INTRODUCTION
David
Platt’s book, Radical, provides
valuable insight for anyone seeking to live “on mission” for God. Asserting that “we have in many area
unknowingly embraced values and ideas that are common in our culture but
antithetical to the gospel [Jesus] taught,”[1]
the author urges his readers to “return with urgency to a biblical gospel.”[2] The result of this effort is an insightful,
often convicting work that cuts cleanly through the patina of Americanism that
covers so much of American Christianity, and reveals implicit inconsistencies
that challenge the reader to live their lives in radical abandon to the tenets
of the gospel of Christ.
The author
is pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, a Birmingham, Alabama church with
thousands of members. Formerly a
professor of preaching and apologetics at his alma mater, New Orleans Baptist
Seminary, Platt’s ministry is largely focused on discipleship and global
missions. He also travels
internationally, preaching and training church leaders in a variety of
contexts, including the underground church.[3]
SUMMARY
Radical
is divided into nine chapters each of which presents a riveting case for
re-analyzing a facet of the typical American Christian lifestyle in light of
the realities of the gospel. Bit by bit,
the author peels away layers of self-centeredness, greed, and misconception
like so many layers of an onion. At the
core is the reality of what it is to be completely abandoned to the cause of
Christ, both locally and globally.
In Chapter 1, Someone Worth Losing Everything For, the author looks at examples
of what it means to really be radically abandoned to Jesus. Convinced that “we as Christ followers in
American churches have embraced values and ideas that are not only unbiblical,
but actually contradict the gospel we claim to believe,”[4]
Platt contrasts an experience he had with leaders of underground churches in
Asia with the opulence of his Birmingham church. He draws the conclusion that “somewhere along
the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what
is comfortable.”[5] He reminds his readers that the reality
Christ depicted of being his disciple was neither safe nor posh, and led many
to decide that the cost was simply too high.
After discussing the implicit wisdom in giving up earthly comforts and
safety for the sake of treasure in Heaven, he asks of Jesus, “Is He worth it?”[6] Then he asks for commitments from the reader
to believe and obey what they find in the remainder of the book inasmuch as it
coincides with the teaching of Christ.
Chapter 2, Too Hungry For Words, takes a fresh look at the beauty and content
of the gospel message, and asks very poignant questions about Christians’
relationship to the Word of God. After
revisiting the underground church and relating their intense hunger for the
Word, with none of the modern “church” conveniences that most American
Christians are accustomed to, Platt boldly asks, “Is his word enough for us?”[7] Separating what is biblical in the reader’s
understanding of the gospel from what is American is a chief aim of this
chapter, as the author highlights the awesome nature of God, the audacity of
depraved men who “look God in the face and say ‘No’,” and the skewed perception
that Christ is someone who needs Christians to accept Him, instead of “one who
is infinitely worthy of our immediate and total surrender.”[8]
The third chapter, Beginning at the End of Ourselves,
highlights the awesome power of God in the life of the believer. “Why,” the author asks, “would we ever want
to settle for Christianity according to our ability or settle for church
according to our resources?”[9] Continuing to contrast the American dream
with the reality of the Gospel, Platt writes, “The dangerous assumption we
unknowingly accept in the American dream is that our greatest asset is our own
ability.”[10] Utilizing the biblical narrative of the
capture of Jericho, he points out that God often works by highlighting the
Christian’s inability that His power
might be made known, and His name receive the glory for the results.[11] He proceeds to collide head-on with the
system in American churches that “emphasizes our abilities and exalts our names
in the ways we do church.”[12] He admonishes Christians to rely on the
Creator for guidance, power, and resources, trusting “that Jesus stands ready
to give us everything we ask for so that he might make much of our Father in
this world.”[13]
The
Great Why of God is the subject of Chapter 4. Building on what has already become a clearly
missional focus, Platt contends in this chapter that there are two purposes for
man in this world: namely, to enjoy the grace of God and to extend the glory of
God. In one of the most challenging
section of the book, entitled Jesus
Didn’t Die Just For You, he unmasks the selfish way that many Christians
view Christ’s sacrifice. Rather than the
“Jesus loves me” mentality, Platt writes that “the message of biblical
Christianity is ‘God loves me so that I might make him… known among all
nations.”[14] This realigning of the reader’s idea of
salvation to place God back at the center of the story is used to encourage the
reader to understand that Christianity is, at its core, missions-oriented. He writes, “Every saved person this side of
Heaven owes the gospel to every lost
person this side of Hell.”[15] What follows is a moving appeal to take up
the mantle expected of all Christians to make the gospel known among the
estimated 4.5 billion people who are currently headed for an eternity in
Hell. Following up with a couple of
stories of people who have made a global impact for Christ, the chapter
concludes with a idealistic vision of what it might be like if his readers
embraced the “biblical prospect that God has designed a radically global
purpose for your life.”[16]
Discipleship is discussed in
Chapter 5, The Multiplying Community. Observing that “while some are disengaged
[while listening to the Word], others are intently focused on what the preacher
is saying, listening to God’s Word to hear how it applies to their lives. But the reality is, few are listening to reproduce (italics mine).”[17] It is this reproduction, this discipling
spirit, that Platt encourages here.
Modeling on Jesus’ interactions with the twelve, he insists that God
intends Christians to be engaged in “a slow, intentional, simple process that
involves every one of his people sacrificing every aspect of their lives to
multiply the life of Christ in others.”[18]
Chapter 6 identifies and addresses
a major blind spot of American Christianity – the plight of the billion plus
poverty stricken people in the world.
