Canadian pop-rockers Hawk Nelson have sold more than 500,000 albums so far in their career and are poised for more success as they release their fifth studio album, Crazy Love, featuring the singles "Crazy Love", "We Can Change the World" and more.

With Crazy Love, band mates Jason Dunn, Danny Biro, Jonathan Steingard and Justin Benner continue the call for action heard on the band’s last studio album Live Life Loud. Inspired by Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love, Dunn and producer Ian Eskelin wrote the title track and debut radio single as a greater wake-up call to love.

“This book made me realize how much God loves each and every one of us,” says Dunn. “Sometimes submerged in a Christian environment, we lose perspective of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We need to wake up and grasp the meaning of what he did; Jesus made something completely unattainable, attainable, and we are called to live in and practice that same ‘crazy’ love.”

The guys of Hawk Nelson admit that they could jump around, rock out and call it day but they believe in a purpose greater than the music: to know and be the love of God to people everywhere. It’s their faith that fuels the fast and slow of Crazy Love to reveal a “good time party band” that translates the rigors of life into music – music that will move people to action.

I got the great opportunity to interview Hawk Nelson lead singer Jason Dunn about “Crazy Love.” (You can listen to our entire discussion here.) Here are the answers to the questions I asked Jason.

Please tell me the story behind writing the song “Crazy Love.”

We originally were calling the new record a different title instead of Crazy Love. Long story short, we came up with a new song and new album title. I came up with the song title based on Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love. If you’ve read that book, it puts things into perspective from a believers’ standpoint. I think the book addresses some challenging concepts that many of us take for granted growing up as Christians. Jesus died for our sins. We just accept that as a fact without really thinking about what He did for us. The book painted a vivid picture for me. That’s a concept worth writing a song about.

Do you have any personal application regarding your walk as a Christian in writing the song? Specifically, talk about the lyrics: “We're the ones gonna put it all in reverse, Gonna die to ourselves, gonna live to serve.”

I’m not a big talker or give a lot of talks at concerts so I like to convey messages in my song lyrics. One of the biggest concepts of this new album is in the lyrics “dare to love our enemies.” It’s a very simple lyric, but it’s a powerful line for me in the song. That’s easier said than done in most situations. When someone hurts you or offends you, it’s easy to hold a grudge against that person. The song challenges people to let that anger go. That’s a tough thing to do and it challenges me personally. We all need to live as grace-filled believers.

Did you base the song on any Bible verses?

1 Corinthians 13:4-13: "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Here are the lyrics:

We're the ones who
believe in the things unseen
This home, this body is
the in-between

We're the ones who fight
down on our knees
Who dare to love our enemies (love enemies)

They say it sounds insane
we say that we've been changed
By the power of crazy love

This world, it looks at us
like we're ridiculous
Baby it's all because of crazy love

We're the ones gonna put
it all in reveres
Gonna die to ourselves,
gonna live to serve

Cuz' when ya get what ya
when you walk by faith
Is it really so dumb to give
it all away (give it all away)

They say it sounds insane
we say that we've been changed
By the power of crazy love

This world, it looks at us
like we're ridiculous
Baby it's all because of crazy love
Crazy Love

We know it sounds absurd,
we don't get what we deserve
It's by grace we are saved!

They say it sounds insane
we say that we've been changed
By the power of crazy love

This world, it looks at us
like we're ridiculous
Baby it's all because of crazy love
Crazy Love
Crazy Love

We're the ones who
believe in the things unseen

This home, this body is
the in-between
We're the ones who fight
down on our knees

Who dare to love our
enemies
We're the ones gonna put
it all in reverse
Gonna die to ourselves,
gonna live to serve

Here’s Matthew Henry’s commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:4-13: “Some of the effects of charity are stated, that we may know whether we have this grace; and that if we have not, we may not rest till we have it. This love is a clear proof of regeneration, and is a touchstone of our professed faith in Christ. In this beautiful description of the nature and effects of love, it is meant to show the Corinthians that their conduct had, in many respects, been a contrast to it.

"Charity is an utter enemy to selfishness; it does not desire or seek its own praise, or honor, or profit, or pleasure. Not that charity destroys all regard to ourselves, or that the charitable man should neglect himself and all his interests. But charity never seeks its own to the hurt of others, or to neglect others. It ever prefers the welfare of others to its private advantage.

"How good-natured and amiable is Christian charity! How excellent would Christianity appear to the world, if those who profess it were more under this Divine principle, and paid due regard to the command on which its blessed Author laid the chief stress! Let us ask whether this Divine love dwells in our hearts. Has this principle guided us into becoming behavior to all men? Are we willing to lay aside selfish objects and aims? Here is a call to watchfulness, diligence, and prayer.”

As Jason and I discussed the song and the profound message, we talked about how we are commanded to love others by Jesus. This song challenges me to think about how well I am loving others. 1 John 4:19 says “We love because He first loved us.”

On page 94 of the book Crazy Love, Francis Chan writes: “I was challenged to do a little exercise with these verses, one that was profoundly convicting. Take the phrase love is patient and substitute your name for the word love. Do it for every phrase in the passage. By the end, don’t you feel like a liar? If I am meant to represent what love is, then I often fail to love people well. Following Christ isn’t something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side. It is not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we do and are.”

As you listen to this great song by Hawk Nelson, think about how well you are loving others and know that Jesus loves you with a “crazy love.”

You can watch a video of the song here: