Crabb in a Nutshell

Larry Crabb's book, The Pressure's Off, offers a profound spiritual insight, but also a slightly flawed presentation. The central point of the book is simple and ancient, yet also counter-intuitive, because it conflicts with our daily experience and perhaps with human nature itself. The thesis is that we are often misdirected when we view our spiritual life as a cosmic quid pro quo: if I do this that, then I will receive certain spiritual blessings. A logical cause-and-effect schema, it arises naturally enough from our experiences in the physical world, the economic world, and the world of personal relationships.

Yet this mechanistic view is incorrect, as can be demonstrated by careful reading of the text of Scripture. God is in the business of dispensing unearned blessings. If benefits could be obtained by means of such a deterministic system, God wouldn't even be necessary, and He certainly wouldn't have the full decision-making capability of an agent.

Although most Christians will agree to this on a prima facie understanding - we cannot earn God's love, because "while we were yet sinners ..." and we cannot earn salvation, only Jesus can get that for us - more subtle forms of error creep into our thinking. We assume that if we follow certain disciplines (prayer, studying Scripture, worship, giving to the poor, etc.), then we should find happiness or peace of mind or wisdom, etc. We might think that if we practice honesty and kindness and hospitality and generosity, then we should find harmony and joy in our personal relationships. All of these are versions of the thesis that our behavior will direct blessings to us - that God will bless us in response to our behavior.

This error also entails the notion that, when things go wrong in life, it will be because we did something wrong, or failed to do something right - which leads us on a frantic search to find our misbehavior, so that we can change our pattern of action and presumably restore the flow of blessings coming to us. This is the "pressure" in the title of Crabb's book. This error, far from bringing blessings, will eventually, in some time of crisis, intensify our suffering by the thought that our pain is our own fault.

Crabb wisely points us in the direction of trusting God, and relying on God: we should not rely on our own actions. We try to live as God directs, not to earn any blessing, but as a way of expressing gratitude toward God.

The only flaw in the book is that in several passages, Crabb falls prey to the very dangers about which he is warning us. He occasionally writes that, if we give up the error, we can "expect" more peace of mind, or something similar. Here he is ultimately engaging in the causal fallacy: if behave in a certain way, I can expect a certain blessing. The word "expect" is a clue.

Can we, in fact, expect anything from God? Yes, certainly: Scripture gives us specific promises from God. But God's promises, and His fulfillment of them, are not contingent upon my actions. Jesus promises His followers that He will always be with them. He didn't say, "only if you act in a certain way."

Thankfully, there are only a few such small passages in the book. Crabb has a done a good service to the Christian community, and deserves careful reading.