Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Someone Worth Losing Everything For (Part 1)

Ok, so I've finally found some time to start typing up a discussion/summary of Chapter One of Radical. I've just been so busy with moving into this new house and adjusting to this new semester of school. But I'm hoping my schedule will become more consistent in the next couple weeks. I wrote this last week, and haven't come back to it to finish it yet. But I thought I might as well break it up into two posts so that I don't have to wait any longer to post this part. So here is Part 1.

Radical – Chapter 1

Jesus demands everything from us. This isn’t extreme or radical Christianity; this IS Christianity. I’m sure most followers of Christ would agree with that statement. The big disagreements occur when asking, “What does that look like?” Are we to give all our money and material things away? That is obviously not the solution in and of itself.

In Chapter 1, David Platt introduces the demands of Jesus, and the infinite value in pursuing him. “I [Platt] invite you to join the journey with me. I do not claim to have all the answers. If anything, I have more questions than answers. But if Jesus is who he said he is, and if his promises are as rewarding as the Bible claims they are, then we may discover that satisfaction in our lives and success in the church are not found in what our culture deems most important but in radical abandonment to Jesus.”

His first point contrasts the goals of typical and affluent American churches with the goals apparent in Jesus’ life. Jesus spent most of his time with only 12 men, and really had only around 120 followers when he left this earth. So how are we to reconcile that with the huge churches we have today? If Jesus was interested in numbers, he would’ve had many more followers. Instead, he actually turned people away by the things he said.

In John 6:53, when there was a large crowd, Jesus began talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Not exactly something that would say to attract new followers. So after the end of that speech all the people went away, except for the twelve (Jn 6:60,66). “Jesus apparently wasn’t interested in marketing himself to the masses. His invitations to potential followers were clearly more costly than the crowds were ready to accept, and he seemed to be okay with that.”

In many other parts of the world, the requirements of following Christ can be much greater. Christians in Asia face persecution and death, as opposed to here, where we may face occasional ridicule if we really abandon ourselves. So the demands of the gospel are clearly greater there than they are here. But is that totally good for us? I don’t think so. Yes we are fortunate to live without extreme persecution, but with that comes an increasingly subtle (but powerful) temptation to live for the world and our own pleasures. The cost of discipleship then becomes dangerously cloudy. Instead of denying our life for Christ, we begin to think we can get by with only denying parts of ourselves. The huge temptation is to make much of ourselves, and less of God. The American dream prizes self-promotion and self-success, while the words of Jesus actually tell us to crucify ourselves. So how can we reconcile Jesus’ demands with our culture of self-promotion? We can’t. Jesus makes the cost of discipleship abundantly clear over and over again in the gospels.

6 comments:

  1. I'm very interested in hearing more about this book. Toni has told me I should read it, and I desperately want to, but I'm short on time and access to it. I would love to know what dying to self really looks like in this affluent Western culture ... I've read books about it, and heard stories about it, but so far I've come away dissatisfied with other peoples' notions of radicality.

    Have you ever read the Book UnChristian? It's very different, but whenever I hear about Radical I'm reminded of it for some reason.

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  2. Actually, i have that one as well and was planning to read it before i heard about Radical. But i still haven't though. Stephen Carlson has read it, and Jamin's read some of it.

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  3. Excellent! Let me know your thoughts on it.

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  4. Sounds like some good stuff, Alan! I look forward to the rest.
    I would be careful about dismissing big churches, though. Just because a church is big doesn't mean that it isn't a legitimate, faith-filled body.
    True, Jesus did have only a few disciples, but he was using a small, relational discipleship method that was supposed to multiply. "Go ye therefore" and all that. In Acts 2, THREE THOUSAND people were added to their number in one day, and by the end of the chapter it says "And the Lord added daily to their number those who were being saved." If you have thousands of people being saved in one city, that kind of makes for a big church.
    It's true that big churches face a different set of problems than small churches. They have to fight shallowness, makes sure no one gets left behind, and learn to spend their money wisely. But small churches have their own set of problems like ingrown ideas, cliquish attitudes and judgmental attitudes. We all struggle in different areas, and one isn't necessarily better than another.
    The reason I say all this is just because I've been lately thinking about my own prejudices towards big churches and trying to deal with them, so I understand how easy it is.
    Anyway, sorry this is so long

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  5. That's a good point. Yeah, I'm not trying to say that big churches are bad. I think Platt is just saying that we need to be weary about putting too much value in numbers, and especially at the cost of diminishing the serious commitment of the gospel. I too have had (and still have) prejudices against huge churches. But really I guess the bigger issue is not the size of the church. It's what it is that draws so many people there and what keeps them there. Is it hunger for the truth of God and the gospel (even when it may cost them something), and to serve the body? Also, I think it is harder for larger churches to have the relationships that small churches do, which is important. But many larger churches do a great job addressing that through small groups.

    What you said about smaller churches is also true. That's why it's important for smaller congregations to work alongside the larger body of Christ. To develop a brother and sister mentality with believers who don't attend their church.

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  6. True that! In "Pure Scum" he was talking about how they (a decidedly punk church) were generally dismissive about "those suburban churches." But when they were trying to buy their own building, it was the suburban churches that pitched in and donated money for their building. Even after that, they didn't have enough, so a group of businessmen cashed in some of their investments to lend them enough money to buy the building. Now that's working together.

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