Crazy Love Observations: Chapters 1 & 2

Well, these chapters thoroughly convicted me regarding a little habit I’ve slipped into—I’m one of those people who have ruined the word “awesome,” using it to describe everything from a sporting event, to a clever joke, or an In-N-Out burger (well, “awesome” might actually fit for that last one). Seriously, though, Webster’s dictionary defines “awesome” as something that fills us with a mixture of wonder, fear, inspiration, and awe. It’s a God-word. And the first chapter of Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love, did an outstanding job of reminding us to slow down and look up at the magnificence of this God that we’re serving.

One of my favorite quotes (this wasn’t in the book) is a statement made by D.L. Moody near the end of his life after he was asked how he continued with such an intense ministry schedule, and he replied, “I’ve never lost the wonder.” Reading this first chapter makes me want to re-commit to clutching the wonder as well. I don’t ever want to shrink my view of God to the point where thoughts of Him could ever become commonplace, or boring.

What is your view of God? Francis listed numerous attributes of the Lord’s nature—which ones most stir you and fill you with “awe”? Have you let your infatuation with God diminish over the years? If so, we need to remember what Francis wrote on page 27 about “spiritual amnesia” and we need to rekindle the art of storytelling and begin to regale one another with reminders of how awesome our God really is. That’s what the elders in Israel were supposed to do—they were storytellers—they were supposed to continually remind the emerging generations about all of the great things that God had done for them. A tragic feature of the Bible is the fact that when the storytellers died, the young generation drifted (see Joshua 24:31, Judges 2:7-10, and other similar references).

Let’s remember. And let’s remind one another. And let’s be a community that NEVER holds an unworthy view of God.

If we’re successful in this, we’ll avoid a snare that Francis highlighted in chapter two when he challenged us to look beyond our own little lives and realize that even though God has given us a role to play in His story—it’s His story. If we’re honest, most of us live most of our lives as if our dreams, our goals, our needs, and our prayers were the central issues of the day—and they’re not. We’ve merely been privileged to serve Him as His story unfolds through the spectrum of time.

I like Francis’ challenge to frequently remember that we’re never guaranteed anything beyond today—living in the light of eternity and our own mortality gives us a greater sense of urgency, and it compels us to make our lives count. When it’s all said and done, how will our lives be judged? Will we be in the camp of those who lived their lives to give their lives, or will we have lived for self?