Os Guinness on Frank Schaeffer’s ‘Crazy For God’

Christianity Today has posted a review of Frank Schaeffer’s book, Crazy For God. Basically this book pokes a cynical view of the life and ministry of his parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer.
In the review, which is absolutely brilliant, (teaching us life lessons and bringing an insight into the life of the Schaeffers) Guinness, covers topics such a nepotism, manipulation, and family ministry, all while defending (in a ‘warts and all’ way) the life and ministry of Francis and Edith Schaeffer.

Here’s an excerpt:

‘Apart from these flaws, and above all the central one mentioned first, Frank Schaeffer’s memoir raises other grave issues for me. For a start, I am dismayed by the responses to the book. It has understandably given perverse comfort to those who already dislike the Christian faith, or evangelicalism, or conservatism. More troubling is how many evangelical reviewers and readers have betrayed symptoms of the postmodern disease in their response. The book’s revelations are taken as gospel and the book is judged in terms of its style rather than its substance. Our postmodern age is a free schooling in cynicism, so nothing is ever what it appears to be and there are no heroes once you see what really makes people tick. But no one should take Frank’s allegations at face value.

At a deeper level, Frank’s baleful influence on his father is a textbook example of how Christian ministries and organizations can be ruined through undermining their own principles—in this case, through nepotism and family politics. We have a rash of nepotism currently afflicting evangelicalism across the board, so this point carries wider lessons. In the early 1970s, when I was considering my long-term future at the Swiss L’Abri, I remember asking John Stott and James Houston what sort of questions I should be asking. Among other things, they both made the same point: “Watch and see whether the Schaeffers truly give authority to those who are not family members, or whether the family members are always more equal than others.”‘

Have a read of the full review – it’s certainly worth it:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2008/002/1.32.html