The Pressure's Off: Breaking Free from Rules and Performance

Oh no, not another self-help book. That was my initial fear when picking up this book - subtitled "there's a new way to live." I expected a 7 or 10 step plan to follow to get my life on track. The sort of plan that you can follow for a few days, maybe, and then you give up. Until you buy the next self-help book. The American obsession with self-help books is pretty incomprehensible to a lot of Brits! But I was completely wrong - this is the exact opposite. In fact, the first third of this book is describing why this emphasis within the Christian life is wrong and, ultimately, unworkable. Larry Crabb's central theme is that we have all become far too reliant on the "if I do A, then God will do B for me" mindset. We think that if we tithe God will bless us; if we try really hard to be excellent parents our children will grow up godly Christians; if we spend 20 minutes on our quiet time every morning we will become more spiritual. The pressure to live up to a standard is overwhelming, and if we ever fail then we blame ourselves for the consequences; equally if our life doesn't work out right we assume we've not prayed hard enough or done something else correctly. And our motivations here are entirely suspect - we're doing something for our own benefit, to make our lives better, to make people respect us; we are not doing it out of love for God and a desire to come nearer to him on his own terms. However, this is the "Old Way", the Old Testament mindset. Jesus came to sweep that away as it wasn't working. We can never be good enough, never get everything right; Jesus' new way is different - Hebrew 7:19 "a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God." Becoming closer to God isn't about fulfilling a list of requirements, it's about coming to his fresh and with the understanding that we can't do anything to earn this nearness. This book is very well written. Like most Christian books I have read recently there is considerable repetition of the central points (to drum them into our over-busy brains, no doubt) but the central point is so different from so many other books that it was worth the drumming! There's an initial 6-page parable which I found rather odd and didn't add anything to the book for me, but once I started reading the main text I was hooked. I found myself agreeing with so much of what Larry Crabb said, and his examples were regularly taken from himself and his own life, warts and all, which gave it an immediacy and sense of truth that was refreshing. My only disappointment was the section on how to live the new life was harder to grasp - probably because it wasn't a 10-step plan of what to do, quite the reverse. But as a glimpse into a way of drawing closer to God without the baggage of our own performance it was a fascinating and helpful read.

Upon reading some of the other reviews, it seems that some may still be looking for the solution, to reach a goal (as Crabb puts it "we want to believe there's an {A} we can do that will lead to the {B} we want). You're saying "OK, OK, doc, how do I DO IT?" That is Crabbs point that so many, including myself, need to hear repeatedly,,,there are no formulas, ONLY JESUS!! It's not "go to HIm (A) to find out what you must do to make life work (B)". Crabbs desire is that we will want HIM more than we want life to work. We are given the ultimate blessing which is the grace he offers us: we have the precious treasure of simply being in his presence. "He offers us relationship in suffereing so that we learn to value intimacy over blessing." (quotes from book) This book was a wonderful encouragement to me that I intend to read again. May you continue to seek only Christ himself...Nothing more FROM Him and nothing LESS than HIM.

This book has changed my view of what my experience in this world is "supposed" to be like as a Christian. When I first became a Christian all I was concerned about was my relationship with God and wanting everyone He had created to know Him also. Over the years, I have found myself more concerned about the blessings of God in this life which had created enormous pressure. The Pressure's Off helped me to see this and get my focus back in order. Once I quit looking for the blessings that God was going to give me and just began loving God again for what he has already done, I have been able to experience the peace and joy of God's relationship with me once again.

No author from the last 50 years has ever impacted me as Larry Crabb has. He has been my "literary mentor" since my days in college, and it has been a marvelous ride to watch his viewpoints and convictions about the human condition evolve and mature as time goes by. I've read everything he's written (balanced against other Christian authors in his field and even his critics), and I'm still impressed with his authenticity, candor and ruthless committment to his path to Christ in the face of often rigorous criticism."The Pressure's Off" has to be the most insightful book I've picked up in years. A piece of literary prose, it's not. Those who are not long-time readers of Crabb can quickly become disenchanted with his personable, oft-repeating style of writing. I think Crabb has taken into account that the average reader needs a concept reinforced OFTEN before it becomes understandable and concrete in his/her thinking.I don't think Dr. Crabb intended his work to be a step-by-step practical manual to reach a point where the "pressure's off", as some readers seem to have been expecting. Another reviewer criticized his supposed shortfall of Scriptural usage; when I meet with an old friend whom I'm aware has known Christ intimately for years, I don't expect him to be spouting Scripture in every sentence he says to me to prove spirituality, but I hear Christ in almost every word because I know where he's come from. That's Dr. Crabb to me: I'm aware of where he's come from, he's an old "literary friend" in Christ to me, and I hear Christ solidly proclaimed in every word he wrote in all of his works, and this book in particular.This book is philosophical, not necessarily "practical." Philosophy comes before practicum and methods in most courses of learning. Many can't (or won't) be patient enough to endure this path toward maturity. I'm still learning. But I'm better off having taken a new path at this fork in my maturity path by realizing the "pressure's off" and I can live a NEW WAY! Thanks again, Dr. Crabb. I'm looking forward to your next book with great enthusiasm.!!!!

Last year, Wild at Heart won the honors as the book that impacted me the most. This year, it is The Pressure's Off from Larry Crabb. And it has made an impact on me five times the amount that Eldredge's book has. That's really saying something.This book was very convicting for me from the get go. I believe that this book has a strong effect on me because of circumstances in my life right now. As I read this book, I felt so transparent as to look at my life and realize that I truly have been seeking God's blessings more than God's presence. By doing this, Crabb says that we are really aiming for far less than God can give us.A lot of what Larry mentions in the book is similar to what is found in John Piper's books. Our chief end on this earth is to delight in God and enjoy him. Sure, I understood that when I read Piper, but this book seems to put it in more applicable terms for me. That was one good thing about the book, that Crabb showed us his vulnerability and shortcomings through various examples in his life.I won't go more into the book because I could go on for hours. You can read the description. It really made a lasting impact on me. I can't wait to read it again. For those of you who truly look at yourselves (like I did when reading this book), you will probably get something from the book. For who of us doesn't at some time or another put a comfortable life ahead of the presence of God? And deep down, we know that the things on earth do not satisfy, but we buy into it. This book can seriously make you question what you are living for.