Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Week 8: Chapter 8 — Profile of the Obsessed

Read Chapter 8 of Crazy Love. Key passages: Matthew 13:44-46; Acts 2:44-45; Luke 19:1-10.

As Chapter 4 profiled the lukewarm, this chapter profiles the obsessed — people so captured by God that their lives look unreasonable to the world around them. These questions ask you to hold their lives up as a mirror.

Discussion Questions

7 questions

1.Chan describes the "obsessed" as people who risk their security, give away their possessions, and look foolish by the world's standards — but are simply living in response to what they believe is true. Who in your life comes closest to this description? What is it about them that stands out?

2.In the parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:44-46), the men who find the treasure and the pearl sell everything — joyfully — to obtain it. Chan uses these parables to argue that radical sacrifice is not grim duty but delighted exchange. Does your experience of giving up things for God feel more like joy or more like loss? Why?

3.Chan lists several characteristics of the obsessed, including: they are consumed with loving God and people; they do not live for their own approval; they are not troubled by the cost of following Jesus. Which of these characteristics feels most foreign to you personally? Which feels most present?

a.Chan says the obsessed are "irresponsible" by the world's standards. Can you think of a time when following God called you to do something that looked irresponsible or unwise to others around you?

b.What did you do, and what was the result?

4.The early church in Acts 2 is one of Chan's recurring examples — people so convinced of the resurrection and so transformed by the Spirit that they sold possessions and gave to anyone who had need. Does that community feel aspirational to you, or does it feel impractical and unrepeatable? What would need to change for something like it to exist in your context?

5.Chan observes that people who are truly obsessed with God are not trying to appear spiritual — they are simply responding to what is real to them. What is the difference between performing radical Christianity and genuinely living it? How do you tell the difference in yourself?

+ 4 more questions in this week

Get all 85 questions across 12 weeks

Get Full Guide — $24.99

Closing Prayer

Full guide

Lord, we have seen in this chapter what it looks like when someone takes You at Your word — and it is beautiful and costly and free all at once. We want to be that kind of person. We are tired of safe Christianity. Forgive us for calculating the cost of following You and deciding to keep our losses manageable. We want to be so captured by You that our lives look like that treasure buried in a field — worth selling everything for, joyfully. Make us obsessed with You. Amen.

Week 7 View Full Guide Week 9

Get the Complete 12-Week Study Guide

All 85 discussion questions, weekly reading schedule, closing prayers, and a downloadable PDF for your group.

Get Your Guide — $24.99

All Weeks in This Guide

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12

More by Francis Chan Spiritual Growth & Disciplines Christian Living