It is with a mixture of great sadness and deep joy that we are writing this week’s newsletter as a tribute to a great reformer of thought, Larry Crabb. This sadness comes from the deep sense of loss from no longer being able to pick up a phone to ask questions of this dear friend—only to be peppered with his probing questions in return. The joy is because Larry’s Waiting for Heaven, is now over.
As a way to experience some of Larry’s thoughts and insights, we are offering an article written about Larry’s life, which appeared as part of a collection edited by J. Kanz. The essay is titled: “Singing Your Own Songs in Harmony with Voices from the Past: A Response to the Christian Psychology of Larry Crabb.”
It seems appropriate to place this reflection on a website dedicated to reformers of Christian thought. As stated in the essay:
…it seems that God has deemed it important to sprinkle a few reformers, like yeast, into the dough of his creation. Reformers do not have an easy life. Often, they feel very alone. These are the individuals who are not confined by the normal boundaries that keep others fenced in the confines of academic disciplines or religious denominations. These are the rare people who dive so deep into the domains of knowledge that they get beneath the demarcations in their search for truth. And when they find it, they come back to the surface to share it with the rest of us. Many see the discoveries of these reformers as threats to their kingdoms. Others experience deep appreciation and set out to live their lives in a radically different way because of what has been offered. Larry is one of those who dives deeply and is willing to speak the words that have been found there…
If you keep reading you’ll also be reminded of a variety of ways in which Larry’s voice harmonizes with that of Dallas Willard. Some of the similarities are less obvious, while others are quite apparent, such as a fixation on making healthier churches and seeing all the love letters woven with Scripture.
We miss you, Larry. But we are glad you are now having the chance to see even more clearly, what you have been describing for decades.