Citing startling statistics, like the twenty-six thousand children who die
every day, most without Christ, due to starvation or preventable disease, the
author insists that “God takes very seriously how I respond to them.”[19] Careful to point out that caring for the poor
is not a means of earning salvation, Platt writes that “[c]aring for the poor
is one natural overflow and a necessary evidence of the presence of Christ in
our hearts. If there is no sign of
caring for the poor in our lives, then there is reason to at least question
whether Christ is in our hearts.”[20] Aptly titling the chapter How Much is Enough, he challenges the
reader to consider simplifying their lavish American lifestyle in order to give
as much as is necessary to meet the needs so evident in the world around us,
and reach people with the gospel.
Chapter 7, There is No Plan B, utilizes the message of salvation to highlight
the urgency of global missions for the purpose of sharing Christ with the
unsaved. Systematically, he takes the
reader through seven biblical truths “that help us understand what Scripture
teaches about people who have never heard of Jesus” and urges the reader “to
consider the urgent need before us to forsake the American dream now in favor
of radical abandonment to the person and purpose of Christ.”[21] Discussing the progression of the transmission
of the gospel message delineated in Romans 10, Platt makes it clear that “there
is only one potential breakdown in this progression – when servants of God do
not preach the gospel to all peoples.”[22]
Living
When Dying is Gain is the title of the final chapter Platt includes before
his concluding challenge in Chapter 9.
In this chapter, the American dream is again revisited in order to point
out that its concept of delaying immediate gratification in order to gain
greater reward is at the heart of the Christian life as presented in the
Bible. Interweaving Jesus’ admonitions
about losing one’s life in order to find it with stories of martyrs throughout
the Christian era, he admonishes the reader to understand that, if Christians
live on mission for Jesus, they will be hated by the world. “To everyone wanting a safe, untroubled,
comfortable life,” Platt warns, “stay away from Jesus.” [23] Many compelling stories of Christian
sacrifice are included as Platt describes the ideal church as a troop carrier,
rather than the luxury liner that resembles so many American churches. Then he reminds the reader that Christ offers
a great reward for those who serve Him, one far better than the best this world
has to offer. Understanding that real
safety, security, and satisfaction are found in Christ, he calls Christians to
live radically for Jesus, reminding them in the words of Jim Elliot that, “’He
is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.’”[24]
In the final chapter, The Radical Experiment, Platt encourages
his readers to live for one year according to the propositions of the rest of
the book. He goes beyond encouraging,
and dares the reader to, over the
course of a year, pray for the entire world, read through the entire Word,
sacrifice their money for a specific purpose, spend their time in another
context, and commit their life to a multiplying community.[25] Each of these aspects is explained, and
stories of others who have seen their lives dramatically altered by the
“experiment” are shared. Finally, Platt
encourages his readers to make the most of the time they are given on this
earth and allow “radical obedience to Christ [to become] the new normal.”[26]
CRITIQUE
Radical is a book designed to
challenge the comfort levels of its readers with every page. The task of realigning the perceptions of
American Christianity in such a way as to see the unbiblical facets of the American dream is a daunting one, but
author David Platt meets it head-on. The
book is easy to read in terms of the writing itself, but is also difficult
because of the power of its message. The
author organizes his material well, moving from point to point throughout the
chapters in order to construct a comprehensive picture of Christ’s call to
sacrificial living that is thematic throughout.
PERSONAL APPLICATION
This book was very difficult for me
to read, as it touched on many of the areas in my own life where I have allowed
the American dream to limit my responsiveness to the call of the gospel. Even writing this review, skimming back over
the material, I am convicted all over again.
I feel that God is prompting some response to the issues raised in the
book, but the wound it has inflicted (in a good way) is still to fresh to
properly identify specific courses of action.
I have, in response to the
admonitions of Chapter 5, decided to start a men’s Bible study for the sake of
building community and discipleship relationships. The first meeting of this group is scheduled
in two weeks. Also, I have decided to
take Platt’s challenge to pray for the entire world, and will begin this
tomorrow, utilizing the operationworld.org site suggested in the book.
CONLCUSION
Radical
is an important book for the American church today. If anyone is willing to open themselves to
having their preconceptions challenged, this book will prove very
beneficial. If they are willing to act
on the convictions it will inevitable inspire, it could be world-changing.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Platt, David. Radical:
Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. Colorado Springs, CO:
Multnomah Books, 2010.
[1]
David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
(Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books, 2010), 19.
[2]
Ibid.
[3]
http://www.radical.net/about/david_platt.html (accessed May 10, 2013).
[4]
Ibid., 3.
[5]
Ibid., 7.
[6]
Ibid., 18.
[7]
Ibid., 26.
[8]
Ibid., 31-39.
[9]
Ibid., 60.
[10]
Ibid., 46.
[11]
Ibid., 47-48.
[12]
Ibid., 49.
[13]
Ibid., 60.
[14]
Ibid., 70-71.
[15]
Ibid., 74.
[16]
Ibid., 82-83.
[17]
Ibid., 102.
[18]
Ibid., 104.
[19]
Ibid., 108-109.
[20]
Ibid., 110.
[21]
Ibid., 143.
[22]
Ibid., 155.
[23]
Ibid., 167.
[24]
Ibid., 181.
[25]
Ibid., 185.
[26]
Ibid., 216.
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