Radical Together // Book Review

Radical Together; David Platt

My first exposure to David Platt was at the Desiring God 2011 conference Finish the Mission.  He delivered on a phenomenal message and I was most impressed by how well he knew the Scripture. I was eager to read his book Radical Together and was not disappointed. I should note that I have not read his first book, Radical.

In this book he desires to "consider what happens--or can happen--when we apply the revolutionary claims and commands of Christ to our communities of faith.  I want to contemplate the force of a people who come together to enjoy God's grace in the church will they extend God's glory in the world."

The book is organized around six central, essential ideas under which I have dispersed my comments.

1.  One of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church.
 This is poignant coming from a pastor of a megachurch...but Platt has a story to tell.  He's not someone simply telling how he thinks things ought to be done. He is speaking the Word and tells the story of Brook Hills church in the process.  It's amazing to learn the intense and significant changes that church went through in becoming more "radical" - that is to say, being far less obsessed with doing good things in the church (programs, events, volunteer activities, etc. etc.) and more obsessed with spreading the Gospel of Jesus in the local community and around the world. 

The last thing you and I want to do is waste our lives on religious activity that is devoid of spiritual productivity-being active in the church but not advancing the kingdom of God.

2.  The gospel that saves us from work saves us to work.
 On the premise that confusion abounds in the church today regarding what the gospel is, he tells two hypothetical stories of individuals who both have an opposite and wrong view of the Gospel - 1) I need to keep doing more; give, sell possessions, or make a pledge to be right before God, and 2) I believe in salvation by grace alone yet there is no fruit in my life.  Platt's message is simple: You will never be radical enough for God. We were saved to be radical, we don't try to be radical to please God.

We live sacrificially, not because we feel guilty, but because we have been loved greatly and now find satisfaction in sacrificial love for others.  We live radically, not because we have to, but because we want to.  

3.  The Word does the work.
This was a well needed message.  Many in our day seem to seek a word from God, something they feel, hear, a message from another, when in reality we have God's word.  God has given us everything in the Bible we need to have! It is not as if we have now arrived in the 21st century with new or novel situations not previously addressed by God. Further, it's not up to us to come up with a plan and then ask his blessing. God already has a plan for blessing the nations and accomplishing that plan. Will we be a part of it or not? 

At all times you and I have his message to us in all its power, authority, clarity, and might.  We don't have to work to come up with a word from God...the Word of God will accomplish the work of God among the people of God.

4.  Building the right church depends on using all the wrong people.
God has not called places, performances, programs, and professionals to accomplish the Great Commission. He has called people.  No need for intricate church programs, or a well-known and polished speaker. He has given all in the body gifts to help accomplish his global purposes.

If eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee were enough to launch the gospel to the ends of the earth, then a church with a handful of members can spread the gospel in and beyond a community, regardless of the amount of material resources it has...The plan of God is for every person among the people of God to count for the advancement of the kingdom of God.

5.  We are living- and longing -for the end of the world.
This was the only portion of the book I had a problem with.  Platt seems to think we can immanatize the eschaton, that is to say, depending on what we as Christians do we can bring about the end of the world.

If we were wiling to take some risks, if we were willing to alter our lifestyles, and if we were willing to organize our churches around taking the gospel to people who have never heard of Christ, we could see every people group on the planet reached with the gospel.  And in the process, we could be a part of the end of the world.

Here, I believe he is wrong because God has set the end of time and we cannot move that.  Also, I don't believe it's a good motivation for missions.  The primary motive for missions ought to be our pure enjoyment of God and the desire for others to enjoy Him as well, knowing there is no other ultimate satisfaction for us on earth. He does make some good points in the chapter such as the importance of short-term missions because, "until someone actually goes and sees the nations in person, he or she is likely to underestimate the urgency of God's global purpose in our lives."

6.  We are selfless followers of a self-centered God.

God exalts God.  If this rubs us wrong in any way, we should ask "who else would we have him exalt?" For at the very moment God exalts anyone or anythign else, he is no longer the God who is worthy of all exaltation. Everything God does, even the salvation of his people, ultimately centers around God, for he is worthy of all praise from all peoples.

Amen.  I heartily recommend this book to thosewho sense a low level of commitment in their own lives or in the life of their church. It will get you thinking, praying and likely stir you to action.  It's a quick an easy read. Confronting the ideas themselves though, are not quick and easy.

