Chasing Francis, a book review

May 26, 2007

Book Review: Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron. 

So by buddy Turff took a cruise and finished a book that he picked up off of Mark Oestreicher’s recommendation. 

The basic plot of the book is that it is about a pastor of a large, evangelical who suffers a crisis of faith, is put on a sabbatical by his church and goes to Italy to rediscover himself with the help of his Franciscan monk uncle.  During his time there, he discovers the life and ministry of Saint Francis of Assisi. 

I really tend to like this type of storytelling, where rather than write a book about a specific topic, you tell a story and use it to reveal your major points.  (Patrick Lenocini does an excellent use of the genre to teach management and business lessons.) 

I liked the book.  Though I am not as engaged with monasticism and mysticism in the way that I once was, I have long learned some valuable lessons about life and spirituality from the wise ones who have gone before us. I didn’t know much specific about Francis (I am more a Trappist kinda guy), I saw some value in the lessons learned.

That said, parts of it bugged me.  There is too much “either/or” in the book.  At the risk of sounding like lukewarm-ness is okay, I think there is a healthy medium between “give away everything and live among the poor” and “suck the life out of everyone else” suburbia.  It is interesting in that it is the first book I have seen embraced by the emergent movements and bloggers that paints in such “good” and “bad” structures and ideas. 

And the biggest part of the deal that I didn’t like: the youth pastor is the bad guy.  Man, it just really, really irked me to see someone in ministry who upheld in his fictional scenario that the youth pastors of the world are looking to overthrow and take over from their pastors.  Argh!  I mean, we get enough grief for the things we do without every senior pastor deciding we are out for their jobs.  That use and scenario just could have been done equally effectively without denigrating a large segment of men and women in ministry.

On the whole, I liked it and I am thankful that Turff read it and sent me a copy.  You can read his review here. 

Up next on the reading list: Tony Campolo’s Letters to a Young Evangelical, which for some reason is on supersale at amazon.

Posted in Books