Why I'm Not Sold Out On "Radical"

     I’m not Sold Out on Radical. What I mean is I am not an adherent to the philosophy that Christians are not fulfilling the Great Commission if they never have their lives threatened and have never gone to a foreign country to spread the gospel. I am not an adherent the idea that modern American Christians must live ascetic lifestyles in order to be fully in Christ.

     What does this pertain the word "Radical?" The book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt has sold over 750,000 copies since 2010. The advertised synopsis emphasizes the idea that American Christians have become too comfortable as they pursue the American Dream. This idea, which I whole-heartedly agree with, does not result in the applications I have found to be scriptural. The majority of the book is a case study of Platt’s life experiences as a globe-trotting missionary/pastor of a mega-church with a weekly attendance of over 4,300 (as of 2006). The applications he gleans from his experiences are often extremely insightful and should definitely be taken to heart, but problems arise from the universal nature of his charges and challenges.

     All Christians are not called into full time ministry (being defined as your occupation: be it pastor, elder, foreign residential missionary, minister… what have you). All Christians aren’t even called to leave the country. The part of the Great Commission directing people to go to all the nations was a church directive, not an individual’s directive. Every Christian will bear Christ’s image (the Great Commission is not only a command, but a prophecy), but the where and how is determined best by the calling God has given every individual. The idea that if one doesn’t go to China or the Middle East and have their lives threatened is not scriptural. But neither is the idea that we can sit at home, watch TV and eat Doritos all day and have a healthy spiritual life. Each Christian has a different calling. David Platt obviously has been blessed with a tremendous passion and the skills necessary to be an incredible proselytizer, but on the other side of the token a man like David Nobel is not called to be a proselytizer, he is called to be a teacher and to minister to the spiritual development of those already saved, and he also has an incredible influence in that area. There is no "ideal" Christian. Paul (the epitome of spiritual leadership, both in the spreading of the gospel and the support of Christians), under the influence of the Holy Spirit, says that “[Christ] gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” Christians don’t have a picture of what a "perfect Christian" looks like (in terms of vocation) because we are all blessed with different callings and skills that are harmful when used improperly.

     So, my biggest beef with Radical is not his call to stop settling for the mediocre Americanized version of Christianity, which I completely agree is something that needs to change, but rather his universal applications of his personal calling. A woman in Christ who is called to be a mother and “train up a child in the way he should go” loses all capability to follow her calling (or feels extremely guilty doing so) if Platt is right in his assumption that all Christians are to live "Radically."

     I am going to stick this passage (1 Corinthians 12:12-30) on the end, because I believe that frequently we desire to be the hand, instead of the arm, or the foot instead of the eye, or the mouth instead of the ear. We all have specific purposes in the Body of Christ. We are not all of one type, but a myriad of types and giftings specifically orchestrated to serve the Body in the best way possible.

     12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.

     15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

     20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

     ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. ²⁸ And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

Leaping Lizard