What are the 10 things you want to do today and every day for the rest of your life?

Undoubtedly you either have a list already floating in your head or if you were to think about it for a few minutes you could easily come up with ten things that are really important to you and in an ideal world you would be doing them, moving closer to your goals every day.

And you may look at that and think, "There's no way I can do the ten things I'd like to every day, let alone twenty or more."  And I would reply, "You're already doing dozens, perhaps hundreds of tasks every day (albeit small ones), so why not include in the mix the ten things most important to you?

I recommend 2 keys here:

1.  Baby Steps.  Start small. Don't start with ten things. Would you like to daily get enough sleep? Ok, then no matter what happens day in and day out, aim to get the amount of sleep you need (usually 8 hours on average).   Do that for two weeks, and better yet...

2.   Track it. Write down every day (or night) how you did.  For tracking my sleep, I usually need to write down what time the lights go out, then when I get up.  Once you've got that going, implement and track the next thing.  I like reading books. Right now I don't have the kind of leisure to do much reading of the books I enjoy but don't listen to excuses from yourself like that.  You have time for what's important to you, even if it's just 15 minutes.  In my case, reading a few pages of a book is the last thing I do every night before lights out.  Just tell yourself 5 pages a day or something like that.  A month later, the book is done and you're on to the next one.


As you consistently focus on those things that really are most important to you, first by establishing "a beachhead" by starting with one thing then moving from there, those things that really aren't all that important  (facebook, tv, email, whatever, we all have our own time and energy sucks that we give our time too.) will begin taking a backseat or even better, no seat.  And this, not because you were consciously trying to avoid "vegging in front of the tv in the evening" but because you were consciously focusing on the things that were important to you.

Praying without ceasing is God's will for you

    "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV)

Many often ask the question, "I just want to know what God's will for my life is."  Well, there are three things to focus on. 

What does it mean to pray without ceasing though? Two thoughts:
1.  It is a frequent habit.  If one was to say of me, "Ben eats eggs without ceasing", that doesn't I literally am always eating eggs. It's referring to my morning habit of eating 3-4 eggs.  If I were to skip a day or two I would have "ceased" to eat eggs.  Be in a habit of prayer.  All the time, be doing it, not randomly, whenever you feel like it or have come on hard times. 

2.  It is literally to be done always.  Our minds are to be so God entranced, and every thought is taken captive that all our thought life is a prayer life in a sense. We are constantly, every moment, in communion with God. 

It hardly needs to be said that in a world where virtually every second of our time, every thought of our minds, and every emotion of our heart is fought for by the enemy, praying without ceasing is nothing short of a battle.  There are a million (or more) distractions and diversions always tempting and teasing us.  Their arguments fail and promises lie. My lazy mind is hardly conscious of this.  This is why Peter says, "prepare your minds for action..."  To pray without ceasing, we need to be conscious of the war we are in. 

Whatever your lot, if you are rejoicing, praying, and thanking, you are within God's will.

Creating and Destroying Habits - tips from my own life

There are many ways to do this, of course. And often, one needs a multi-faceted approach to implement a habit or get rid of one. All that said -

This is a habit (ironically, it takes a habit to get rid of a habit...)  I have found especially helpful in my own life.  A problem I can often have is laziness (i.e. not doing important things I need to do).  Sure, I'm keeping busy, but that doesn't mean I'm doing the best thing I can be doing.  So at the end of the day I have a journal where I answer these two questions:

1. What did I do today to move me towards my goals?
2. If I could do the day over what would I do differently?

Obviously, the trick is to actually answer the questions every evening.  Actually typing it out makes a difference.  Just sitting there and thinking up something then going on to bed won't do the trick. I need to actually write it out. Then it is there for posterity (or as long as I keep the excel document...), as a reminder whenever I see what I wrote.

Those are generic questions, but the same can be done for specifics. For instance, flossing is something I want in my morning routine.  So before I'm allowed to call my morning routine done (and I record for myself daily what time I finished it) I need to answer whether I flossed or not.

If you're looking to cut back on something, or add something to your life. I recommend this.  Just force yourself to track it every day.  It can seem like too much work sometimes (which is a complete farce) but find a way to always put it in your path - moleskine on your pillow, document on your desktop, alarm on phone, whatever.   Over time you get to see how you have improved and that is one of the really neat rewards. It really does work and pay off.

