David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. Multnomah, 2010.
Sequel: Platt, Radical Together
Referenced in: Missional Lifestyle, Discipleship, Spirituality – Radical Series, David Platt
LifeandLeadership.com
This is a New York Times Bestseller, for a variety of good reasons. Platt is a phenomenal communicator and the perfect profile of a mega-church pastor. He began preaching for a mega-church in suburban Birmingham, Alabama. But he began that ministry with a conviction that churches have bought into the American Dream in such a way that it has moved us away from the heart of the Gospel. The book describes his and his church’s journey into living out the radical claims of the gospel more intentionally. It is written in a winsome blend of humility and challenge.
He says: “I am convinced that we as Christ followers in American churches have embraced values and ideas that are not only unbiblical but that actually contradict the gospel we claim to believe. And I am convinced that we have a choice.” (3) We are “settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.” (7) Churches can raise $23 million dollars for a new building, but only $5,000 for Sudanese refugees, and feel strangely successful. This is over against Jesus who “in a world that prizes promoting oneself, [his disciples] were following a teacher who told them to crucify themselves.” (12). This call is found in radical statements throughout the Gospels:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciples.”
“Pick up an instrument of torture and follow me” (i.e. “take up your cross and follow me”).
“Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Mark 10)
But we have re-interpreted this Jesus into
“A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us o forsake our closest relationships so that he receives all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger altogether. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American dream.” (15)
That leads to Platt’s passion as lived out in his journey and now expressed in his book:
For the sake of more than a billion people today who have yet to even hear the gospel, I want to risk it all. For the sake of twenty-six thousand children who will die today of starvation or a preventable disease, I want to risk it all. For the sake of an increasingly marginalized and relatively ineffective church in our culture, I want to risk it all. For the sake of my life, my family, and the people who surround me, I want to risk it all. (20)
Throughout the book, he repeats this call over against the tendencies of American Christians to live woefully short of it. He describes it as
“exploring a variety of bold claims about our purpose in life that are contained in the gospel yet contradicted by the American dream. Claims such as these: Real success is found in radical sacrifice. Ultimate satisfaction is found not in making much of ourselves but in making much of God. The purpose of our lives transcends the country and culture in which we live. Meaning is found in community, not individualism; joy is fund in generosity, not materialism; and truth is found in Christ, not universalism. Ultimately, Jesus is a reward worth risking everything to know, experience, and enjoy.” (184)
It would be hard to find a better expressed lament and challenge.
One of the best features of the book, however, is the last chapter entitled, “The Radical Experiment: One Year to a Life Turned Upside Down.” Here he describes a one year project that involves five components:
- Pray for the entire world
- Read through the entire Word
- Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose
- Spend your time in another context
- Commit your life to a multiplying community
He lays out each of these in considerable detail. Readers may also be interested in the sequel, Radical Together : Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God, which helps
From the Publisher
What is Jesus worth to you?
It’s easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily…
But who do you know who lives like that? Do you?
In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple—then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a “successful” suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus.
Finally, he urges you to join in The Radical Experiment —a one-year journey in authentic discipleship that will transform how you live in a world that desperately needs the Good News Jesus came to bring.
About the Author
David Platt is the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, a four-thousand-member congregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Widely regarded as an exceptional expositor, David has traveled and taught around the world. He holds two undergraduate and three advanced degrees, including a doctorate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. David and his wife, Heather, live in Birmingham with their family.
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