Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
He compares his turning point to Abraham on Mount Moriah and recounts praying, “Lord, if you want me to be crazy, I’ll be the best crazy man you have…and I’ll serve you.” What view of God and obedience is implied in that prayer, and why might that kind of surrender be disturbing—or even offensive—to modern evangelical assumptions about comfort, success, and God’s will?
Another way to ask: What does his prayer (“If you want me to be crazy, I’ll still serve you”) show about how he viewed God and obedience? Why might that kind of surrender bother modern Christians who expect comfort and success?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The prayer assumes God is worthy of trust and service even if He allows suffering that doesn’t “make sense,” similar to Abraham’s obedience on Mount Moriah. That kind of surrender clashes with expectations that God’s will must always equal comfort, stability, or immediate relief.
- He frames it as a “Mount Moriah moment,” describing Abraham trusting God when commanded to do something that contradicted the promise.
- He paraphrases Abraham’s logic: “This doesn’t make sense…But I trust you, God.”
- He says Christians “are supposed to be free…peace and joy and rest,” yet he considered: “maybe this is where I’m supposed to be…you want me to go through this.”
- His prayer is radical surrender: “if you want me to be crazy…I’ll serve you even though I’m debilitated and I hardly can.”
- He calls it “a turning point in victory,” suggesting surrender preceded relief rather than being a result of relief.
- The transcript implies obedience isn’t conditioned on understanding outcomes.