What is the most important fact to you?

There is much we know that is important. More than that, everything we know about God is important. Yet there is one truth and story that is of first importance -

    For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV)

What does God's reign mean to you?

    How beautiful upon the mountains
        are the feet of him who brings good news,
    who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
        who publishes salvation,
        who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
(Isaiah 52:7 ESV)

 This is the kingdom of our God. And this is why the world hates him and those who belong to the kingdom. The world wants nothing to do with peace, true happiness, or salvation.  The way of the world is strife, malice and slavery.  

Passive Good and Proactive Good

The Christian Faith (in America) has, for good reason, retained a reputation of being little more than rule keeping. Don't do bad things.  I say for good reason because this legalism or fundamentalism was fairly explicit in the past in churches on this continent.  Of course, that's not what living the Christian life is about.  The Gospel liberates one from rule-keeping and licentiousness.  If and when certain habits and disciplines are kept it is not because they are rules and we do such to please God but we know God already finds pleasure in us and in keeping disciplines we are doing things that draw us closer to our greatest treasure in life (God) and keep us from our great snare and enemy. 

All that to say, I realize I spend far too much time/energy/anxiety over breaking a rule, or not fulfilling a command.  Much more thought should be given to not just "being good" in the sense that I avoid "bad stuff" but being good in the sense that I am proactively doing good.

This reminds me of a quote by Sir Nicky Winton: "…There is a difference between passive goodness and active goodness.  The latter is, in my opinion, the giving of one’s time and energy in the alleviation of pain and suffering.  It entails going out, finding and helping those who are suffering and in danger and not merely in leading an exemplary life, in a purely passive way of doing no wrong.”

So I encourage you to be good in a good way :-)  And remember that ultimately, It was Christ who was perfectly good for you. And God has prepared good works before time so that you would walk in them. 

Is Taxation Theft?

To those who ask me this question I pose these:

-What is theft?

-If I steal from you to pay for say, my college education or perhaps my retirement fund or even medical bills, is that ok?  You probably answer no, in which case we both agree that theft, no matter the excuse is wrong.

-Ok, but what if my name is "Congressman Ben Stafford"?  I'm not just "Joe thief" anymore.  I'm dressed up in a suit, work in a big white building in Washington, and I have really noble intentions.  Does that change anything for you? 

-If it does, how do you (as a Christian) justify it? Romans 13?

-Where do you draw the line and why?  Is it moral for the government to take from me the fruit of my labor and give it to someone else for their healthcare? What about their retirement fund, etc. What about the million other things the U.S. government spends money on?

My take - it's not a simple cut and dry yes, and no.  There is a point at which what government does in taking the fruit of our labor is theft and a point at what does with such is immoral.  Before that point a government is keeping within the bounds of Romans 13 (for instance).

Is constructing a building immoral? It depends.  Did you use slaves to build it? Steal the material? Build it on someone else's property without their consent? Go into incredible debt to build it without counting the cost? etc. etc.  My point is that it's not a cut and dry yes and no.  But we need to be wise and discerning. 

Was life ever humdrum?

humdrum |ˈhəmˌdrəm| adjective - lacking excitement or variety; dull; monotonous: humdrum routine work.

I wonder if life for the early Christians (say, 1st century) was ever humdrum.  Yeah, life was probably pretty exciting for guys like Paul, Luke, Barnabas, Peter, etc. And if not exciting, definitely not dull.  Ok, so what about others like Alexander and Rufus, Priscilla and Aquilla, Cornelius, Urbanus and Aristobulus etc. etc.  I wonder if their lives were so "on mission" (not that they were missionaries, they weren't) and saturated with the reality of Jesus that they rarely faced humdrum.

What is the overriding aim of your life bar none and is that aim being lived out (not just thought about)?




I'm not saying being "on mission" means life is always exciting and happy...Even to struggle implies working towards a goal of some sort.   But are we living as "sheep among wolves"?  Living as ambassadors with the greatest news in the universe? wise as serpents, redeeming the time, doing all for the glory of God, taking every thought captive? Impossible? Yes, and we Christians are called to it. It is the way of joy.

My life is dull…I'm bored….I guess I'll get on Facebook again….I'm just coasting my 9 to 5 job til I can retire then go on trips whenever I want….

