Dr Crabb has always struck me as an honest writer, but it seems that in this book, his writing is even rawer than typical. He openly shares some of his wrestlings with God and with others. This type of honesty and self-revelation is a necessary thing for our communities.
One of the messages that routinely finds its way into the pages of this book is that we often place a higher priority on problem solving than on pursuing God (p. 38). Our self-focused culture leads us to believe that our comfort, our satisfaction, and our self-esteem are the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, this message has worked its way into many of our churches as well. Channeling John Piper and CS Lewis, Crabb suggests that our ultimate need is God and any other passions are too weak. He encourages us to seek Christ rather than these other things. In classic Crabb style, he also spends a fair amount of time on relating well to others.
At the end of the book, he talks about how we can be story tellers. One of my favorite things in this book was this statement: "We in the Christian community need to tell our stories, risking shame and rebuke, because we want to find God. We must keep reading our Bibles and listening to good Bible teachers; we must worship and serve together; we must discipline ourselves to give generously to the Lord's work; we must make Christ known to an unbelieving world. But we must also learn to tell our stories to one another." (page 200).
Like many of Dr Crabb's other books, Finding God provides a God-centered, relationally focused book that will help us to understand ourselves and others better.
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