Book Review: “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan

Filed under Books Get Resourced on Jul 16 12 by Donya Dunlap

New York Times Best Seller, Crazy Love, is one of the most challenging books a Christian could read in their lifetime. I mentioned to a friend that I felt my review could easily be summed up by saying, “Awesome book. Buy it. Read it. Do it.” I have really struggled with wrapping such incredible truths into any other form of summary, but for those that might need a little more convincing to get this book, I will elaborate.

Crazy Love quickly cuts through the thought patterns of many professing Christians and challenges the reader to intensely examine the real meaning of love as shown and taught by Christ. There is no escaping the conviction you will feel when you look straight into the truths of Scripture as they are presented on these pages. From the very beginning you will be forced to examine your personal walk with Christ in such a way that you will feel compelled to both confess your lack of love and to do whatever is necessary to change your daily routine to one that matches the devotion to Christ that He has shown to you.

The premise of the book is summarized in the following quote from page 94: “Following Christ isn’t something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side. It is not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we do and are.”

Chan wastes no time in that even the preface is filled with passionate and powerful statements such as, “We need to stop giving people excuses not to believe in God.” He continues on the next page to explain that he doesn’t just believe that our churches are filled with the lukewarm, halfhearted or stagnant, but that for many, their view of God is incorrect. “We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He’s great and deserves to be the center of our lives.”

Following this startling beginning, Chan again shakes his readers awake with the title of chapter one: “Stop Praying.” He challenges readers to quit talking at God, and truly examine Him for who He is. Chapter two drops another bomb of thought with the opening statement, “You could die before you finish reading this chapter.” Several pages into chapter three he says, “The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us…He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him—and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by.”

Chan continues with equally bold and thought-provoking statements in subsequent chapters as he describes the profile of a lukewarm Christian and shows examples of how we serve our leftovers to God. He describes what it means to be totally in love and obsessed with the Savior, and talks about why we hesitate to give every part of our beings and lives over to Christ in complete surrender.

If you have grown dissatisfied with your current relationship with the Lord and would like to kindle a passion for God unlike any you have had before, I encourage you to read this book and use the accompanying online resources as the first step towards your own crazy love.

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed By a Relentless God
Written by Francis Chan with Danae Yankoski
Published by David C Cook, 2008