Anyabwile on Christ as Mediator

Matthew 10: 32-39

Thabiti opened the sermon speaking of two Muslim college students he had met who were being persecuted by their families for converting to Christianity. This is an experience most of us in the United States do not know and it highlights the Truth of the Gospel, that no thing and no one can come between us and Christ. (v. 35, 36)

The 2 main points:

1. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and Man

2. Jesus Christ is the Christian's greatest Love

Christ stands between our Fear and our Love. These two emotions are the most compelling distractions on earth. The distraction of unwarranted fear is obvious, but what about love? Can love really be a distraction from Christ?  Yes, if our love is misplaced in the things of this world or even our closest relationships by placing these temporal things ahead of Christ.  In v.34, Christ came to bring a Sword. This is not a literal sword, as Peter used to cut off the servants ear, but the Sword of Truth! The Sword of Truth, the Gospel, the Word that divides both joints and marrow, spirit and flesh will enter into our relationships as Christians to assure Christ is the supreme focus of our lives. It is through this that we find our satisfaction in Him.

On that final day of atonement, all humans will stand before Christ and be divided into two classes: 

Those who acknowledge Christ.

Those who denied Christ.  

v.32 is Christ's proclamation of Love for His people, He has promised to acknowledge us before His Father in Heaven! 

Thabiti completed the sermon with this statement, "Know Christ better and Love Christ more than anything else in the world for He is the sum of all perfection!"

Amen.

Meditating on Death

I've been finding it good to meditate on death, daily in fact.  It's a part of my morning routine. I have written down "Psalm 90:12" ("teach us to number our days, that we may gain hearts of wisdom").  Recently in my hometown I realized since I'm not there often and haven't been to the grave sites of my two grandparents who have died I ought to see them.  It is good to think on family heritage that is often quickly forgotten and on the inevitable death that will soon visit each of us.  Consistently recognizing the reality and inevitability of death changes your attitude and decision making for the better.  With the end in mind, some things aren't so trite anymore, and other things, as it turns out, are. 

As a Christian though, I know that death is not the end. Really, it's only the beginning. And in death it is only my body that dies, not my soul.  All the sickness, pain, suffering, and so forth, I know in this life will be gone in the life to come. It is also good to look forward to the city that has foundations (Hebrews 11:10, Hebrews 11:16, Hebrews 13:14).

C.S. Lewis:

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”

 

Anyabwile on Risk and Jesus

Tonight was the third evening of the annual missions conference at Berean Baptist Church in Livonia, Michigan.  Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile is the keynote speaker, presenting a message every evening on missions.

Matthew 10:19-33 was his text.

The points he drew from it were:
1. Risk is right (as is wisdom)
2. Jesus is with us.
3. We should take risk for Jesus.

As Christians, we ought to understand and value a few things:
   -That sinners who die without God face eternal torment
   -In God is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.  Only in Him can one have ultimate hope and freedom.
 If we truly know and understand these things, what is stopping us from going or giving to make the good news known?  That is the question Thabiti posed.  Going and/or giving won't necessarily be easy...we have a tendency to "coast towards comfort" in life.  Beware this tendency.  We have eternally valuable good news, the power of Jesus, and many of us in the States the material resources to muster for the cause of the Great Commission.

Thabiti will be speaking again tomorrow evening, after which I will try to write another summary.

A way of escape provided

I Corinthians 10:13 promises the believer a "way of escape" from succumbing into temptation. 

I used to think this was purely mental...say, stamina.  Just say "no"!  You can do it!

Perhaps that is part of it, but perhaps the way provided requires a bit of work on our part. Say, asking others to keep me accountable,  or being available should I need to call.  My way of escape isn't so mental or individualistic anymore. It involves a community of believers, all in this war, willing to come to the aid of another when in temptation. 

Ask whatever you wish

In John 16:24 Jesus tells his disciples: "Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."

And in John 15:7 he says: "If you abide in me and my word abides in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

The New Testament doesn't give us much indication as to what the disciples prayed for, though I wonder - Is the book of Acts twenty-eight chapters of accounts of how the disciples were granted what they asked for?  

I think our priorities in life affect our prayers. If that is true, a good question to think about is: "Does the state of my prayer life indicate that my priorities need to be changed or thought through more?"