Radical - Chapter One

A couple weeks ago, I began reading a book that is receiving a great deal of attention in Christian circles. The book is called Radical and it is written by David Platt, a pastor of a church in Birmingham, AL. and a graduate of the University of Georgia! I'm not very far in to the book, but I can already tell you that it is incredibly eye-opening, challenging, and convicting. There seems to be a growing movement in parts of the church that are talking more about consumerism and the American dream and giving everything up to follow Christ and David Platt is becoming an influential voice in this movement. While this might sound like a new topic for the American church, this movement is coming from following the teachings of someone who had it all figured out a long time ago, Jesus.

I have been taking notes as I've been reading through Radical and I've underlined/highlighted/pulled out a number of quotes that really stuck with me. It's tempting to post all of those things but I want to give a snapshot of some of the things from the book that really stuck out to me and I'd encourage you to pick up a copy. I'll be putting 5 statements that really jumped out at me from each chapter I read in the book and posting them on here. First up - Chapter One:

"I could not help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable."

"Followers of Christ are not guaranteed that even their basic need of shelter will be met."

"We do have to love him (Jesus) in a way that makes our closest relationships in this world look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor."

"The price of our nondiscipleship is high for those without Christ. It is high also for the poor of this world."

"The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response."

As I said, those are just 5 statements that stuck out to me and there were many more. I look forward to providing some highlights from the next chapters and the journey of reading through Radical. Here's a promo that was designed for the release of the book.

Radical by David Platt from Taylor Robinson on Vimeo.