Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Didn’t enjoy. Didn’t view it as very realistic. Francis Chan has written a book that claims one must be totally, obsessively “in love” with Jesus Christ or all bets are off. On page 68, he asks “Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus?” Later in the book, he describes a woman he clearly holds up as a model of this. On page 100, he writes

“Have you ever met someone who was utterly and desperately in love with Jesus? I have. My wife’s grandma Clara.

I spoke recently at Grandma Clara’s funeral, and I could honestly tell the mourners gathered that I had never known anyone more excited to see Jesus. Every morning Clara would kneel by her bed and spend precious hours with her Savior and Lover; later in the day, just the sight of that corner of her bed would bring joy-filled tears and a deep anticipation of the next morning spent kneeling in His presence.”

Seriously? Really? I guess I’m not utterly “in love” with Jesus then, nor do I really want to be. I don’t want to weep at the sight of my bed, knowing I’ll be spending hours praying there sometime soon. I’m sorry, but I don’t get giddy over Jesus. I can’t view him as my “Lover.” I guess I’m one of the “lukewarm” people Chan rips in this book. Sorry Francis, maybe in your eyes, I’ll burn in hell, but I simply can’t find myself “in love” with a higher being I’ve never seen or met in person or had an interactive verbal exchange with, etc., et al. I consider myself a Christian. Struggling, yes. Difficulties, yes. But “saved” nonetheless. More importantly, I’ll bet not even 1% of 1% of Christians out there meet Chan’s definition of being “in love” with Jesus. It’s a silly notion. I pray, frequently. I feel like God hears me and sometimes it seems like he might be listening and interacting, but not audibly. Like I believe in air which I can’t see, I believe in a god who I can’t see, but I’m not freakin’ “in love” with him. I believe I love God. I try to. Sometimes it’s honestly hard, particularly when you see hypocritical, self righteous Christians living lives that Jesus would recoil against. I despise most self-professed Christians and feel that if Jesus were to come back today, he would view the majority of those who believe in him as being little different from those of his day, what with the dogma, the judgmental attitudes, the intolerance, etc. I guess when it comes down to it, I’d rather have an intellectual relationship with God and try to exercise faith in my belief, rather than engage in having schoolboy crushes on a supreme deity. I think you have to get high to do that. What kind of stuff is Chan smoking anyway? A loser book by a holier than thou asshole. I’m sorry I opened it.

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