For quite some time I have heard people talk about the book Radical by David Platt. I'm not one for fads or trends and because Platt had become a trend within our churches and church organizations I was very skeptical of the book. So...I delayed in every way possible reading the book (intentionally). However God apparently wanted me to read it because my attention was continuously brought to the book and its message. Now that I have introduced for you my initial thoughts let me surprise you by telling you that I agree with most of what David writes. I have found that Radical relates quite well to my ministry and our church start in Maryville. I want to encourage each believer to consider the thoughts made by Platt in his book. We are so blessed in America and I'm afraid that we are wasting much in order to accommodate our own comfort levels.
The first encounter we see is about church leaders overseas who are experiencing persecution. These people were meeting in underground churches when Platt encounters them. What a somber thought! What if in America we had to meet in underground churches? As each day goes by we see more and more how the government is removing our freedoms and unless something changes this WILL NOT stop at the front door of the church. The eye opener here should be that unless God intervenes this underground church environment experienced by Platt could very well be what each believer must do in the future. Judging by our sagging church attendance statistics today, a question must be answered...if we had to meet underground, would we still go and worship our Savior?
Platt pastors a mega-church in Alabama, which is another reason why I was skeptical about reading the book. The premise is giving up the American dream for your faith; yet this guy pastors a huge church. Easy for him to say, right? Imagine the contrast of attending a mega-church (and I have) vs meeting underground for safety purposes. All the luxuries that we are accustomed to, gone...nowhere to be found. No TV projectors, no choir, no piano, no sound system, no children's department or youth department...just a group of people meeting together to worship the Lord and the only thing they may have is a page of Scripture. You might say..."those poor people" but I might suggest that we in America have something to learn from these dedicated followers of Christ. Specifically...we can learn to model their love for the Word of God and not the entertainment of the church environment.
In Matthew 4 Jesus called the disciples look at what happened, "As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee,
He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother
Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen.
19 “Follow Me,” He told them, “and I will make you fish for people!” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
Did you catch that? Jesus called them while they were doing their normal "routine" in life and it says that they immediately followed Him. Platt calls this "radical abandonement" which I agree but perhaps it was just simple obedience. This is the kind of obedience that we lack today. Jesus calls us to do something and we are too busy meandering through our own comfort zones and preferences to follow the ministry or the place to which God wants us to go and serve. Understand that when Jesus called them this was not just some great fanciful story, rather He was calling them to "abandon their comforts" (p11) and to leave everything they were familiar with.
What if that was our mindset today as Christians? Abandon everything we are comfortable with in order to follow the calling Jesus has told us? Our churches would be different and so would our country and the world. My fear is that we as Americans love the culture more than we love the Word. We would rather be entertained at church rather than grow from the repentance of our iniquities. My prayer is that I will continue to grow more and more each day in my walk. But that means loving God's Word and living my life in accordance to that Word...not conforming myself and faith to the culture by means of entertainment and preferences.
This is challenging stuff and it has caused me to think about my own life and also the way in which I pastor. I hope it will for you as well
Jeremy
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