The Radical Experiment

I'm in the final chapter of the book, "Radical - Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream" by David Platt.  To say I've been challenged doesn't even come close to describing the whirlwind of thoughts, emotions and at-the-core unsettledness this book has stirred up within me.  God has used Platt's book to strip away the rose-colored glasses, the American-dream-filter through which I view the world.  I no longer see myself as I did a few weeks ago. I have come face-to-face with my severe lack of radical compassion for the poor, the lonely and the lost of the world, and I don't like what I see.  Pair all of this with the sermon series we're in at Faith E-Free right now on the book of Galatians and I'm a confused ball of questions.  

Platt calls into question the "true Christianity" of those who don't reflect a radical desire to reach the lost with the gospel and irradicate poverty around the world. On page 111 of his book, Platt says this:  "More pointedly, if our lives do not reflect radical compassion for the poor, there is reason to wonder if Christ is really in us at all."

I know that I am saved by grace through faith.  Yet, this comment shook me to the core.  Is it an inroad for the enemy to whisper his lies?  Or is it the not-so-gentle-nudge of the Spirit calling me to move out in faith into a life of radical compassion I have yet to experience.

In Galatians 1:9, Paul writes:  "As we have already said, I say again:  If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!"  Is Platt adding to the gospel?  Or, is our response to the gospel supposed to be one of radical compassion?  I'm leaning toward the latter...but where do I go with all of this?  Sell everything we have and move to the poorest, most unreached part of the world? What is God calling me to do?  We have so much...yet at times, it seems so difficult to be content with what God has lavished on us.  And, then I read a quote like this:  "Today more than a billion people in the world live and die in desperate poverty.  The attempt to survive on less than a dollar per day.  Close to two billion others live on less than two dollars per day.  That's nearly half the world struggling today to find food, water, and shelter with the same amount of money I spend on french fries for lunch."  (Radical, p. 108)

Platt goes on to say, "Suddenly I began to realize that if I  have been commanded to make disciples of all nations, and if poverty is rampant in the world to which God has called me, then I cannot ignore these realities.  Anyone wanting to proclaim the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth must consider not only how to declare the Gospel verbally but also how to demonstrate the Gospel visibly in a world where so many are urgently hungry.  If I am going to address urgent spiritual need by sharing the Gospel of Christ or building up the body of Christ around the world, then I cannot overlook the dire physical need in the process."  (Radical, p. 109)

So, that's where I am today, standing totally convicted, completely confident that the Gospel is compelling me to do something more.  I am staring the blind spots in my life straight in the face and daring to allow the Spirit to shine the light of God's truth into the voids created by the ideology of the American Dream.

I feel called to take the first "dares" set out by Platt in the final chapter of Radical.
1.  Pray for the entire world in one year.
2.  Read through the entire Word in one year.

These are safe...within my control...but because they are within my control, I also know the weakness of my flesh.  I cannot do this alone!  Father, Son and Holy Spirit,  I pray that you will keep me on track.  I also ask that You protect me from the "ritualistic" rules these could become.  Use this "dare" for good in my life and the lives of those around me.

The next dare is to "Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose."  Hmm...I get to that in my reading tomorrow.  I'll let you know how it goes!