the book, where he recounts people who have responded to God’s call in dramatic ways.  They have sold their houses, gone on foreign missions, or quit their jobs to start new ministries. 

I don’t know about you, but when I read those kinds of stories, I want to run and hide!  “I could never do that!” I tell myself.  Some people might even dismiss Chan as ridiculous, and resent the implication that we should respond that manner.

Pastor Rich made an important comment about this to the Apprentice Study:  “Chan spends much of book challenging us to break free of legalism and love God with abandon.  But he comes a bit close to slipping into legalism himself by implying that nothing short of a dramatic, life-altering response is acceptable to God.”

So what should we take away?

Chan’s challenge to love and respond to God with utter abandon is one that each one of us to needs to ponder carefully.  Perhaps God does want you to make a radical life change—that will be one of the biggest blessings of your life, and our church family should celebrate that kind of obedience!

To me, the only wrong response is to not respond at all.  If you are worried or annoyed with what you perceive as unrealistic expectations, then try setting your feelings aside for now and ask God what he wants from you today.  Maybe he simply wants you to hold your possessions loosely with an open hand, instead of a tight fist. 

Rather than saying, “Nope, I’m not selling my house and moving to Africa!” try saying this: “What is in front of me today—right now—that I can do for you Lord, because I really do love you like crazy!”