This book has a huge fan base in the evangelical world. So
many of my personal friends have gone gaga over this book that I feel a little
guilty for busting it down to two stars. However, I have several reasons that I
must do so. Is it because I'm quenching the Holy Spirit's voice in my life? Is
it because I'm a calloused Christian that isn't willing to be "overwhelmed
by a relentless God"? No. It's that I'm not overwhelmed by this book...let
me count the ways.
1. I am really hard pressed to find any new material in this
book. Recently there has been a wave of similar books calling for comfortable
suburban Christians to get Radical about their faith and realize that there is
a Hole In the Gospel (well...at least their Gospel), and that each of us is
called to be a disciple and Not A Fan. That covers several of them anyway. I
haven't read all of these books, so I will refrain from commenting on them and
stick to Crazy Love. Here's the deal: Tozer and Bonhoffer said it better. I'll
stick with them.
2. I usually like books that give me a kick in the pants,
but this one did not engage me at all. I agreed with much of what Chan was
saying. Christians play it entirely too safe and half-heartedly worship Christ
all the time. So, when I was bored to tears reading this book, I sat down and
analyzed why. This point alone will require subpoints (sorry folks, that's just
the kind of mood I'm in at the moment).
A. Chan should have fired his editor and hired a new one who
would tell him when he was going all over the place, or say, "Hey,
Francis, could you flesh this out more. This was just starting to get
interesting and you left it dangling only to repeat some of this in a further
chapter." Or maybe someone should have said, "You are making broad
generalized claims about Christians, the Church, America. They seem true but if
you really want to sell me, it would help to have some supporting data or
stories or whatever." The fact is that the book could have been greatly
improved by shifting some of the content around--dispersing some of his
illustrations throughout the book and developing arguments well the first time
instead of rehashing the same old arguments half way several times over. Am I
being hard on Francis? Maybe but that is because...
B. I like good writing, and this is not good writing.
Reading this felt like reading a blog instead of a book. "Well, Nick, Chan
never claims to be a great writer!" Fair enough, but when Crazy Love is
receiving such high accolades I feel that it is my duty to critique it. I am
probably spoiled by reading guys like C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, and N.T. Wright. That might be true, but if you are going to all
the work of publishing a book, learn how to write well. Give your sentences
some zip--for crying out loud!
C. This may just go back to subpoint A...I'm still not sure,
and so it gets its own subpoint. Chan's approach to his goal is confusing and
muddled. I notice that several other reviewers have picked up on this as well.
He begins his book by talking about how we SHOULD be in Love with God and be
AWED by him. So he sends you to some websites (I hate when books do this by the
way. I'm reading a book. If you wanted me to link to something, write a blog.
Take the time to describe or quote the content for crying out loud!). What
happens a couple years down the road when these sites are dead links? Your book
is outdated that's what. But I digress. He spends several chapters upfront
trying to guilt the reader into loving God more. Then it seems that he back
pedals somewhat, saying that you cannot make yourself love God more. He spends
a whole chapter on the "Profile of a Lukewarm Christian" in which
some of the traits are distilled from Scripture and some have no referent other
than the opinions of Chan. He makes some hard claims, but then softens them in
the next chapter. He says that he is not trying to preach works and that the Holy
Spirit must do the work. I believe that he is attempting to preach a gospel of
grace, but his delivery stinks. He needs to build clearer, more nuanced
arguments instead of making sweeping claims that he has to clarify later. In
the end, I am kind of confused about how Chan wants his readers to go about
being "overwhelmed by a relentless God." Perhaps this is because he
never fully diagnoses the reason why many Christians are in the shape we are.
He states the problem and says we need to change, but when it comes to reasons
why this is the case he comes up short. Maybe he should have spent more time
dwelling on the gospel. The vibrant gospel message is what fans the flames of
love in our hearts.
3. And finally, it suffers from the same problems that many
of these type of books do, namely it focuses on extreme examples of social
justice or financial stewardship. If you aren't downsizing your house or biking
to work, then you aren't an extreme enough Christian. These types of books give
lip service to less dramatic ways of serving God, but they don't get page time
when it comes to examples. Nor is there ever any insight into what "Crazy
Love" might look like in rural Kentucky or Montana rather than
Urban/suburban Chicago or San Diego. This last point reveals the limitations of
the authors, but if you are going to make general statements for the American
Church at least get a peek into the world of average small town America.
Well, I guess I was pretty hard on this book. It works for a
lot of people. I actually liked some of what he had to say, but in the end I
have to say that I think this book is greatly over rated. The huge success of
this book, and others like it, reveals that there is a desperate need in our
churches for real, life changing relationship with Jesus Christ. I commend Chan
for speaking out against self-absorbed, cushy Christianity. I only wish he had
done a better job. Literarily and intellectually speaking, I don't think this
popular book has much staying power.
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